Back on February 15th of this year, the 2019 Omnibus Spending Bill was signed into law. To the surprise of many, this spending bill sustained the large 2018 increases in funding for public housing and made additional investments. Overall, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) saw a 2% funding increase, including $4.65 billion for the Public Housing Operating Fund (an increase of $103 million), and $2.78 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund, an increase of $25 million.

This news follows a long PR campaign by Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA), Mayor Frey, and Lisa Bender arguing that declining federal funding gave the agency no choice but to privatize public housing in order to “preserve” it. While internally using the motto “sell, sell, sell”, MPHA justified plans to move residents out by saying they will never get enough money from U.S. Congress to maintain public housing. In this proposal submitted to the Governor’s Task Force on Affordable Housing, MPHA’s Former Executive Director Greg Russ and General Council Lisa Griebel make ominous threats about the future of affordable housing saying “the need for additional units is compromised by the threatened loss of existing housing for extremely low-income households. This loss is driven by the steady downward trajectory of annual federal appropriations. This downward trajectory is expected to continue.”

MPHA pushed this argument without saying anything about its own surplus of over $23 million. This money is parked in a bank account while MPHA neglects repairs in many public housing buildings – putting families, elders, and children’s health at risk, especially during the winter. But public officials have been reluctant to hold MPHA accountable. Many powerful “progressive” elected officials and city departments such as Mayor Frey, Council President Lisa Bender and City’s CPED (Department of Community Planning & Economic Development) have been supporting MPHA’s narrative to sell public housing to private developers, who would profit from public buildings while low-income POC people are displaced.

 In summary, MPHA put out a huge PR campaign citywide:

• To change the mindset of middle-class white residents, pushing them to accept that public housing was no longer a sustainable or a worthwhile public good.
• This argument rested on the claim that because funding had been decreasing in recent years, it would never return to previous levels.
• Privatization is described as the only way to “preserve” the housing stock.
• While pushing this narrative, MPHA has neglected to disclose that they currently sit on over $23 million in unrestricted reserves.

The 2019 Omnibus bill proves that MPHA’s central claim that federal support for the nation’s vital public housing resources will inevitably continue to dwindle is false. Instead, it shows that huge wins are possible. This bill means that MPHA will receive more federal funding than it has in recent decades. What will their excuse be now that they have enough money?

The truth is, dismantling public housing is racial. The fact that a majority of public housing residents are Black, Black Muslims, Refugees, and Immigrants of Color says a lot about MPHA’s intent to dismantle communities of color in Minneapolis.

Whether or not public housing is adequately funded is a question of political will. We will continue to build a movement to protect and build more public housing that is truly public.

This analysis will unpack the letter sent from Ben Carson and Trump’s U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to MPHA approving the sale of more than 640 buildings. These buildings consist of 717 single-family public housing homes, also known as scattered sites, and 104.67 acres of public land. This approval would not be possible without the written approval, support and lobbying to HUD by Mayor Jacob Frey and Council President Lisa Bender. The rest of the City Council Members especially Cam Gordon, Jeremiah Ellison, Abdi Warsame and Andrea Jenkins also passed a resolution embracing the privatization of public housing with the Department of Community Planning & Economic Development. The entire city government supports this plan that will displace thousands of people.

Read the analysis here: Historic Land Grab Of Scattered Site Public Housing

MPHA and City of Minneapolis are Privatizing over 730 Public Housing Single-Family Homes Knowns as Scattered Sites

Updated: July 10th 2019

What is Section 18 Demolition & Disposition?

 **Section 18 is NOT the same as Section 8**

Section 18 of the 1937 United States Housing Act is a policy of the federal Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) which allows public housing authorities (PHA’s) to demolish and redevelop their properties under certain conditions. This is a voluntary program that PHA’s elect to pursue.  The specific terms used for this process are “Demolition and Disposition.” Demolition means the destruction of housing, simple enough…but what does “Disposition” mean? Disposition is the transfer of public housing properties to private developers and authorities. Disposition allows private developers and nonprofit corporation to take ownership of public housing properties, allowing them to be converted into private, market-rate housing.

