COUNCIL TO APPOINT HOUSING TASK FORCE; NAACP DECRIES SHORTAGE IN CITY OF LOW-INCOME HOMES

The Cape Girardeau City Council Monday agreed to appoint a 10-member task force to examine the issue of public housing in the city and whether to appoint a housing authority.

The council action came after officials with the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People decried a shortage of available low-income housing and publicly funded rental assistance.

Debra Willis, community action chairman of the NAACP, said that more than 300 Cape Girardeau families now are on a waiting list to receive federal rent vouchers.

The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) voucher program is administered by the East Missouri Action Agency in Flat River, which already issues the "Section 8" rent subsidies to 315 Cape Girardeau families.

Willis and Michael Sterling, president of the Cape Girardeau NAACP, said EMAA's voucher program is insufficient to meet the housing needs of the city's poor.

"We have to make a decision that's in the best interest of the city as a whole," Willis said. "Poor people are part of our city too, although they're often overlooked."

She said a housing authority is needed here to seek funding through additional federal public housing programs that would fill the gap created by the shortage of EMAA vouchers.

"We're not talking about projects," Willis added. "We don't want that. What we propose is federal housing throughout the city, much like the EMAA does, but expanded to meet the needs of these families who can't find adequate housing."

Councilman Al Spradling III asked Willis and Sterling where the 355 people now live who qualify for, but don't receive HUD rental vouchers. "Many are living with neighbors or other family members," said Willis.

She said others scrimp and struggle to pay the rent, or seek donations from private organizations such as the Salvation Army.

City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said the EMAA has only a limited amount of funding for the voucher program and once the vouchers are gone, it can't issue more without additional federal funding.

He said there are other federal programs that a housing authority might be able to tap into to secure more money.

Sterling said he's concerned about a housing shortage in the city and the quality of homes for low-income residents. He said the city's new Mississippi River bridge route through south Cape could worsen the problem.

"I look at the south end of town and what's going to happen when the bridge is put in," Sterling said. "It's going to separate the city even more, and I foresee some deplorable conditions for that part of the city."

Councilman Mary Wulfers said she was surprised to learn that there were so many people on the waiting list for HUD vouchers. She said the director of EMAA told her about two years ago that Cape Girardeau had no housing shortage.

The council agreed to appoint a task force comprised of a council member, a planning and zoning commissioner, a resident landlord, a tenant receiving rental assistance, a member of the city's Board of Appeals, and five citizens at-large.

Initially, the council was to appoint only two citizens at-large, but Councilman Doug Richards suggest an amendment to include the additional members.

The council also agreed to invite a "knowledgeable speaker" to review with the city the status of federal funding and current housing assistance programs.

The official also would review in detail the mechanics of how a housing authority operates and various ways to provide housing assistance with or without such an authority.

Later this month, the city's Board of Appeals is expected to bring to the council a recommendation on a minimum property maintenance code aimed at improving the condition of rental properties in the city.

The council is expected to consider the recommendation at either its May 17 or June 7 meeting.

The June meeting also is when the council will appoint the housing task force approved Monday.

During the past few years, the city has tried to improve low- to moderate-income housing, primarily through the state's Community Development Block Grant program, which has been used to rehabilitate homes in the south and east ends of Cape Girardeau.