PRESS ADVISORY

        Tenants, Advocates, Supervisors, Mayor Protest Cuts to SF’s Public Housing -
            Supervisor’s Hearing Monday to Look at Impact of Loss of $7 Million in Federal Housing Funds

            For Immediate Release:                                         Contact: Sara Shortt, Housing Rights  Committee of San Francisco                                                                                                                              415-703-8634 (Office)
                                                                      
What: Press Conference to Protest Cuts to Public Housing;
(Followed by Board of Supervisor’s Hearing to Examine Impact of Funding Loss)
When: Monday, September 18th, 12:30 PM
Where: City Hall Steps (Polk Street Side)
Why: HUD cuts mean SF will lose $7 million for public housing. Congress urged to take action.  
Who: Public housing residents, supervisors Ammiano, Daly and Mirkarimi, labor unions, tenant advocates, senior and homeless organizations to speak.  

Concerned residents, community members, housing advocates, members of the Board of Supervisors and representatives of the Mayor will gather on Monday to express their outrage at the latest cuts in HUD funding for public housing.  In June, HUD announced that housing authorities across the country will only be funded at 85.5% of their need.  For San Francisco, this will mean a loss of $7 million dollars, a nearly 23 percent reduction in operating subsidies.  The cuts, which reduce funds from $454 to $342 per unit, represents a loss of $123 per unit for the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA).  

The announced shortfalls are only the latest in a series of harsh cuts to public housing Housing Authorities pushed for by HUD and the Bush Administration in recent years.  Since 2001, Congress has decreased public housing operating funds by $1.5 billion dollars.   Advocates in San Francisco and across the country are also alarmed that the President’s HUD budget proposal for 2007 funds the program at only $3.4 billion nationally, but the estimated required need is $4.2 billion.  

“The potential impact of the cuts appears very grim for San Francisco”, Says Sara Shortt of the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, “There will doubtless be employee layoffs, a an increased backlog in repair needs and a reduction in security services at a time when these things are most sorely needed”.  The fallout from this budget shortfall can already be seen throughout the country. In Philadelphia  a likely 300-500 employees could lose their jobs.  In Salt Lake City, the Housing Authority is planning to dispose of their public housing units alltogether; and in Trenton, NJ, community protests have erupted after 33 public housing staff have been laid off.   Tim Kaiser, the Executive Director of the Public Housing Authority Director’s Association (PHADA) says that “ some shuttering of properties and bankruptcies are inevitable if Congress does not act.”  

Residents, housing advocates and Housing Authority officials are calling on members of Congress to restore the funds lost by enacting a  $300 budget supplemental for 2006.  They are also urging San Francisco’s
Congressional delegation to push for an increase in 2007’s funding so that no more funds are lost.

Speakers at the press conference will include: Doug Shoemaker, Mayor’s Office of Housing, Tom Ammiano, Chris Daly, Ross Mirkarimi, Maria Guillen, SEIU, 790, John Melone, Senior Action Network, Jenny Friedenbach, Coalition on Homelessness, Leslie Clark, President, 430 Turk Residents Assoc., Sara Shortt, Housing Rights Committee.  

Following the press event, Supervisor Tom Ammiano will be sponsoring a hearing of the Government Audit and Oversight committee to explore the impact of the funding cuts on San Francisco and what the City can do to prevent the budget cuts.  Public housing residents as well as representatives from the San Francisco Housing Authority, the Mayor’s Office of Housing, and the National Housing Law Project will testify.  Supervisors Daly and Mirkarimi will also attend.  

 “It’s important that we fully understand the impact of these enourmous budget cuts on our community” said Mr. Ammiano.  “We need our congressional members to be made aware of this crisis and to take a stand to stop the assault on public housing.”  
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