Section 18 in action means destroying and privatizing public housing and redeveloping the properties into new housing which is unaffordable to working, low income and poor people.  Under Trump and Carson, HUD has significantly expanded Section 18 while simultaneously gutting tenant protections and resident consultation requirements. Trump and Carson have made it easier for PHA’s to obtain permission to dispose of their public housing by reducing the “obsolescence”  requirement. Meaning that a PHA no longer needs to prove a unit is beyond repair in order to dispose of it. 

Prior to 2018, Section 18 was encouraged by HUD primarily in situations where single-family homes were beyond repair and where funding was not available. Trump and Carson are now encouraging PHA’s to use Section 18, often in conjecture with another privatization scheme, Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), to dispose of public housing stock nationwide. This is a privatization scheme, the end goal of which is the end of public housing, the gentrification of neighborhoods, and the displacement of Black and Brown communities.  

MPHA’s Section 18 Privatization Scheme 

DGPHC has leaked documents proving that MPHA is aware of and taking advantage of Trump and Carson’s lax Section 18 enforcements. MPHA will use Section 18 to privatize over 736 units of single-family and duplex homes. These units, known as “scattered sites” are home to over 5,000 low-income people of color, the majority of whom are children.   

 MPHA will sell the 736+ single family homes for one dollar per unit to a new private non-profit that MPHA created called Community Housing Resources (CHR). This private non-profit will then create an LLC that will own .001% of the properties. The private investors that MPHA invites will own 99.99%. We are able to find very little information about this private non-profit, LLC, or private investors.  During the May 16th, 2018 MPHA Board Meeting, Executive Director Greg Russ revealed that MPHA’s Section 18 scheme will result in units being converted to “workforce” housing, see 1:06 in this video.  In the same meeting, Russ defined “workforce” housing as serving those making 80-120% Area Median Income (AMI).  80% AMI for a Minneapolis household income is $71,900 per year. The average income for a public housing family range between $14,201 to $20,656 per year. Following MPHA’s disposition of the scattered sites, current public housing families will be unable to afford the new units and will be displaced. During this same board meeting, Russ admitted that some of the scattered sites will be turned over to developers; see 1:43.  

If MPHA’s Section 18 application is approved by HUD, thousands of low-income public housing families with children in Minneapolis will lose their housing. They will be priced out of their homes and their units will be turned over to developers and private investors. These tenants are disproportionately people of color, with the majority being Black, Hmong, and Black Muslims (East Africans), immigrants, refugees with limited knowledge of English, and a disproportionate number are elderly, children, and disabled.

How MPHA Undermined Public Housing Residents to Push this Application

On February 27th, 2019, Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) Board of Commissioners voted to approve MPHA’s Section 18 application. This decision was made with no input from families that live in these homes and with no public process.

After talking with scattered site residents, it has become clear that residents were not notified or informed about MPHA’s Section 18 application and were not given the opportunity to comment on the application. Additionally, the scattered sites do not have a resident council to represent their interests. MPHA is aware of the lack of a resident council which is a violation and did nothing to ensure that resident voices were heard.  

At this  February board meeting, the only residents MPHA allowed to speak were members of the Resident Advisory Board (RAB). There were only five MPHA residents on the RAB, and not a single one was a scattered site resident. The RAB met only an hour and a half before the public board meeting. They did not understand the application and approved it while MPHA’s Jeff Horwich guided them to approve the application. Following this, the MPHA Board voted to approve the Section 18 Demolition & Disposition application without hearing from a single scattered site resident. When resident leaders from DG&PHC raised objections to this process and attempted to ask questions they were harassed, silenced, and eventually, MPHA called the police on them.

How Mayor Frey & MPLS City Council Undermined Public Housing Residents

Mayor Jacob Frey and Council-Member Lisa Bender wrote a letter to HUD in support of MPHA’s Section 18 application. Without this letter of support, HUD would be extremely unlikely to accept MPHA’s Section 18 Disposition & Demolition. Mayor Jacob Frey and City Council President Lisa  Bender are pushing Trump and Carson’s plans to end public housing in order to gentrify the city and turn our remaining public housing into unaffordable housing developments for the wealthy. Bender and Frey wrote this letter of support without a full council vote and without any community engagement or opportunity for public comment. This is in clear violation of the City Council’s Core Principles of Community Engagement.  When a national reporter asked Frey & Bender about this application several times, they did not respond. The people of Minneapolis have to hold Frey, Bender and the rest of City Council accountable for planning to end public housing, push Trump’s housing agenda, and destroy Black and Brown communities. 

