BUFFALO: 3rd poorest, 2nd most "poverty funding"

[kernwatch]

"Joe Citizen":

Who are you & what is your interest in Bflo's poverty? Where do you live? How many meetings addressing poverty have you attended? Have you ever spoken at one?

I would feel like a fool to advocate a 'poverty plan' to a group of 'hoods', always at the ready to attack, while doing nothing visible about the problem themselves.

Here is the latest from Jim Heaney on his blog.

Who at SUWNY is 'ready to rumble'?

http://blogs.buffalonews.com/outrage...ock-grant.html
November 02, 2009

Block grant woes go from bad to worse
The city's block grant program may be more screwed up than ever.

Given its history, that's saying a lot. And given the city's status as the nation's third-poorest city, that's a shame.

Not that anybody in a position of authority seems embarrassed about it, at least not enough to actually do something about it.

Of course, Mayor Byron Brown can fix the problem. But he hasn't exactly built a track record as a problem solver during his nearly four years in office, has he? From what I learned during the course of reporting today's story, it appears Brown -- with his sidekick Steve Casey doing the dirty work, of course -- is using the program's millions in part to reward friends and punish enemies.

Let's move on to others who could be part of the solution, if they so chose.
For starters there is the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It's real good at finding problems. Not so good at fixing them.

It has the ways -- it's the will that's lacking. HUD and the city have been going back and forth since the feds issued their report in March that found 19 serious problems with the Brown administration's management of the block grant program. So far, 10 of the 19 problems have been fixed, ones that to varying degrees involve pushing the right paper across the table. But the root problems, starting with poor management, remain unresolved. The full updated report is here.

HUD has all kinds of regulatory powers. And it's got the power of the purse strings. Not that it acts that way. Heck, the feds won't even use the bully pulpit. Call them for a comment, a chance to nudge the city, and you get blah-blah-blah quotes from a flak. The last time anyone had anything stronger to say, HQ in DC called and told everyone to dummy up.

Perhaps Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Brian Higgins and Louise Slaughter should tell HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to get tough. Our local delegation has been awfully quiet about the city's misuse of federal dollars ever since John LaFalce retired. Yeah, I know, they're all Democrats and want to act like We Are Family, but it is their constituents who are getting the short end of the deal.

The Common Council, on the other hand, has had a few things to say. But it's been mostly just talk. For all its rhetoric, the Council in recent years has changed about 1 percent of the spending proposed by Brown in his block grand budget submissions. And there's been no push for structural changes.

Yeah, the Council was successful this summer in getting HUD's inspector general to agree to come in and audit the block grant program -- not that he's shown up yet. Far be it for me to discourage another pair of eyes from looking over the books, but what we need a lot more than another study is a solution. Three Council members sit on the governing board of the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency -- the crew that mismanages the block grant program -- and I don't see them pushing for meaningful change on that front, either. Yeah, the mayor controls the board majority through appointments, but that doesn't mean you just go through the motions. And that's largely what's happening.

Then there is city's foundation community, which invests a lot of money dealing with the vestiges of poverty. It is in their interest to see that the biggest pot of money available to do likewise -- the block grant program -- is money well spent. But they're spectators.

Finally, there are those so-called advocates for the poor. There are a lot of fine people in their ranks. Unfortunately, too many of them feel they have more to lose by speaking out than the community has to gain, and Brown and Casey give them a justifiable reason for pause. But a lot of these advocates have, or want, a piece of the block grant pie. They'll grumble, but not much more.

It's all so Buffalo. I guess this leaves it up to the citizenry to do something about it.

People, are you ready to rumble?

[Linda_D]

Originally Posted by kernwatch

"Joe Citizen":

Who are you & what is your interest in Bflo's poverty? Where do you live? How many meetings addressing poverty have you attended? Have you ever spoken at one?

I would feel like a fool to advocate a 'poverty plan' to a group of 'hoods', always at the ready to attack, while doing nothing visible about the problem themselves.

