At tonight’s meeting of the Mission Viejo city council mayor Frank Ury was discussing a recent meeting on affordable housing and the need to focus on this state mandated requirement. In his closing remarks, which I shall paraphrase, he said we need to not only satisfy the state but should also get something for the city in this housing compliance citing his preference for special consideration for our “first responders” such as police, fire, and those engaged in the field of nursing. He referenced a discussion with his Planning Commissioner Peter Bastone, CEO of Mission Hospital, who stated a large percentage of their hospital workers do not live in our city as they simply cannot afford the high cost of homes.
After the meeting I spoke to our city attorney and suggested he advise the mayor of the word “discrimination.” Having paid our city attorney’s office around $500,000 for their services over the past six months, hundreds of thousands paid to affordable housing legal advocates such as the Public Law Center, I surely wish to avoid any additional litigation costs and the black cloud that potential discrimination actions would do to our new image. As you read the following legal text from the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity text from HUD, pay attention to (4) which might be one area of concern.
100.60 Reads: Unlawful refusal to sell or rent or to negotiate for the sale or rental.
(a) It shall be unlawful for a person to refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to a person who has made a bona fide offer, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or natural origin, or to discriminate against any person in the sale or rental of a dwelling because of a handicap.
(b) Prohibited actions under this section include but are not limited to:
(1) Failing to accept or consider a bona fide offer because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.
(2) Refusing to sell or rent a dwelling to, or to negotiate for the sale or rental of a dwelling with, any person because of race, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.
(3) Imposing different sales prices or rental charges for the sale or rental of a dwelling upon any person because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.
(4) Using different qualifications criteria or applications, or sale or rental standards or procedures, such as income standards, application requirements, application fees, credit analysis or sale of rental approval procedures or other requirements, because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.
(5) Evicting tenants because of their race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin or because of the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin of a tenant’s guest.
The bottom line. Perhaps I am mistaken but I doubt that the compensation of OCSD deputies would qualify for affordable housing.
You are correct. The “first responders” you list do not qualify for affordable housing. Mission Viejo went through this drill with the liars from Steadfast who said policemen, firemen, teachers and nurses qualify for affordable housing. In Or. Co., all of those professions — even first-year teachers — make too much money to qualify.
If Ury wishes to enrich Kommissioner Bastone’s hospital business with a gift of housing for his underpaid workers (janitors and maintenance crew, not nurses), it should be in Trish Kelley’s neighborhood. These underpaid folks (it is the hospital’s responsibility, not the city’s, that they don’t earn a living wage) need to live where they work, right? How about trailers on hospital property?
Larry:
These groups typically do not qualify for affordable housing–I have checked and rechecked these assertions in the past. They make too much money. However–it makes the politicians look magnanimous when they decieve the public with this type of information.
This was just Ury pandering to the special interests. These are the special interests and unions he will later have his hand out for a political contribution. Even Ury is not stupid enough not to know this is not legally permissible.
Ury was very shallow on this phony ploy. Ury using his wife to put forward this goof ball idea is duplicitous at best.!!!
Now he wants to re-write the law to say that we can discriminate against people who do not ‘work’ in the city. Tell me please, what happens if you change jobs, the business closes, or moves, or just plain get fired? Do you lose your home and your job in the same nano second? How does the city track that unpleasant fact?
Or would that just be another promise to get something funded or built then lost along the way? Cities (including Mission Viejo) have too many of these to count.
Folks. I had to check to see the original date of this post. It was March 2, 2009.
Included in the HUD Fair housing and Equal Opportumity document it reads.
100.60 Unlawful refusal to sell or rent to negotiate for the sale or rental.
It shall be unlawful for a person to refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to a person who has made a bona fide offer, because of race, religion, sex, familial status or national origin.
While the suggestion by Frank Ury may not fall under any of these categories I would still be very careful as it relates to any form of discrimination. Madame Mayor has hit the nail on the head. Once they purchase or rent a unit what guarantee do we have that they will not lose their jobs or transfer out of Mission Viejo?
In our Register’s community Saddleback Valley News on Friday, the Ridge by Lennar, one of our future housing projects, has started to accept offers to purchase low and very low income units.
“Primary list: Residents or persons living and/or working within the city limits of the City of Mission Viejo for a minimum of six months.”
In their income table it offers “very low income” units for a single person earning less than $32,550. The corresponding unit, for a single person with low income (below 80% AMI), is capped at $52,050. For a couple the unit cost increases to $37,200 and $59,450.
In my March 2, 2009 post I reference remarks by Frank Ury relating to his discussion with his plannning commission Peter Bastone who just happens to be president of Mission Hospital. Peter stated a large percentage of their hospital workers do not live in our city as they simply cannot afford the high cost of homes.
Hmm. Other than creating a conflict of interest or simply promoting a self serving result, I do question the original plan to provide a preference for first responders such as police and fire who surely make more money than the cap for these affordable units.