Resources on Section 18 around the country: 

San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia, New Orleans,  Oklahoma City 

PDF Copy: https://tinyurl.com/Section18-Factsheet-Updated

The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority’s (MPHA) Executive Director Greg Russ has been appointed the new head of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Greg Russ was appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio from a list that was hand selected by Trump appointed HUD Secretary, Ben Carson. Greg Russ will be taking over NYCHA in August. According to the New York Times, his starting salary will be an unprecedented $402,000.

This decision comes as NYCHA is making moves to privatize one-third of NYCHA’s housing stock under the Rental Assistance Demonstration program (RAD). Russ is an expert at privatizing public housing under RAD. He has traveled the country dismantling public housing under RAD and other, similar, federal programs since 1995.

Russ’s track record of dismantling public housing begins in Detroit in 1995. Russ, as an employee of HUD, intervened in Detroit in order to remove the Housing Agency from HUDs, “Troubled Agency” list. In 1995, Detroit had 9,007 available public housing units. Merely two years later, under the “leadership” of Russ, there were only 4,071 units available in the city; https://archives.hud.gov/offices/oig/reports/files/ig851804.pdf.

After Detroit, Russ became the Chief of Staff at the Chicago Housing Authority in a HUD takeover similar to Detroit and now NYCHA. During his time in Chicago, Russ created and signed the “Plan for Transformation” which displaced 17,000 people. The “Plan for Transformation” featured many of the same “promises” that Russ and MPHA have been making in Minneapolis. Including residents “right to return” following rehabilitation projects. Chicago Public Housing residents did not return, and neither will Minneapolis residents if we do not stop MPHA’s plans; http://interactive.wbez.org/cha/.

After dismantling Chicago’s Public Housing and displacing over 17,000 people, Russ moved onto Cambridge. In Cambridge, Russ privatized every single unit of public housing under the RAD program, ending public housing in Cambridge; https://thecity.nyc/2019/06/meet-nychas-new-boss-gregory-russ.html.

Following the mass privatization of Cambridge’s Public Housing, Russ testified to Congress in May of 2016 in favor of RAD.  Among other things, Russ advocated for an increased cap on the number of units that could be converted under the program, as well as for initiatives that would make it easier for a PHA to privatize its entire public housing stock; https://tinyurl.com/Russ-Testimony-Congress.

In late December of 2016, Russ was hand selected by the City of Minneapolis to end public housing.  DG&PHC released a statement at the time calling Russ the Czar of Privatization and Gentrification; https://www.facebook.com/DefendGlendale/posts/785401878292338?  &

www.startribune.com/new-minneapolis-housing-director-brings-expertise-amid-uncertainty/408172976.

Since his first day at MPHA in February 2017, Russ aggressively pushed to privatize Minneapolis’ entire public housing portfolio under the RAD and Section 18 programs with a very expensive public relations campaign. He hired a new team, used unethical tactics and manipulation to silence and demonize public housing leaders who were fighting to stop his privatization schemes through RAD and Section 18. Russ allowed public housing leaders to be bullied, intimidated, physically attacked, racially profiled and attempted to arrest them in order to silence and to make sure the white local media of Minneapolis who normally silences POC voices push his false narrative and PR campaign. Mayor Jacob Frey and the entire City Council watched Russ’s abusive tactics on residents and supported him. Russ and his network of developers managed to get the entire Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey on board with this privatization scheme to end public housing  displacing over 15,000 Black, Black Muslims, seniors, families with children and people with disabilities and making sure over 40,000 people that are on 7 to 10 year public housing wait list never have access to public housing. The Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Frey’s blind support of Russ and MPHA prove that they are pushing Carson and Trump’s agenda to dismantle and privatize all public housing. Not to mention Greg Russ’s family are one of the largest owners of federally subsidized low-income housing tax credit properties in Minnesota Thies & Talle Inc., with similar investments in other states. Even though DG&PHC called out this blatant conflict of interest and corruption, City Hall was complicit and ignored this ethical violation. To learn more, check out;

https://www.dgphc.org/2018/08/31/a-letter-from-a-concerned-and-mpha-resident-to-the-star-tribune-regarding-greg-russ-blatant-conflict-of-interest .

