Thursday, October 8, 2015

HUD' s AFFH rule comes to Marin County



"HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Regulation: What it Means for Marin”
Guest Speakers:
Caroline Peattie, Executive Director, Fair Housing of Marin
Doug Kelly, Councilmember, Town of San Anselmo
Luncheon and Speaker Program – Wednesday October 7, 2015

In July, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) adopted a rule intended to limit distribution of housing funds to programs that are fair and promote equal opportunity. Growing out of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the new rule is called Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH). In October 2011, the Marin BOS approved an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing, including an Implementation Plan.

Some claim the housing analysis demonstrates that lack of affordable housing is discrimination against minority groups. Others see AFFH as government intrusion that challenges the economics of individual property rights and forcing white suburbs to change their racial makeup. Westchester County, New York, has been mired for years in a legal battle with HUD. A lawsuit claims the county misled the government by accepting HUD funding without affirmatively furthering fair housing. In a settlement agreement, Westchester County will build 750 affordable units, primarily in communities with few minorities. The settlement required the county to adopt a law banning landlords from discriminating against subsidized tenants. As some of those requirements went unmet, HUD started withholding money from Westchester. The county has since decided not to pursue any more block-grant funds, an option critics of the new rule suggest many communities will choose. Speakers will address the question of what the AFFH rule means for Marin.

Caroline Peattie , Fair Housing of Marin’s Executive Director, has 28 years’ fair housing experience. She began her work in 1987 at ECHO Fair Housing in Hayward, and eventually became the Executive Director of Sentinel Fair Housing in Oakland. She planned, researched, and co-authored Marin County’s 2010 Analysis of Impediments . She has been a guest speaker at numerous conferences on fair housing and Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. Ms. Peattie has presented many training sessions, including a California Department of Real Estate-accredited training program for public and private housing providers. Though Fair Housing of Marin is based in Marin, she has also worked on fair housing issues in Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, and Sonoma counties, and she currently serves on the board of the National Fair Housing Alliance.

Doug Kelly, San Anselmo Town Councilmember and business owner, was born and raised in Larchmont, New York, part of Westchester County which is the county involved in the lawsuit with HUD regarding the AFFH ruling. He attended University of San Francisco and moved to Marin County in 1993 and to San Anselmo in 1995. Doug served on the San Anselmo Parks and Recreation Commission for eight years and in 2013 he was elected to the San Anselmo Town Council to a seat vacated by a resignation and currently serves as Vice Mayor. He also serves on the California League of Cities Public Safety Policy Commission, among other Boards and Commissions.. Doug is co-owner of Performance POS, a San Rafael technology company that serves the restaurant and retail industries.

6 comments:

  1. What it means? It means chasing down the last White person until the White race is erased. Just in case you hadn't noticed ( and of course we both know you did, but you like to pretend you didn't), AFFH only applies to White communities. Safe neighborhoods aren't all they are made out to be, anyway.

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  2. Segregation? Why would you want to segregate yourself from the joys of places like Oakland, Detroit, St. Louis, etc.? Is it for safety? Or are you just a hater? Perhaps the book White Girl Bleed A Lot might shed some light on this.

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  3. 1965. 50 years later people purposefully self segregate. Why? Because they prefer their own people. No one is stopping Blacks from joining White churches yet they don't. Look at any table in a cafeteria and you will see the kids sitting with their own people. Asians sit with Asians. Are they haters because they prefer to be with their own people? No. Are Blacks haters because they like their own Black churches? No. Are Hispanics racist because they like their own people? La Raza anyone? So why is it White people are haters because they like to live around other White people.

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  5. I allow Anonymous postings as long as they meet the standards of civility. Controversial opinions like the above will be published. I believe it is better to discuss things openly rather than leaving them unsaid.

    The above anonymous commentator is making points through the "racial lenses" of government and some social activists. I find it offensive. Skin color alone is meaningless. It is about communities and people not race.

    Why don't we single out blue-eyed people or red heads? That is because most of us recognize that those factors tell nothing about a person other a collection of genes. I won't be drawn into a discussion of race.

    I think the point the above poster is making, is that people are drawn to communities they identify with and no amount of social engineering will make it otherwise. I don't think this is a bad thing. In fact, that is how we develop a diverse, yet integrated society when we respect the rights of the individual and their personal choices.

    It is time we abandon using race as a standard for our discussions about community. Every individual deserves the respect to make individual choices.

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  6. The one lady played the slave card. Obviously she doesn't know that Blacks were NOT the only people who came here a slave. Many White people were also slaves. Several books have been written on this topic. I suggest people do a little bedtime reading.

    White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain's White Slaves in America by Don Jordan

    To Hell or Barbados The ethnic cleansing of Ireland by Sean O'Callaghan

    The Irish Slaves: Slavery, indenture and Contract labor Among Irish Immigrants by Rhetta Akamatsu

    They Were White and They Were Slaves: The Untold History of the Enslavement of Whites in Early America by Michael Hoffman

    Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl by Kate McCafferty

    And how about the White slaves owned by non-White Muslims in Africa? White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and North Africa's One Million European Slaves by Giles Milton

    There are many more books that detail facts few know because these facts don't fit the narrative or the agenda.

    In fact, millions of people are enslaved today and it is NOT the White man enslaving them. Many African nations have slavery today. In case you forgot, those nations are Black ruled, not White.

    Take a look at this article from LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/17/world/la-fg-wn-slavery-africa-20131017




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