CITY DEBATE: ,HOUSING AUTHORITY AND PUBLIC HOUSING AT ISSUE

Concern over a lack of available rental units in Cape Girardeau has prompted debate over whether a housing authority and public housing are needed here.

Last week City Councilman Doug Richards suggested the city again examine whether public housing is needed here for low-income residents. Richards also said he was concerned that too few houses are available for homebuyers in the $40,000 to $60,000 market.

It's an issue the city has studied at length in the past, resulting ultimately in rejection of the formation of a housing authority.

Also last week, Debra Willis of the Cape Girardeau National Association for the Advancement of Colored People asked that the city adopt a minimum property maintenance code to assure better quality housing for low-income residents.

City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said Sunday the city's Board of Appeals now is studying the code issue and likely will recommend such a measure to the council.

Although the city has been unwilling to embrace public housing, Fischer said a minimum property code would go a long way to improve the condition of low-income rental units.

"I think that would be a big step toward bringing up to standard the older pieces of property that are now being rented," he said. "I really believe a minimum housing standard would be one step toward helping the situation for some of the people who feel the need for public housing."

Fischer said that although some property owners fear that such a standard would be too restrictive, he thinks the measure could be drafted so that it doesn't pose any undue hardship on property owners.

But some residents, including local NAACP representatives, also have urged the appointment of a housing authority to manage public units.

At a hearing in Cape Girardeau one year ago, NAACP representatives asked the Missouri Housing Development Commission to address the need in their Comprehensive Affordable Housing Strategy.

David Perkins, public information officer for the commission, said Thursday that local authorities not the state must initiate public housing in a community.

Perkins said the issue of public housing seems to be a divisive one in Cape Girardeau.

"There seems to be almost a war of opinion from people who think it is a good thing, and others who don't want any public housing at all," he said. "Some even have said at hearings in that area that they would rather have substandard housing than public housing.

"It looks to me like a community with a lot of conflict, and it's obvious it isn't going to be resolved by an agency coming in and building housing."

Perkins said Cape Girardeau isn't unique in its division over public housing. He said that in such instances all the commission can do is wait for local authorities to resolve the matter.

"We have found again and again this conflict about low-income housing," he said. "But we want to hear what the community wants."

Fischer said that although the city has no public housing authority, there are many apartment units and houses that are federally subsidized for low-income tenants that a substantial number of residents take advantage of.

The city manager said that if there is a shortage of adequate rental properties in Cape Girardeau, private developers likely will respond to the demand.

"The private sector will respond to that. That's supply and demand," he said. "I do know that for years ever since I was on the council in mid-'60s there was sort of a feeling that this could be taken care of through the private sector.

"And with the subsidies that are available to low-income tenants, I think that's a legitimate argument."

Fischer said the city staff now is compiling for the council information on what's available in rental units and housing in the city.

But, he said, that's a separate issue from public housing, which would be solely for low-income residents.

Fischer said public housing can be successful, and several cities in Missouri and Southeast Missouri have effective housing authorities. But any community must first establish a definite need.

"I toured a half-dozen housing authorities while I was on the council in the '60s," Fischer said. "If they're run correctly, they can be good for the community if there's a need.

"In Cairo, Charleston, Poplar Bluff, Sikeston, there was definitely a noted difference between how the authorities were handled. Some of them were done correctly and were viewed favorably in the community; others weren't."