Now Russ has been hand-picked again, this time by Carson, to lead NYCHA in the largest RAD conversion in the Nation, and Russ is pushing the exact same program here in Minneapolis.  Carson knows Russ has experience ending public housing, especially those that HUD takes over such as Detroit and Chicago. This is why he was chosen.

NYCHA residents do not want Russ to head up NYCHA. They are ready and are mobilizing to stop his privatization plans before he even touches the ground. Defend Glendale & Public Housing Coalition is the first group to piece together and expose Russ’s national record of privatizing and ending public housing when he came to Minneapolis. Russ may be moving to New York to implement Trump and Carson’s plans, but DG&PHC won’t stop working with our allies in New York City to stop Russ and similar plans around the country and right here at home. 

Here is a report by DG&PHC that outlines how Greg Russ planned to use a national pro-gentrification map called Opportunity Atlas Mapping to end public housing and destroy Black and Brown communities in Minneapolis;https://www.dgphc.org/2019/05/03/greg-russ-of-mpha-is-using-opportunity-atlas-mapping-to-displace-public-housing-residents/

For a PDF Copy of this piece please click here.

#KeepPublicHousingPublic  #BuildMorePublicHousing  #NotoRAD  #DefendElliotTwins  #SayNoToSection18  #StopFrey #StopRuss  #SayNoToGentrification #StopPrivatization  #DGPHC  #PHIMBY #AbolishFaircloth

This article in the Columbia Journal Review is about the obstacles journalists have faced when covering our story, and how MPHA manipulates the media. Please check it out and share!

https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/minnesota-housing-retraction-mpha.php?fbclid=IwAR07AILljTCui7yR3vVWzJbIOmvgz0k_iONTPpZjW7rzFBPZK2jEny92u5U

The fifth congressional district DFL passed our resident-centered resolution that states public housing should be kept public! Our fight is now more widely supported than ever, and we will wait until Ilhan Omar recognizes and supports our 5-year struggle.

FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DFL (CD5 DFL)·THURSDAY, MAY 30, 2019

Whereas housing is a human right;

Whereas the 5th Congressional District is facing a housing crisis which has in turn caused a homelessness crisis;

Whereas ensuring all CD5 residents have decent and stable housing that is affordable (30% of their income) must be a top priority and concern;

Whereas the first public housing in Minneapolis, Glendale Townhomes, was developed by Mayor Hubert Humphrey to house WWII vets and their families during one of the most severe housing crises we’ve ever faced;

Whereas Hubert Humphrey created MPHA’s predecessor MHRA under the ideal that a publicly owned housing authority was the most permanent solution to housing;

Whereas housing that is often described as “affordable” is not truly affordable for low and very-low-income households, and building more publicly-owned public housing best ensures enough of the appropriate housing is created to begin with;

Whereas 25,000 Minneapolis residents currently live in public housing, with tens of thousands more on the waiting list; all are poor and over 80% are people of color, immigrants, refugees, seniors, and people with disabilities;

Whereas the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority [MPHA] was created by the authority of the Minneapolis City Council, and in significant part relates and has obligations to the City Council and Mayor pursuant to the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, Chapter 420;

Whereas the MPHA Strategic Vision and Capital Plan for 2018-2020 includes transferring ownership of its publicly-owned properties to a private non-profit corporation pursuant to the HUD-administered Rental Assistance Demonstration program [RAD] and replacing current public housing leases with Section 8 vouchers, a process which was rejected by residents at the Glendale Townhomes in 2015;

Whereas using Section 8 vouchers to relocate seniors on fixed incomes out of public housing and their communities could worsen the chronic homelessness crisis among seniors;

Whereas the residents at the first two properties scheduled through RAD (Elliot Twin Towers and Glendale Townhomes) include a high percentage of East African Somali and Oromo seniors and elders, which could result in disparate impact as defined by the Fair Housing Act;

Whereas the MPHA has responsibility as a public agency to maintain public housing properties as a public good, and is unable to make any promises as to the future of residents at any properties whose ownership and control has been transferred to private entities;

