(White Plains, NY) — A federal magistrate’s recent ruling regarding the Fair and Affordable Housing Settlement between Westchester County and the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is no “major victory” for disabled residents, seniors, veterans and others who depend on housing assistance vouchers, said Westchester County Board of Legislators Vice Chairman Lyndon Williams (D-Mount Vernon).
At issue is the problem of discrimination against potential homeowners and renters who rely on housing vouchers and other subsidies—the so-called “Source of Income.” Though the magistrate concluded that the Settlement requires the County, as a whole, to promote Source of Income legislation, it does not require the County Executive to sign the legislation into law.
The magistrate states, however: “It is certainly unusual – not to mention awkward and apparently self-defeating – for a person or entity to promote a goal and then not undertake a step within its lawful power to accomplish the goal of that promotion.” In regard to the Source of Income promotion required in the Settlement, the magistrate adds that “the Monitor is free to re-examine the question of whether the County breached (its) duty in… other ways and what measures, if any, should be taken by the County to remedy any breach that may be found.”
Nonetheless, County Executive Rob Astorino and the Republican members of the Westchester County Board of Legislators have mistakenly declared the magistrate’s ruling a “major victory” for Westchester County, even though the ruling also rejected the County Executive’s challenge on how the County will eliminate exclusionary zoning practices that may exist in Westchester, and rejected the contention that the Monitor could approve a HUD document that would release Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds that are being withheld as well.
“It is a sad day for Westchester when several of its elected leaders, including the County Executive, declare victory the second they believe that discrimination has been sanctioned by a court,” said Williams. “The ruling makes plain that Source of Income legislation is still needed here, and for folks who need fair and affordable housing, the issue remains real. In the end, it’s about respecting each other’s rights and affording dignity to others. These are core values that strengthen our communities.”
The Source of Income legislation, passed by the BOL in 2010, was vetoed by the County Executive, although it could have gone into affect without his signature. While the BOL certainly agrees that no elected official can be forced to vote for or sign anything, a bi-partisan majority of legislators voted for legislation that landlords should not be able to employ a discriminatory process against potential tenants receiving housing assistance vouchers or veterans’ housing vouchers.
As for County Executive Astorino and the Republican legislators’ repeated insistence that HUD should reinstate the $7 million of CDBG funds, Williams noted that the BOL called on the court-appointed monitor last summer to help break an impasse between the County Administration and HUD so that this federal funding can be restored to the County.
“HUD withheld the community development block grants last May, and the Administration never even bothered to inform the Board of this,” remarked Williams. “Now, my Republican colleagues on the Board of Legislators are demanding that HUD reinstate the funds. Where were they a year ago, when the County Executive gave up eight million dollars of federal money over a two-year period to run the Housing Choice Voucher program?”