Here is the latest from Jim Heaney on his blog.

Who at SUWNY is 'ready to rumble'?

Don't challenge anybody's right to ask you and don't try to change the subject. Just answer the question.

You're good at criticizing what others do, but you offer nothing. It's time to put up or SHUT UP!

What IS your plan to "fix" Buffalo, Kern?

[JoeCitizen]

Originally Posted by kernwatch

"Joe Citizen":

Who are you & what is your interest in Bflo's poverty? Where do you live? How many meetings addressing poverty have you attended? Have you ever spoken at one?

I would feel like a fool to advocate a 'poverty plan' to a group of 'hoods', always at the ready to attack, while doing nothing visible about the problem themselves.

[/b][/i]?

I am a life long City of Buffalo resident who has spent my entire adult life trying to improve my neighborhood and the entire city and I still live here. I've held a variety of positions, paid and volunteer, where I know I've had a positive impact upon peoples lives.

I do have a respect for your observations and give you credit for speaking up and saying things that no one else wants to acknowledge or even talk about.

I sincerely want to know what your thoughts are on a poverty plan and/or housing plan for the city. I really don't believe that you are afraid of being "attacked." You have been "attacked" before and weren't afraid to stand up to people while you roamed the halls of the city and BMHA. Why would you be afraid of being attacked on a harmless message board?

[kernwatch]

Below is the latest Bflo News' editorial about the city's dramatically failed 'anti-poverty program'.

Sadly, Bflo News has been going easy on BMHA, the city's flagship of a massively HUd-funded "poverty Industry" . . long more effective at creating patronage jobs & developer profits, than at reducing Bflo's shameful leveles of poverty, while spending even more annually than the periodlically condemend waste of blockgrant funds.

SUWNY is no better. Despite repeated (anonymous) demands that I provide my 'poverty plan', I would be a fool to try serious discussion of poverty on SU.

"Linda D" had relentlessly condemned me (from her home in the Southern Tier) for 'hating the poor'. As a social worker long pushing for reform of wasteful, corrupt BMHA, "Linda D" relentlessly attacks any question I raise about BMHA's endlessly building new $200K apartments for the (55 yr-old) "elderly" in a city with 25,000 to 27,000 housing vacancies . . . where a typical workingclass family lives ina house worth $50K . .or much less.

Is there hope?

http://www.buffalonews.com/149/story/849045.html

Fix the HUD program
City Hall failing to meet duty to solve some long-standing problems
Updated: November 04, 2009, 11:20 AM

Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown continues to take heat over the handling, or mishandling, of federal anti-poverty funds. He has inherited many of the problems, which date back through earlier administrations — but he also has inherited the duty to fix them, and it's about time somebody got that job done.

Long-standing or not, the problems with the way federal Housing and Urban Development funds have been dispensed continue on Brown's watch. A recent critical report covered a five-year period, the start of which involved the Masiello administration. But the flaws remain just as troubling in the Brown administration.

What's frustrating is that a full seven months after federal officials criticized City Hall for what they determined was a mismanagement of the anti-poverty funds, the problems linger.

News staff reporter James Heaney's recent investigation into the matter found that more than 50 agencies have been cut off from funding for months because of unapproved contracts, when those contracts were supposed to be handled by May. The cash-flow problems for the agencies have slowed service delivery to the point that some people needing help have threatened suicide.

The delay may be explainable by the poorest of excuses — politics. The city's block grant program of roughly $22 million a year — totaling $670 million since the program began in 1974 — combats poverty and blight and helps fund housing and human services. And it has been a favorite political football among some elected officials, contributing to the slowness along with HUD's own complicated process, for which City Hall offers assistance.

The federal Housing and Urban Development office here issued a report in March finding 19 serious problems with the city's management of block grants. The city has cleared 13 of those "findings" with solutions, so far, but six remain. Frankly, what HUD giveth HUD could taketh away — and, with that hammer in hand, HUD can demand greater accountability and results.