Whereas relocation is displacement, and research from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs has found that as few as 1 in 5 relocated residents return to their homes;

Whereas a February 2018 GAO report requested by Rep. Maxine Waters documents a lack of accountability by HUD for the RAD process, and has been unwilling or unable to take responsible steps to ensure the safety of residents in the nationwide program;

Whereas these potential dangers underlie the importance of the U.S. Representative’s, City Council’s and Mayor’s vigilant involvement as this process plays out in Minneapolis; and

Whereas over 18,000 people have signed a petition to keep public housing in Minneapolis and CD5 public;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the 5th Congressional District of the DFL rejects the notion that preserving or expanding public housing requires privatization by any method;

RESOLVED, That the 5th Congressional District of the DFL distinguishes that “deeply subsidized” or “deeply affordable” housing is not the same thing as public housing or income-based housing at 30% of income for rent;

RESOLVED, That the 5th Congressional District of the DFL believes Section 8 vouchers are not a replacement for public housing, and that Section 18 and RAD are privatization programs that do not “preserve” public housing but, in fact, dismantle it and are thus unacceptable.

RESOLVED, That the 5th Congressional District of the DFL believes any plan for public housing that is not supported and approved by residents is not legitimate, and that any plan requiring residents to be relocated for redevelopment is displacement;

RESOLVED, That the 5th Congressional District of the DFL asks the Minneapolis City Council and Mayor to exercise due diligence in monitoring the citizen involvement and reporting requirements of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority under the Code of Ordinances, Chapter 420;

RESOLVED, That the 5th Congressional District of the DFL urges the 5th Congressional District United States Representative, Minneapolis City Council and Mayor to exercise their authority, good offices, and public voice to oppose all forms of privatization of public housing in Minneapolis, including the sale or transfer to private ownership of public housing buildings; and

RESOLVED, That the 5th Congressional District of the DFL encourages the City of Minneapolis to take a national and international leadership position in guaranteeing housing as a human right, including working with public partners to protect, keep, and expand public housing as a public good.

Shout out to public housing leaders and Keep Public Housing Public Minneapolis Coalition. MPHA refused to let public housing residents comment at their monthly board meeting on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Public housing residents made sure their voices were head outside of the building at the same time MPHA was voting and planning to displace us. 

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#KeepPublicHousingPublic#BuildMorePublicHousing#SayNoToSection18#NotoRAD#DefendElliotTwins#StopFrey#StopRuss#SayNoToGentrification#StopPrivatization#PHIMBY#AbolishFaircloth

Defend Glendale & Public Housing Coalition wants to #KeepPublicHousingPublic because these are our homes and communities, and we don’t want them to be dismantled so developers and investors can profit. We want public housing to stay safe, stable, and vibrant for us and for future generations in this city.

That’s why we are proud to be one of the founding members of the Keep Public Housing Public Minneapolis Coalition. Together with Young Muslim Collective, Twin Cities Musicians Against Gentrification, Minneapolis Coalition for Responsible Governance, TC DSA Housing Justice Branch, and Harrison Neighborhood Association, we are calling on City officials to stop MPHA’s privatization of public housing in Minneapolis, which is being pushed by Trump and his HUD Secretary Ben Carson.

Privatization – through Section 18 Demolition and Disposition, RAD, or any other means – is an attack on the low-income, elderly, disabled, and BIPOC residents of public housing, at a time when Minneapolis is facing a severe public housing and affordable housing crisis. Our coalition represents a community of local activists and organizers who are standing together to say #NoToPrivatization, and to #KeepPublicHousingPublic!

Stop Section 18 and RAD

• Contact Minneapolis City Hall, State Reps, Congress, Governor Tim Walz, and HUD to Stop MPHA’s and The City’s Section 18 and RAD application that will end public housing!

• Attend MPHA’s Board Meeting on May 22, 2019, at 1:30 pm at 1001 N Washington Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55401. Demand MPHA accept public comments even though MPHA has denied public comments from public housing residents, a public hearing and refuses to hear from residents who will be displaced and evicted. 

• Attend a rally outside MPHA’s Headquarters at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. MPHA’s Board is refusing to take comments from residents at their monthly, public meeting.  Public housing leaders are holding a rally to make sure our voices are heard despite MPHA’s attempts to silence us. MPHA’s headquarters are located at 1001 N Washington Ave, Minneapolis MN, 55401. Please join us and demand that MPHA and the City of Minneapolis #KeepPublicHousingPublic!

