Posts Tagged ‘RRHA’
Is there a plan?
“The city of Atlanta was the first city in the nation to perform a complete public housing transformation and their efforts provide a baseline for other cities to review. Our visit there was extremely beneficial as we work to develop plans of revitalizing concentrations of public housing in Richmond.
It is important to note that at this time, no final decision regarding how we revitalize and de-concentrate public housing has been reached. We visited Atlanta, along with Norfolk, in an effort to gain as much information as possible as we continue our deliberations.
Transforming Richmond’s public housing communities will require a collaborative effort. We look forward to working closely with RRHA’s new CEO Adrienne Goolsby, and utilizing her experiences in Chicago, as we work to change the face of Richmond’s public housing communities.
Community input is vital in determining the city’s direction of transforming public housing. The city has already begun the process of engaging the community with the 2010 East End Charrette and will continue in conjunction with RRHA to expand this effort in the coming months.”
Atlanta’s Public Housing Authority admitted to making mistakes along the way, but said people there are better off now. Still, critics said Atlanta’s housing plan was a failure…. wtvr.com
The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority gave $24,000 in scholarships Tuesday night to six college-bound students from local public-housing communities…. timesdispatch.com
Grade Point Averages
….$100 million project over five phases that will eventually put up to 300 units on the 50-acre Highland Park site….first two phases of housing are expected to cost about $22 million…. timesdispatch.com
The initial plan to sell the homes dates to 2005, when the housing authority decided the scattered site properties had become too costly to operate and maintain….The authority began renovating homes to sell to residents or other low-income buyers, though only 11 had sold by this year, when the authority floated the idea of selling the homes “as is.” That move prompted bitter opposition from residents…. timesdispatch.com
This is part two of CBS 6 News Reporter Sandra Jones’ investigation into possible changes for Richmond’s public housing. Mayor Jones and his staff traveled to the city of Atlanta in December to see how that city transformed its public housing.
….Housing authority officials, citing diminishing funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, say they cannot afford to maintain and repair scattered sites. Such talk breeds cynicism among public-housing residents and affordable-housing advocates. How committed is Richmond to dispersing poverty, anyway?…. timesdispatch.com
….the 72-year-old authority is still trying to hire a new chief executive officer almost a year after CEO Anthony Scott abruptly resigned. It hasn’t had a vice president for real estate and community development for more than a year….Federal funding is mostly stable for the voucher and public housing operations, but it has dropped 26 percent in two years for the RRHA’s capital needs, which the authority estimates at $160 million over 10 years…cuts in fees for voucher administration that have cost RRHA $400,000….timesdispatch.com
…The terms of three commissioners on the search committee, former Chairman Elliott Harrigan, Orlando C. Artze and tenant representative Marilyn B. Olds, expired last year, and none has been reappointed. The council just appointed three new members, including two to seats it added almost two years ago….[councilor Douglas G. Conner Jr.] said he was not aware that Harrigan and Artze’s terms had expired. “That one slipped completely off the screen,” he said…. timesdispatch.com
A year ago next week, the Richmond City Council expanded the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners from seven to nine members — a move that created a slot for a second tenant representative.
Today, that slot remains unfilled by the council. And members of RePHRAME — Residents of Public Housing in Richmond Against Mass Evictions — have no idea why.
via Richmond Times-Dispatch.