The Brown administration is no different than any other in that personnel changes occur over time. The firing of a key official in the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency (BURA), which approves agency contracts, may be part and parcel of that kind of change, but it does raise more questions. So, too, does the current status of Brian A. Reilly, whose job, in part, was to oversee BURA, until he was reassigned.

The Brown administration rightly has targeted poverty as a priority problem, and the mayor and his team should be credited for anti-flipping initiatives to halt the spread of neighborhood blight, for foreclosure assistance to help individuals, and for summer reading programs as a step toward using education as a way out of poverty. Those are good approaches, but the HUD-related programs also need concentrated work.

For now, with politics and personnel policy factored in, the HUD block grant program's administration at City Hall seems more tilted toward chaos than focused on strong, substantive solutions.

Meanwhile, non-government help agencies have found themselves having to jump through new city-erected hoops, including disclosing the racial composition of their staffs. That may be a fair question in a city with a considerable minority population, but when those agencies and vendors serving the city provide valid proof of minority hiring practices, they should be given the green light — and the rules shouldn't be changing deep into the program or funding year. The same holds for new budgeting-method requirements. Making eleventh-hour changes to the rules and requirements, after agencies relying on allocations already have spent money, is unacceptable. It's also up to agencies to respond in a timely manner.

The Brown administration didn't create this sad situation. But it should be doing a lot more to fix it.

[JoeCitizen]

"SUWNY is no better. Despite repeated (anonymous) demands that I provide my 'poverty plan', I would be a fool to try serious discussion of poverty on SU.

What is so foolish about a serious discussion on poverty?

Let's make a deal...you can send me a private message on SUWNY and your plan and no one will know but you and I.

I have my reasons to stay anonymous and you have your reasons not to discuss your housing and poverty plans in public.

[Linda_D]

Originally Posted by kernwatch

SUWNY is no better. Despite repeated (anonymous) demands that I provide my 'poverty plan', I would be a fool to try serious discussion of poverty on SU.

"Linda D" had relentlessly condemned me (from her home in the Southern Tier) for 'hating the poor'. As a social worker long pushing for reform of wasteful, corrupt BMHA, "Linda D" relentlessly attacks any question I raise about BMHA's endlessly building new $200K apartments for the (55 yr-old) "elderly" in a city with 25,000 to 27,000 housing vacancies . . . where a typical workingclass family lives ina house worth $50K . .or much less.

Is there hope?

Well, since you won't explain what your "solution(s)" to poverty in Buffalo is (are) other than forcing the low-income elderly to live in slum housing to enrich slumlords, what else am I to think? All you ever do is whine about how outrageous it is for there to be public housing for low-income people, including seniors. The bolded above is a perfect example.

[kernwatch]

How many SUWNY posters care about Bflo's deep poverty & are willing to do something about it?

There have been 20 (anonymous) posts in response to this thread. About 2/3 of the posts were off topic, dominated by "Dougles" & "Run" battling over who attended the best (worst?) high school.

Who cares about Bflo poverty? Why should I waste my time debating a topic of deep concern to me on a potentially powerful forum where few, if anybody, cares . . . as "Linda D" is always lying in wait to swamp the discussion with dis-information . . . from the safety of far away Chautauqua County.

[Linda_D]

Originally Posted by kernwatch

How many SUWNY posters care about Bflo's deep poverty & are willing to do something about it?

There have been 20 (anonymous) posts in response to this thread. About 2/3 of the posts were off topic, dominated by "Dougles" & "Run" battling over who attended the best (worst?) high school.

Who cares about Bflo poverty? Why should I waste my time debating a topic of deep concern to me on a potentially powerful forum where few, if anybody, cares . . . as "Linda D" is always lying in wait to swamp the discussion with dis-information . . . from the safety of far away Chautauqua County.

What's your solution to poverty in Buffalo, Kern? Until you answer that, you have no credibility to whine about anyone on this MB, especially since you ran away to Minneapolis.