Minneapolis Public Housing Authority with the approval of Mayor Jacob Frey and Minneapolis City Council: https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/RCA/8573/MOU_City_MPHA.pdf are planning to privatize its entire public housing stock through Section 18 and its sister program Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) at Elliot Twins which are voluntary programs by HUD.  MPHA and the City of Minneapolis are taking advantage of recent changes approved by Trump and Ben Carson that gutted tenant protections and made it easier to privatize and profit from public housing land. This is a first in the history of the creation of public housing in Minneapolis that began to provide housing for World War II Veterans after the war. Public housing residents along with the people of Minneapolis, neighborhood and community-based organizations have deep concerns about MPHA and the City’s  decision to  push Trump and Carson’s housing agenda that will privatize over 730 single family homes through Section 18  which will  displace over 5000 Black and Brown people majority children;https://www.dgphc.org/2019/02/22/mayor-jacob-frey-and-council-member-lisa-bender-approve-demolition-of-730-homes/, and the Rental Assistance Demonstration at  Elliot Twins that will displace seniors, people with disabilities and majority African American and East Africans, residents. After Elliot Twins, MPHA plans to apply yearly for RAD for each of the 42 public housing highrises throughout the city.

Section 18 Disposition & Demolition application, MPHA, and City of Minneapolis failed to:

• Notify and inform over 730 households throughout the city and hold citywide community meetings about this plan: https://tinyurl.com/Section-18-Fact-Sheet-2-25-19
• Notify the public and public housing residents the private developers plan to own 99.99%  and a non-profit corporation created by MPHA  plans to own .001%  of the housing stock. They will buy the homes from MPHA for $1 per home while the residents receive $94 per household for moving costs as they are displaced. See MPHA’s Section 18 Application where they allocate merely $70,656 for over 730 households’ relocation costs; https://tinyurl.com/MPHA-Section18-Application.    

• Hold citywide council meetings for public housing residents to vote at scattered sites.
• Provide an opportunity for public housing residents at scattered sites to comment and speak at the MPHA Board
• Hold public hearings, public comment and city council vote at city hall.

Rental Assistance Demonstration ( RAD) at Elliot Twins, MPHA and City of Minneapolis failed to:

• Listen to seniors and residents at Elliot Twins with disabilities who voted, protested and wrote petitions saying no to the  RAD application at Elliot Twins: http://tinyurl.com/Elliot-Twins-Resident-Letter
• Tell the truth about the RAD’s eviction plan which will convert Elliot Twins from a public good into the hands of private developers;https://tinyurl.com/ElliotTwins-RAD-Eviction-Plan
•  Stop an eviction plan that leads directly to homelessness and: 
  • Includes an “option” for residents to temporarily relocate to a “hotel unit” within Elliot Twins during construction which is not possible because MPHA does not have enough empty units to move over 200 people.
  • Gives all Elliot Twin Residents a 90-day notice from November 2019 to January 2020 to move all at one time, according to another leaked timeline: http://tinyurl.com/Eviction-Timeline.
  • Includes an “option” for residents to “Temporarily relocate to a friend or family’s home during construction.” This is homelessness.
  • States that residents “may: “permanently or temporarily relocate to Elliot Twins, another highrise, section 8 project-based unit,  or receive section 8 vouchers to find other housing. These eviction options all include the caveat that MPHA will fulfill them to the “maximum extent possible”. This means that MPHA cannot guarantee to the house for every resident during construction. Given the current housing crisis in Minneapolis and the fact that the waitlist for Section 8 and public housing is seven years long, this means that these residents will be evicted and will become homeless.
  •  Nowhere in their plan does MPHA mention that residents have guaranteed rights to return to Elliot Twins which is what they have been preaching for the last year and a half to sell RAD plans to the public and politicians.

