Weekly update from the National Housing Conference

Dear Friend,

This month is designated to celebrate African-American history, yet it started with a chilling reminder of the ugly side of American history as the governor of Virginia has been confronted with his racist past, once again focusing our attention on the pervasive legacy of our nation’s original sin. In some ways it is fitting that our unique creed that “all men are created equal” was written by a man who himself owned the families of the men and women who built his wealth. Our attitudes about race and equality are burdened by self-serving exceptions. Last year, we recognized the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, yet African-American homeownership today is lower than it was when this landmark legislation was signed into law in 1968. Our quest for a more perfect union progresses, but we have far to go.

The National Housing Conference also shares a mixed legacy. No one is immune. Recently, we found a box of presidential signing pens in a closet, including the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1965, which we fought for over 10 years, and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1968. But we also were the leading proponent of the National Housing Act of 1949, which was intended to build 800,000 units of affordable housing. Nowhere near that number of units were built, but hundreds of African-American communities were leveled in the name of slum clearance, and later paved over with National Highway Act funds in the 1950s. The law of unintended consequences is never repealed.

This week, I’m in California to meet with NHC members and attend an outstanding ULI conference on affordable housing hosted by one of our Board members, Christopher Ptomey. California is ground zero in the affordable housing crisis, where a quarter of the nation’s homeless live on the street, in cars and in tent cities. A recent article in the LA Times notes that in 1950, Californians voted to amend the state constitution to make it harder for poor people to find a place to live. Article 34, which has survived several attempts at repeal, requires voter approval before public housing is built in a community. The campaign unabashedly appealed to racist fears about integration. “We know the roots of where it came from,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told the LA Times. “It’s a white supremacist chapter in the state’s history.” Garcetti is behind a new effort to ask voters to repeal Article 34, but it’s future remains unclear. And that’s not history. It’s right now. 

This year, NHC begins a broad, national conversation with our members on a new National Housing Act, which we believe is needed to modernize and expand the policy and funding tools currently available to build affordable housing for the 21st century. Closing the minority homeownership gap and ending homelessness are essential objectives. We also need to build millions of units of rental housing that are affordable to people at nearly every income level. Rents are unaffordable for half of all Americans, and we lose over 100,000 affordable housing each year as rents continue to rise. A recent Zillow study found that just 42 percent of rental listings were within financial reach of median-income U.S. households–just 16 percent for median African-American family income and 27 percent for the median Latino household. We can and must do better.

NHC has identified five areas that we will convene our members to develop concrete policy and legislative proposals: Homeownership, Affordable Rental Housing, Ending Homelessness, Climate Change Disaster Relief and Community Development. To sign up for one or more of these working groups, please reach out to Nathan Park at [email protected]. We look forward to working with you to make a real, tangible and lasting difference.

Sincerely,

David M. Dworkin

President and CEO

National Housing Conference

NHC signs onto letter urging for agreement on FY 2019 spending

More than 1,000 organizations, including NHC have called on Congress and the president to reach an agreement on FY 2019 spending and avert another government shutdown. The letter also urges congressional leadership and the president to lift the spending caps for FY 2020, which would lead to severe cuts to housing and community development programs like HOME Investment Partnerships, Community Development Block Grants, Housing Choice Vouchers and Project-Based Rental Assistance.

Save the Date!

OCC announces new senior deputy comptroller for bank supervision policy

On Feb. 5, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced Grovetta Gardineer will become its Senior Deputy Comptroller for Bank Supervision Policy upon the retirement of Grace Dailey on March 2, 2019.

“Grovetta brings deep policy experience and passion to this new role and has been an important voice on the OCC’s Executive Committee since becoming Senior Deputy Comptroller for Compliance and Community Affairs in March 2016,” said Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting in a news release.

In this role, Gardineer will direct the formulation of policies and procedures for the supervision and examination of national banks and federal savings associations as well as overseeing staff responsible for identifying, assessing,and communicating risk to the federal banking system. She will continue to oversee the units that made up the agency’s Compliance and Community Affairs functions as part of OCC’s Bank Supervision Policy business unit.

Gardineer has more than 31 years of experience in bank supervision, policy and regulation.