[leftWNYbecauseofBS]

Originally Posted by Linda_D

Well, since you won't explain what your "solution(s)" to poverty in Buffalo is (are) other than forcing the low-income elderly to live in slum housing to enrich slumlords, what else am I to think? All you ever do is whine about how outrageous it is for there to be public housing for low-income people, including seniors. The bolded above is a perfect example.

Why can you never see the middle? Putting low-income housing in slums is not right. That is one end of the spectrum. However, the BMHA spending $200k per new unit is not right either. That is the other end of the spectrum. There has to be a middle ground.

I would also like to point out that the BMHA is not a great landlord. In fact, one could argue that they are just as much of a slumlord as the average person. The BMHA is driven by greed and well paying jobs for those who work there.

The biggest challenge I see with the BMHA creating housing is the cost of creating it. Because it is a public entity, they have to build things at a much higher cost than the average landlord. Even if the construction was done with the same exact materials and quality, a BMHA project costs much much more.

So here is my idea. I have no idea if it is possible but it is an idea:

A three-way entity public/private project. It would include Buffalo ReUse, BMHA and private share holders.

Step 1 - Develop a plan for a massive land back of continuous land in the city. Do this in an area that is close to mass transit, productive housing and new development. The land that is West of Main St., South of Ferry, East of Jefferson and North of Best comes to mind. It is close to Allentown and the Elmwood Village, the Medical Campus and the Metro line. Set up financing.

Step 2 - Set up financing. Have the donate the parcels of land in this area to the new entity or sell for $1 per parcel. Set up a public company where 50% of the shares are given to the BMHA and 50% are sold as stock.

With BMHA, start to purchase land (at a reasonable market rate) from people who own in this area. Once purchased, the BMHA turns around and sells that property to the public company for $1 per parcel.

Step 3 - Have Buffalo ReUse gut whatever can be salvaged from the existing structures and when sold, the funds on these items go to the public company.

Start with one block at a time, but do it block by block. Some blocks in this area, like the one bound by Michigan, Masten, Riley and Laurel have only 10 homes. When close to 50 should be there. Demo everything on the block with the help of Buffalo ReUse.

Step 4 - Have the public company develop senior housing complex that is new, of good quality and up to every and all standards.

Step 5 - Move the seniors into this housing and provide them with vouchers funded by the BMHA but to the benefit of the public company.

Step 6 - For the blocks that have more that 50% of reusable structures, redevelop into quality market rate housing. Take a %, say 30% and rent at market rate to the public. The money from this goes to the public company. In the same block rent, say 70%, to those in Public housing. They rent from the public entity using vouchers provided by the BMHA.

For the parcels that are empty lots, new structures would be built funded in whole by the public company. This would allow for a cheaper development cost than what the BMHA pays for new housing.

Step 7 - Set up a rules structure that is similar to a HOA, that prevents these units from going to hell. They would also allow for tenants, both on voucher or market rate, to be evicted if they broke the rules. The determination would come from a "board of landlords" which would be made up of 50% BMHA employees and 50% representatives of the shareholders.

Step 8 - Develop commercial space that would tie into a business/job development program for the residents of public housing. The commercial tenants would have to abide by a set of rules for operation. Example: beer/wine/liquor could not be sold between 6pm and 9am.

Step 9 - With the revenue from the existing complexes and housing, after the cost of maintenance, from both vouchers and market rates, and with the sale of new units and parcels, the cycle would repeat itself until the whole section is redeveloped.

Step 10 - Once there was enough housing created to cover all of the BMHA residents under this voucher system, the BMHA would sell the existing public housing complexes on the open market. They could be purchased by anyone with enough scratch. The funds from these sales would directly go into the cost of providing the vouchers.


I know it is crazy and I wrote this over my first cup of coffee but at least it is an idea. Something that has not been presented in this thread.