• MPHA says they will “seek to accommodate residents with these options to the maximum extent feasible,” meaning there is no guarantee that this option is even possible and residents will face homelessness
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•   Residents can expect to face multiple evictions from Section 8 housing and They will not be able to move back.
• MPHA admits that some residents will be forced to move over 50 miles away from Elliot Twins, which is not what they claimed previously when they said residents could stay in their building or neighborhood. Having to move 50 miles away is displacement and gentrification and is unacceptable.
• MPHA fails to mention that private Section 8 landlords can raise rents and utilities, while HUD’s subsidy is capped at a certain level. This places residents at risk of eviction. (page 18
• MPHA fails to mention that private Section 8 landlords can raise rents and utilities, while HUD’s subsidy is capped at a certain level. This places residents at risk of eviction. (page 18).

According to HUD, public housing in Minneapolis is a top performer, and the properties receive up to 98% for their HUD inspection scores.  MPHA continues to repeat the lie that they have a funding crisis when they do not. Their federal funding has increased in recent years, and they have $23 million in savings that they are not spending. Governor Walz’s 2019 Budget recommendation includes a provision of $30 million to address the purported public housing backlog as well as over $100 million for other “Affordable Housing” needs (https://tinyurl.com/30million-publichousing).

MPHA could lobby for these funds to be allocated to their capital needs and push for more from the State as well as the City. They have chosen not to because they aren’t actually interested in maintaining their properties, they are only interested in privatizing public housing.

The Minneapolis City Council and Mayor Jacob Frey who are all from Democratic and Green Party are actively helping dismantle public housing in Minneapolis and furthering Trump’s agenda.   It is hard to believe that our progressive elected officials are pushing the Trump agenda right here at home.

To Keep Public Housing Public and support residents, please do the following: 

• Please call HUD and our elected officials and ask them to stop MPHA’s Section 18 and RAD applications. Contact information can be found below. Call now and tell these officials to KEEP PUBLIC HOUSING PUBLIC!

• Attend MPHA’s Board Meeting on May 22, 2019, at 1:30 pm at 1001 N Washington Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55401. Demand for public comments even though MPHA has denied public comments and a public hearing and refuses to hear from residents who will be displaced and evicted. 

• Attend a rally outside MPHA’s Headquarters at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. MPHA’s Board is refusing to take comments from residents at their monthly, public meeting.  Public housing leaders are holding a rally to make sure our voices are heard despite MPHA’s attempts to silence us. MPHA’s headquarters are located at 1001 N Washington Ave, Minneapolis MN, 55401. Please join us and demand that MPHA and the City of Minneapolis #KeepPublicHousingPublic!

#KeepPublicHousingPublic #BuildMorePublicHousing #SayNoToSection18 #NotoRAD  #DefendElliotTwins #StopFrey #StopRuss #SayNoToGentrification #StopPrivatization  #DGPHC #PHIMBY #AbolishFaircloth

Congress
Maxine Waters	LA: (323) 757-8900 DC: (202) 225-2201
Ilhan Omar	MN: (612) 333-1272 DC: (202) 225-4755
HUD Officials
Jane Hornstein	(312) 913-8766	Jane.B.Hornstein@hud.gov
Claude Dickson	(202) 402-8372	Claude.C.Dickson@hud.gov
Chrisropher Golden	(202) 402-2413	Christopher.M.Golden@hud.gov
State
Governer Tim Walz	(651) 201-3400
Attorney General Keith Ellison	(651) 296-3353	attorney.general@ag.state.mn.us
State Rep Hodan Hassan	(651) 296-0294	rep.hodan.hassan@house.mn
State Rep Mohamed Noor	(651) 296-4257	rep.mohamud.noor@house.mn
State Rep Raymond Dehn	651 296-8659	rep.raymond.dehn@house.mn
City
Mayor Jacob Frey	(612) 673-2100	jacob.frey@minneapolismn.gov
CM Lisa Bender	(612) 673-2210	lisa.bender@minneapolismn.gov
CM Abdi Warsame	(612) 673-2206	abdi.warsame@minneapolismn.gov
CM Cam Gordon	(612) 673-2202	cam.gordon@minneapolismn.gov
CM Jeremiah Ellison	(612) 673-2205	jeremiah.ellison@minneapolismn.gov

See link for more Minneapolis City Council Members: https://www.dgphc.org/hold-them-accountable/

For a PDF Copy of this Call to Action click here: https://www.dgphc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Call-to-Action-May-22nd-2019.pdf