By Eugene T. Lowe
October 21, 2002

Conference President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino called for more "workforce" housing in communities across the nation in a keynote address delivered before the 5th annual Housing Forum sponsored by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency. The speech on October 15 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina focused on the role of government in helping to build eleven million new housing units over the next decade. Mayor Menino said "we have a national crisis looming and we have to do something about it."

As President of the Conference of Mayors, the mayor told the forum participants that he had put "housing at the top of my agenda." He described the National Housing Summit he had put together last May in Washington, D.C. Along with top housing experts from around the nation, the mayor said that he had brought in some new partners such as the AARP and public health officials. He added that he has also "approached the business community and labor" about raising the visibility of housing.

The mayor cited a litany of potential new housing programs that would help reach the goal of 11 million new housing units over the next decade. Support for a National Housing Trust Fund, a homeownership tax credit, employer assisted housing, amending the Low Income Housing Tax Credit to provide more moderate income units, and "lifting the bond cap on housing, at least until our economy gets back on its feet" would begin the effort.

Mayor Menino said that we must do more to raise the visibility of housing. He told the forum participants about the mayors- lobby day September 26. He said: "We met with the congressional leadership of both parties and the important committee chairs. It was a start, but all of us must do more to raise the issue. That's why I-m here today. I-ll be in Connecticut next week and will visit other areas of the country to talk about a national housing policy for America. Because it is so important to our future."