Good morning members of the Arlington County Board: Oct. 19, 2013   I am Sandra Hernandez and here today to tell you why Arlington residents should vote FOR a Housing Authority on November 5th.   

Walking on Columbia Pike, I met a young brown skinned woman carrying a baby who asked me where she could find information on affordable apartments in Arlington. “No where”. Why doesn’t Arlington have One single place for referral to available subsidized units, located on 85 separate properties, and operated by about 30 separate private organizations?

Fairfax County Housing Authority provides referral at one location to subsidized units, and keeps a centralized waiting list and housing information.

Our county government spends millions for housing, but my Latino community in Arlington is decimated as rents rise, and apartments are replaced by million dollar homes. The Latino population in Arlington fell by 11 percent since 2000 as affordable, private market-rate apartments fell by over two-thirds.  As Arlington becomes whiter and richer, Latinos are pushed out. 

At a 2013 Latino Housing Forum, residents complained that they worked 3 jobs to barely pay $1,700 rent, some end up at AFAC food bank because they cannot afford rent and food.

Why is the CEO of the largest not for profit affordable housing contractor making over $250,000 a year when  in Fairfax, the volunteer, citizen-run housing authority controls and audits subsidized units to make sure tenants are treated well and that contractors are not over paid?

In March 2013, HUD confirmed to Arlington Mercury Newspaper that an Arlington housing authority WOULD qualify for HUD funds. A well run authority could improve treatment of tenants, reduce costs of rental units, get Federal funds and SAVE MONEY.

Thank you and please vote yes for the Housing Authority November 5th

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34564103@N03/4256127642/Arlington Voters To Decide On Creating New Housing Authority
http://wamu.org/news/13/10/08/arlington_voters_to_decide_on_creating_new_housing_authority
By: Michael Lee Pope
October 8, 2013
Ashley Brown: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34564103@N03/4256127642/
Proponents of a housing authority in Arlington say it’s necessary to maintain affordable housing in the county.
Should Arlington have the kind of housing authority that already exists in Alexandria and Fairfax County? John Reeder of the Arlington Committee to Save Affordable Housing says yes.
“A majority of people who live in Arlington are renters,” says Reeder. “We need to have a better housing assistance program in Arlington, and what we’ve done is an abject failure even though we are spending a lot of money.”
Opponents acknowledge that the county has lost thousands of market-rate units. But they say the county has worked with developers to set aside committed units of affordable housing that low-income residents can apply for. Former Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple says the public-private partnership model is working.
“Arlington has relied for years on a really, I think, genius idea of the county working with private, profit and nonprofit developers to address affordable housing in the community,” says Whipple.
Arlington Green Party Chairman Steve Davis isn’t so sure how genius that approach is. He says county officials won’t have access to federal money if Arlington doesn’t have an authority to receive it, including stimulus money that was available a few years ago.
“There could be money in the future, and there was money in the past because they weren’t eligible for it because they didn’t have a housing authority,” says Davis. “If you don’t have one you can’t get the money, and who knows what the future is going to bring.”
But Mary Rouleau, executive director of the Alliance for Housing Solutions, says federal money is no longer available to authorities. And she doesn’t expect new funding anytime soon.
“Should the government do an about face in five or 10 years, then lets have that discussion then.”
County voters have already rejected similar efforts four times, but leaders of the Green Party collected enough signatures to get it on the ballot again this year. Voters will have the final say when they head to the polls on Election Day.

Arlington’s housing assistance program relies primarily on 6,500 apartments that are provided by a series of private companies and nonprofits to county residents, supposedly at rent levels below private market rate rental properties.

In response to a Freedom of Information Request to Arlington County, we received data on the operations of Arlington affordable housing units (committed affordable units or CAFs). As of spring 2013, the county reported it had about 6,500 CAFs units, some of which are still under construction and thus unoccuppied.

<Number of separate properties and providers
These 6,500 units are located in 85 separate properties by 29 separate for-profit developers, landowners, and nonprofit housing groups. There are 103 units designed for the disabled, but only 37 of these units actually house disabled individuals.

The largest housing provider is AHC, Inc. with 34 percent of the CAFs, followed by APAH with 16 percent. The next largest are Paradigm Inc. with 6 percent (all at Buckingham Gardens area), and ARHC, Inc. (5 %) that operates the senior housing complex Culpepper Gardens. In total there are 29 separate firms or organization providing subsidized housing unde contract with the county.

The county has to date unable to provide the number of employees these firms or organizations employ to operate these units, and unable to document the administrative costs of opeating these units.
Income of residents of the CAF units
The county provided limited data on the income of the residents of 409 CAF units. For these 409 units (out of 6,500 total), 12 percent of residents have incomes above 60-percent of the area median income (AMI), 46 percent of these units have residents with an income of 60 percent AMI; 27 percent have income at the 50-percent AMI; and 6 percent have incomes of 45 percent AMI or less. There were also 10 percent of the units with residents with “Federal support” and thus their incomes could not be determined. These data confirm that these CAF units are rented mainly (58 percent) by people making 60 percent of the AMI or above.