[kernwatch]

Obviously one way to address Bflo's deep poverty is to get 'poverty funding' into neighborhoods where it helps the poor help themselves. Instead, the HUD millions are too often kept in City Hall, creating patronage jobs or making 'connected' developers endlessly building costly "affordable housing" in a city drowning in 25,000 to 27,000 housing vacancies ever richer.

Here is the latest from Donn Esmonde about Byron Brown's starving out' Homefront, which has also recently teamed-up with PUSH to revitalize distressed 19th St:

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregio...ry/852194.html

COMMENTARYDonn Esmonde: Brown biting the hand that feeds his city

Updated: November 06, 2009, 7:54 AM /

She has a photo of her house on her cell phone. That is how thrilled Renee Law is about grabbing a piece of the American Dream. When I asked her about the home, Law—like a new mom showing off baby pictures— opened the phone to display her prized possession.

Law owns a neat three-bedroom near the University at Buffalo’s South Campus. She knows by heart the day she closed—Sept. 5, 2008. “It still seems like a dream,” Law, 39, told me in her downtown office. “The first time I pulled up in the driveway, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is my house.’ It is such a blessing.”

It is a blessing that Law, friendly and talkative, admittedly would not have known without Homefront. The nonprofit agency helps lower-income renters such as Law become homeowners, with counseling and loan programs. It also buys battered houses for rehab, then sells them to home-ready clients.
“If not for [Homefront], I would not be in my home,” said Law, a manager at a health services agency. “I’m a single parent, on my own. There were a lot of things with credit and loans I didn’t know.”

Multiply her by 495. That is the number of renters whom the agency guided into homes over the last few years. Taking on a home deepened their stake in the community and stiffened the backbone of neighborhoods in America’s third-poorest city.

Somebody needs to tell Mayor Byron Brown. Homefront is among a glut of nonprofit agencies being held hostage in recent months by a mayor who keeps putting politics ahead of people. Homefront has tried for nearly a year to get the city to re-up on its contract. Agency head Bryan Cacciotti said that it goes beyond the city’s usual tardiness.

“We are worried,” Cacciotti said, “about being dropped.” Without the money, he will lay off workers and cut programs—and the city will have fewer new homeowners.

As reported Monday by The Buffalo News’ Jim Heaney, agencies that are politically friendly to Brown are getting city contracts. High-performing but nonpolitical places such as Homefront are getting stiff-armed. The city’s unofficial motto: If it’s fixed, break it.

A mayor who gave us a dead-on-arrival anti-poverty plan now seems complicit in killing what works. The rate of foreclosures among the new homeowners helped by Homefront is—drumroll, please—less than 1 percent. Thanks largely to Homefront, folks did not lift more home than they could carry.

Since 2005, the city has funneled federal dollars to Homefront. The agency used the seed money to bring in more than $4 million in private funds and other public dollars. The city, for little investment, gets a huge return in stronger neighborhoods. It is the housing equivalent of what the Olmsted Parks Conservancy, another agency that Brown is squeezing, does with prime parkland.

HUD blasted the city during the Masiello and Griffin years for misusing federal dollars sent to fight blight. Brown is keeping the sorry streak alive. Mayoral spokesman Peter Cutler blamed bureaucratic delays for holdups with federal dollars. Money for some agencies came through Thursday. But Homefront and others stay unfunded— and that may not change.

Brown comes across well and holds people more accountable than predecessor Tony Masiello. But I think that, time and again, he puts political considerations ahead of the public good. That would be easier to take in a milk-and-honey municipality. In dirt-poor Buffalo, it is a punch in the face.

Homefront is gasping for breath. If the city smothers its gift horse, the agency’s rate of 100-per-year new homeowners will slow to a trickle.

“Owning a home,” said Law, “makes me feel like a more productive person.”

It works for Law. It works for the city. Too bad it does not work for the mayor.

desmonde@buffnews.com

[Linda_D]

Originally Posted by kernwatch

Obviously one way to address Bflo's deep poverty is to get 'poverty funding' into neighborhoods where it helps the poor help themselves. Instead, the HUD millions are too often kept in City Hall, creating patronage jobs or making 'connected' developers endlessly building costly "affordable housing" in a city drowning in 25,000 to 27,000 housing vacancies ever richer.

