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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2010
Contact: Christina Stephens, christina.stephens@la.gov
State to Hold Public Hearings on Impediments to Fair Housing in Louisiana
BATON ROUGE, La. - The state of Louisiana will hold a weeklong series of public hearings on the status of fair housing in Louisiana starting Monday, March 15.
The eight public meetings will review the Louisiana Recovery Authority-Office of Community Development's 2009-2010 study that examines the primary hindrances to fair housing, called The Louisiana Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI).
Louisiana Recovery Authority Executive Director Robin Keegan said, "Early in our recovery process from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the LRA board of directors made a commitment to fair housing by adopting a model of mixed-income communities that provide low-income and market-rate tenants with equal access to high-quality developments in attractive settings. The results of this study will help provide our citizens, advocacy groups and local and state officials, as well as our disaster recovery housing partners, with the updated information they need to ensure that all Louisiana residents continue to receive equal and fair housing opportunities."
Federal and state fair housing laws prohibit discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and familial status. In addition, Orleans Parish has extended additional protections for sexual orientation, gender identification, creed, age and marital status.
Each public hearing will consist of a 45-minute presentation on the study, followed by 30 minutes of public comment. The meetings schedule is as follows:
- Monday, March 15
Bossier City - 3 p.m. at the Bossier City Civic Center, 620 Benton Road, Red River Room, 2nd floor - Tuesday, March 16
Monroe - 9 a.m. at the Monroe City Hall, 400 Lea Joyner Expressway
Alexandria - 1:30 p.m. at the Alexandria City Hall Council Chambers, 915 Third Street, 1st floor
Lafayette - 4:30 p.m. at the Greenhouse Senior Center, 110 NE Evangeline Thruway - Wednesday, March 17
Lake Charles - 9 a.m. at the City Council Chambers, 326 Pujo St., 1st floor
New Orleans - 2 p.m. at the City Council Chambers, 1300 Perdido St. - Thursday, March 18
Baton Rouge - 9 a.m. at the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, LHFA Board Room, 2415 Quail Drive. This meeting will cover the geographic regions of East Baton Rouge, Houma/Terrebonne, Slidell and Thibodaux, as well as the non-entitlement areas of the State of Louisiana.
Jefferson - 1:30 p.m. at the East Bank Council Chambers, 1221 Elmwood Park Blvd., 2nd floor. This meeting will address the geographic regions of Jefferson Parish and the City of Kenner.
Since the first storms hit in 2005, the state Office of Community Development has received more than $14 billion in Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery funding - $13.41 billion for Katrina-Rita and $1.05 billion for Gustav-Ike. Much of this funding is earmarked for affordable housing for residents with low-to-moderate incomes who live in traditional "entitlement" cities or parishes that are not accustomed to administering disaster recovery funding in their housing programs.
Louisiana has 14 designated entitlement cities or parishes that receive annual CDBG funding directly from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. These entitlement communities use the grants to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment and expanded economic opportunities, primarily for low-to-moderate income individuals.
For the non-entitlement portions of the state, representing more than half of the population, the OCD acts as administrator of the CDBG funding and thus removes the burden of oversight from local governments that have limited resources.
All communities receiving CDBG funding must certify to HUD that they will affirmatively further fair housing. The HUD certification process has three elements: 1) completion of an analysis of impediments to fair housing study; 2) taking of actions to overcome identified impediments; and 3) maintenance of records on the analysis and actions.
Although the OCD typically handles the AI studies for the non-entitlement areas only, for purposes of the 2009-2010 study and at HUD's request, the department is sponsoring both the non-entitlement and entitlement areas. This is a result of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike.
The study is broken down into geographic regions, and consists of an examination of policies and actions that further fair housing, the fair housing delivery system and housing transactions. Sources included census data; home mortgage industry data; federal, state and local housing complaint data; surveys of housing industry experts and stakeholders; and other housing information.
The Louisiana Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) is available online at http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/cdbg/DRHome.htm.
Created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in 2005, the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is the coordinating and planning body leading the most extensive rebuilding effort in American history. The central point for hurricane recovery in Louisiana, the LRA works closely with the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and partners with state and federal agencies to oversee more than $20 billion worth of programs, speed the pace of rebuilding, remove hurdles and red tape and ensure that Louisiana recovers safer and stronger than before.
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