Housing Privatization

Most people have probably passed by Berkeley’s low income public housing units, and may even live in one or know somebody else who does. These three- and four-bedroom apartments scattered around Berkeley provide homes for 75 low income families. They are also on the verge of being sold. If these homes are privatized, it is likely that the residents will be forced to move. This is an extremely worrying situation for some tenants, who will have to find new places to live.
Because of the cost of rehabilitating the low income units, the Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) has decided to transfer ownership of the apartments to a private or non profit company. This decision was given the green light by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) last January. As to which company to pick, BHA will most likely choose the highest bidder: whoever will devote the most money to fixing up the units. Some families currently living in public housing will be transferred to Section 8 housing. These programs differ in that Section 8 tenants pay a rent equivalent to thirty percent of their income, whereas public housing is owned by the city.
These houses, built in the 1980s, require maintenance and repairs which the Berkeley Housing Authority has not been able to afford. Although BHA has tried numerous ways to manage them over the years, including private companies, non-profit organizations and managing the units themselves, the public housing program loses approximately $106,000 every year. According to a 2007 study commissioned by BHA, the price of repairing the units would be at least four million dollars, and it would take close to forty years for the city to complete these repairs using federal funding.
Nothing surrounding this issue is cheap; the study itself, done by EJP Consultants, cost $38,000, according to an article by activist Linda Carson. According to the EJP study, the cost of replacing the apartments would be almost double the cost of fully repairing them. The list of necessary repairs includes some minor as well as major problems, such as landscaping, replacing kitchen cabinets and replacing mold-damaged drywall.
Tia Ingram, the executive director of BHA, is confident that all low income families will be guaranteed Section 8 housing. Ingram said, “They will receive a Section 8 voucher, which they will be able to take anywhere in the country. Say someone in your family gets a job in Hawaii, or your child wants to go to college in Texas. You’ll be able to move anywhere.”
Linda Carson, a reporter who has written several articles regarding this issue, believes that the city is simply trying to make money by selling the units. Carson commented, “It is no secret that I am in opposition to the selling of Berkeley's public housing, and that I am opposed to the displacement of poor people from their longtime public housing units. The Berkeley Housing Authority wants to sell Berkeley's public housing units to one or more nonprofit housing developers, but nonprofit housing developers have minimum income requirements that discriminate against the poor. Selling Berkeley's public housing to some nonprofit housing developers places Berkeley's poor at risk of homelessness.”
Some tenants are unsatisfied with the Section 8 solution. During a phone interview with Carson, public housing tenant Rhonda Rogers said, “I’m under pressure to accept a Section 8 voucher, which I do not want because I will have to pay more for rent than I do currently, and I’m only getting unemployment at the moment.”
As of now, the tenants who will be forced to move are those who have more bedrooms than they do children. The apartments were originally designed for large families with multiple children. Today, many of those children have grown up and moved away from home. These tenants are referred to as “empty nesters.” However, many tenants are repelled by the idea of moving out of homes and neighborhoods where they have lived for decades. Tenants who no longer qualify as “low income” will also be required to move. This will take place as soon as the city chooses a buyer for the units.
Some tenants do not oppose the change to Section 8 housing, while others are vehemently against the decision to privatize their homes. Ingram commented, “Opinion among tenants is split. Most families see it as a positive, but some don’t want to move... If you’ve lived somewhere for twenty years and your doctor is right up the street, it can be hard.” In favor of the move, Ingram added, “Although the public housing is nice, they all look alike, and are recognizable as public housing. Section 8 has fewer stigmas associated with it.”

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