Here is the latest from Donn Esmonde about Byron Brown's starving out' Homefront, which has also recently teamed-up with PUSH to revitalize distressed 19th St:

ROTFLMAO. Too bad you don't do some actual investigation, Dickie, but fall for Esmonde's sad, sad songs! HomeFront is a prime purveyor of the "subsidized" homes that you are always whining about, including Sycamore Village! ROTFLMAO. Here's their URL: http://www.homefrontbflo.org/. Check out the "Community Development" tab.

$ 49,000 - $ 56,000 (subsidized price) for a 1350-2100 square foot rehabbed house on 19th Street near Hampshire and West Ferry? Not exactly a safe, desirable neighborhood -- and the houses don't really have much in the way of achitectural value, either. How is this different from Sycamore Village, except that these are rehabs and not new builds and so are cheaper, Dickie?

[Linda_D]

I see that Mr Kern hasn't yet responded. Why am I not surprised?

FTR, I'm not opposed to what the Homefront organization is doing, especially with the 19th Street project where they're essentially taking a block and rehabbing the homes on it. They also seem to be serious about prepping potential home buyers for a home purchase (see their website). This seems to be the kind of program that the city really needs, and I'd much sooner see the city give grants, subsidies, and tax-breaks to the people who buy these homes than to the wealthy folks who buy condos/townhouses on the waterfront. The people who buy the 19th Street houses -- or those other Homefront properties around the city -- are not only helping themselves and their families, they are helping to save the neighborhoods in which they buy.

That said, however, if you continually wail about "subsidized housing" as Kern does, why would you support Homefront? I mean, other than to simply have another excuse to criticize the current regime's policies without having to put forth solutions of your own.

[kernwatch]

It is virtually impossible to have any constructive discussion of dramatically failed housing policy in Bflo when an anonymous troll from Jamestown, apparently living on a NYS pension, trolls virtually every housing-related post I make.

I am repeatedly attacked about being concerned about Bflo from a distance, after pushing for housing reform for decades, as the 'Jamestown troll' is not held equally accountable for 'move back or shut up'.

In addition, I do not debate with anybody wearing a 'hood', especially when they call me "Dickie", and have an obvious agenda of sabotage.

[Linda_D]

Originally Posted by kernwatch

It is virtually impossible to have any constructive discussion of dramatically failed housing policy in Bflo when an anonymous troll from Jamestown, apparently living on a NYS pension, trolls virtually every housing-related post I make.

I am repeatedly attacked about being concerned about Bflo from a distance, after pushing for housing reform for decades, as the 'Jamestown troll' is not held equally accountable for 'move back or shut up'.

In addition, I do not debate with anybody wearing a 'hood', especially when they call me "Dickie", and have an obvious agenda of sabotage.

Oh, BS. You repeatedly make up new excuses for your refusal to make positive proposals to make Buffalo better -- probably because you have none. It's easy to criticize but it's a whole lot harder to actually come up with alternatives.

What you really like to do is to post criticisms of current policy that you find in the local media as "evidence" that your crusade against "subsidized" housing in Buffalo has merit. Well, in the case of the Esmonde column, it doesn't. The Homefront organization is all about subsidized housing, Dickie.

BTW, you are welcome to call me "Linnie" if you wish. Of course, I don't have to "sabotage" your "crusade" because you do such a good job of that all by yourself -- and have done that repeatedly even before you escaped to Minneapolis.

[Jerry A]

Go to the Buffalo WEB site and see what us taxpayers are paying for the people who talk for the people who where elected and the Police (gets paid more than most police officers and just talks the Mayors talker over eighty thousand DAAAAAAAAAAAa. Check the link.
http://www.ci.buffalo.ny.us/Home/May...rnTransparency