THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 29, 1994 TAG: 9410290211
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Cities can operate housing programs without housing authorities, but powers are more limited.
Also, city council members can appoint themselves as housing authority commissioners, thereby bringing housing authorities under direct control of City Hall.
Virginia Beach has no housing authority. It operates its programs through a city Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation.
The department differs from a redevelopment and housing authority because it operates no public housing complexes and it does not have the power to condemn and acquire land under the rights of eminent domain.
``We can declare a housing unit unfit and tear it down as unsafe. But we cannot take ownership of it'' and resell the property to someone else, said Andy Friedman, department director.
Also, as director, Friedman is appointed by the city manager, not by a housing authority board of commissioners.
The department does:
Determine which low- and moderate-income applicants are eligible for rent subsidies in the federal government's Section 8 assistance program. Residents find housing in the private sector from landlords who will accept them.
Provide below-market-rate housing-rehabilitation loans, using federal and state funds. The program began with 12 target neighborhoods, but the city has added more eligible communities in recent years.
Enforce housing codes.
Serve as Virginia Beach's lead agency for comprehensive neighborhood improvement projects.
Administer the city's federal grants for helping the homeless.
Hampton is one of the few Virginia cities where the City Council also serves as the redevelopment and housing authority's board of commissioners. In 1976, the General Assembly granted it a charter change to allow this format.
There were no changes in the authority's operating powers.
``But one key difference is that you eliminate the possibility of conflicts'' between the City Council and the commissioners, said Frank Lofurno, the authority's director of program management and development. ``There's a benefit in having the direct City Council perspective.''
Also, the authority's executive director, in effect, is hired by the City Council in its role as commission.
The seven council members convene as the authority's board of commissioners once a month, several hours before the regular council meeting.
The Hampton Redevelopment and Housing Authority's main job is administering the city's public housing complexes and rent-subsidy programs.
The city no longer has redevelopment projects. Other Hampton departments, such as development and neighborhood services, handle community development, Lofurno said. by CNB