By Eugene T. Lowe
June 29, 2009

The Conference of Mayors Standing Committee on Community Development and Housing met on Saturday, June 13 during the Annual Meeting in Providence. The meeting, chaired by Vice Chair Green Bay Mayor James J. Schmitt, approved 17 resolutions. Only two of the 17 resolutions that were received by the May 8 deadline for submissions were amended. No new resolutions were introduced. The two amended resolutions — "Housing" and "American Investments to Combat Poverty" — both originally supported HOPE VI, the program for severely distressed public housing. But references to the HOPE VI program were removed to support the Obama Administration's new Choice Neighborhood Initiative that replaces the severely distressed housing development program.

The Committee also approved a resolution calling for $8 billion in CDBG formula funding beginning in FY2011. However, the most significant clause of the resolution "strongly advises HUD as it considers changes in the CDBG formula to permanently hold harmless cities that would lose funding by formula change." The Obama Administration in its FY2010 budget states that a CDBG formula change would be recommended to Congress, which would direct more money than the existing formula to distressed communities. Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums who submitted the resolution is concerned that cities would lose money by such a formula change.

Philip F. Mangano, Former Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and who is now organizing an Abolitionist Round Table to End Homelessness in America addressed the mayors about his new organization and some of the things he was able to accomplish through the Interagency Council. Mangano spoke after the mayors unanimously approved a resolution recognizing his 29 years of working to prevent and end homelessness. The resolution said that Mangano "lead with strategic acumen, vision, consistent and tireless commitment in partnership with elected officials that achieved results for our poorer neighborhoods."

Ellen Sahli, Deputy Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Housing, spoke to the mayors about her city's efforts in assisting citizens facing mortgage foreclosures. Chicago, she said, responded to increasing foreclosures by pulling together lending institutions and nonprofits. Implementing a Homeownership Preservation Initiative, foreclosures initially went down in Chicago, but went up again as the nation's foreclosure rate rose. Chicago has become very aggressive again and is using President Obama's Making Home Affordable program, among other city initiatives, to address the foreclosure problem

Finally, Amintha Cinnotti, Past President of the National Community Development Association (NCDA) and Deputy Director of Planning for Providence described the important relationship between the Conference of Mayors and NCDA, a national association of community development directors who work as staff to mayors throughout America. Earlier in the meeting, the mayors in a resolution urged all mayors "to have their community development departments to become actively involved with NCDA through membership and through participation in NCDA conferences and training. Steve Gartrell, Community Development Director of Newton (MA) and the current President of NCDA also attended the Committee meeting.

The Community Development and Housing adapted the following resolutions:

• Preserving and Expanding The Community Reinvestment Act — calls on Congress to pass an expanded Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) that would leverage substantial sums of additional credit and capital for America's working families and communities.

• Housing — adopts the Mayor's National Action Agenda on Poverty, which calls for a funding level of $8 billion for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and full funding of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

• American Investments to Combat Poverty — adopts the Mayor's National Action Agenda on Poverty and calls for the simplification of the Earned Income Tax Credit so that all that qualify can automatically receive it, a funding level of $8 billion for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to address critical affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization needs, and increased funding for the Section 8 housing voucher program.

• Support for the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative — applauds and supports the creation of the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative by the Administration to support a range of transformative interventions in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty, which would challenge public, private and nonprofit partners to identify neighborhood interventions that would have the largest return on Federal Investments.

• Calling for Expanded Initiatives to Assist in the Preservation and Retro-fit of Historic Properties — urges Congress to pass historic preservation provisions that allow for funds to be directly allocated to cities for the energy efficiency of public historic properties providing up to 120 percent of costs associated with that activity.

• Importance of Greening Affordable Housing Developments — urges Congress and the Administration to support continuing funding for federal programs that assist local governments implement and expand green building production in their communities, such as those included in ARRA, including the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant , the Green Retrofit for Multifamily Housing Program as well as the extension of the tax credits for energy-efficient improvement of existing homes.

• Supporting H.R. 1677 — The Empowerment Zone, Renewal Community and Enterprise Community Enhancement Act of 2009 — calls on Congress to pass the legislation.

• Proposing a Federal Aid Account to Assist Cities in Conducting Full Range Environmental Remediation Activities for Vacant and Abandoned Properties — calls on Congress to authorize a federal aid program funded at an annual maximum appropriation level of $100 million per year to provide for general environmental remediation funds for redevelopment activities of vacant and abandoned properties involving projects that include both a public and private use.

• Increasing CDBG Program Funding — supports CDBG formula funding in FY2010 at least at $4.5 billion and $8 billion beginning in FY2011, creating an annual permanent inflation index, providing $5 million in annual technical assistance, and permanently holding harmless cities that would lose funding if there is a formula change.

• Endorsing Recalibration of Ten Year Plans Targeted to Those Experiencing Chronic and Family Homelessness — endorses the jurisdictional recalibration of Ten Year Plans to End Homelessness by mayors to evaluate the strategies that are preventing and ending homelessness in their communities and ensure resources are targeted to those strategies.

• Endorsing the New Federal Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program as a Key Strategy in Ending Homelessness — endorses the Recovery Act as an important investment in assisting individuals and families at risk of homelessness and need temporary financial aid and individuals and families who are homeless and need financial assistance to secure and retain housing rapidly.

• Endorsing Business Plans and Strategies to End Homelessness — encourages mayors to support and lead the implementation of and investment in jurisdictional Ten Year Business Plan to End Homelessness in partnership with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.

• Preventing and Ending Family Homelessness by Accessing Mainstream Resources Through the President's Recovery Act — encourages and supports the increased use of federal mainstream benefit programs to prevent and end the homelessness of families in cities across the country, and encourages mayors to invest those new resources targeted to jurisdictions and to preventing and ending homelessness in the context of jurisdictional Ten Year Plans, and to adopt engagement and access innovations including one'stops, virtual applications, and Project Homeless Connect.

• Preventing and Ending Homelessness Among Veterans Through Innovative Housing and Service Strategies — endorses several programs and strategies, and calls for an expansion of resources to assist homeless veterans and their families.

• Preventing and Ending Homelessness of Ex-Offenders Through Expansion of the Second Chance Act Prisoner Reentry Initiative — endorses the increased funding for the Second Chance Act by $75 million which is included in the President's proposed 2010 budget to expand the safe and successful reintegration into the community of individuals who have been incarcerated, including veterans, and supports programs geared toward the rapid re-housing of ex-offenders.

• Recognizing and Commending the Results Achieved by Philip F. Mangano, Executive Director United States Interagency Council on Homelessness — recognizes and commends Philip F. Mangano for his 29 years of working to prevent and end homelessness, leading the effort with strategic acumen, vision, consistent and tireless commitment to partnership with elected officials to achieve results for our poorest neighborhoods.

• Supporting the National Community Development Association — recognizes NCDA's outstanding services to local governments, strongly supports the partnership of the Conference of Mayors and NCDA, and urges Mayors to have their community development departments become actively involved with NCDA through membership and through participation in NCDA conferences and training.