Interesting (again)
More emails regarding the CDBG information, this one from a former housing counselor from East Athens Development Corporation ...
Dear A-CC Mayor & Commission,
As a former EADC housing counselor, I never thought I’d see the day when anyone would give serious consideration to reforming EADC. I’m glad the M&C is willing to challenge EADC and I’d like to share some observations that might help guide your inquiries.
According to EADC’s 2006 tax return (attached) $54,386 was spent on travel and no independent fundraising costs were incurred nor were any funds collected. If I’m reading it right, Winston Heard’s salary exceeded $60,000.
Winston Heard’s lack of commitment to neighborhood resident is evident by his lack of attendance at community events. In recent years, EADC conducted two large food bank distributions, neither of which Winston Heard attended. EADC hosted two spring festivals (2005 & 2006). Winston Heard did not attend those either. He did not come to the gym when EADC helped host the book-bag give-away/service fair last summer. Volunteers from UGA’s VITA tax assistance program came on two Saturdays this February; and guess what, Winston Heard did not stop by to greet or thank them. Winston was similarly missing at Homebuyer Club graduation events. He does not attend neighborhood group meetings or Human Service Advisory Board Meetings.
Winston Heard and Julia Menefield (EADC’s Neighborhood Revitalization staff) recently returned from a trip to China with Governor Perdue. I am curious to see how this trip will benefit East Athens.
EADC has had a house on the market for nearly a year. It is priced at $120,000, although most of EADC’s clients can barely afford a $100,000 home. EADC had an offer from a buyer who was wiling to pay less than $120,000. Winston Heard refused to negotiate the price with him. That buyer is moving into a new Habitat for Humanity home.
EADC’s downpayment assistance is funded through American Dream Downpayment Assistance Funds granted by HED. EADC has chosen to provide the assistance as a 6% deferred loan. As a housing counselor I could not recommend EADC’s program as the loans create a future debt burden for the homebuyer rather than permitting them to accumulate equity or save for the future. If a refinance is needed, it is very hard to find a lender because the anticipated additional payments on the downpayment assistance cause the borrower to exceed the allowable debt to income ratio. We very nearly had a foreclosure on one of the homes EADC sold due to an escalating first mortgage ARM coupled with EADC’s downpayment assistance.
Catherine Hogue, HED staff, sent a monitoring letter to EADC last fall stating that the organization’s Neighborhood Revitalization Plan needed to be updated. Rob Trevena informed me that when it gets updated, census tract 302 should not be included because it no longer meets HUD’s low-income neighborhood criteria. When I resigned at the end of February 2008, EADC had not begun the process of updating the plan.
When EADC hosted community forums (with food bank giveaways in order to ensure adequate attendance), residents repeatedly indicated the need for a Laundromat. This business opportunity was scoffed at by EADC’s economic development staff. Now a private developer, who purchased commercial property at a tax auction, is responding to market demand to build a Laundromat in the Triangle. One might conclude that EADC’s economic development programs are not responsive to neighborhood input or new opportunities.
When EADC’s full-time Housing Programs Coordinator resigned at the end of September, my hours increased from 25 to 35 hours per week. No additional staff was hired. When I left at the end of February, there was one remaining housing counselor-office manager. No additional staff persons have been hired, although there is a consultant who teaches monthly classes. Winston Heard indicated that he plans to serve as a housing counselor, and he did attend a week-long training in Portland, Oregon in December 2007. He had not met with any clients while I worked at EADC. It would be interesting to know if he met with any clients during March or April. Even if Winston meets with a few clients, with the greatly decreased staff, if does not seem likely that EADC’s client counts will improve.
Board minutes from meetings and the retreat last summer should be available for review, along with monthly reports from each of the program areas. I hope you will take the time to look these over as a double check on what you hear from Winston.
Hopefully you are hearing from some east Athens residents and you have come to realize not all of them support EADC and that quite a few have complaints. My read on the neighborhood is that they would like black organizations to be empowered, but they would also like public funds to be spent wisely. Hopefully that’s not asking too much.
Thank you for your patience with this long email. I was EADC’s housing bean-counter from September through February and I wrote the current version of the housing counseling plan. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions.
Dear A-CC Mayor & Commission,
As a former EADC housing counselor, I never thought I’d see the day when anyone would give serious consideration to reforming EADC. I’m glad the M&C is willing to challenge EADC and I’d like to share some observations that might help guide your inquiries.
According to EADC’s 2006 tax return (attached) $54,386 was spent on travel and no independent fundraising costs were incurred nor were any funds collected. If I’m reading it right, Winston Heard’s salary exceeded $60,000.
Winston Heard’s lack of commitment to neighborhood resident is evident by his lack of attendance at community events. In recent years, EADC conducted two large food bank distributions, neither of which Winston Heard attended. EADC hosted two spring festivals (2005 & 2006). Winston Heard did not attend those either. He did not come to the gym when EADC helped host the book-bag give-away/service fair last summer. Volunteers from UGA’s VITA tax assistance program came on two Saturdays this February; and guess what, Winston Heard did not stop by to greet or thank them. Winston was similarly missing at Homebuyer Club graduation events. He does not attend neighborhood group meetings or Human Service Advisory Board Meetings.
Winston Heard and Julia Menefield (EADC’s Neighborhood Revitalization staff) recently returned from a trip to China with Governor Perdue. I am curious to see how this trip will benefit East Athens.
EADC has had a house on the market for nearly a year. It is priced at $120,000, although most of EADC’s clients can barely afford a $100,000 home. EADC had an offer from a buyer who was wiling to pay less than $120,000. Winston Heard refused to negotiate the price with him. That buyer is moving into a new Habitat for Humanity home.
EADC’s downpayment assistance is funded through American Dream Downpayment Assistance Funds granted by HED. EADC has chosen to provide the assistance as a 6% deferred loan. As a housing counselor I could not recommend EADC’s program as the loans create a future debt burden for the homebuyer rather than permitting them to accumulate equity or save for the future. If a refinance is needed, it is very hard to find a lender because the anticipated additional payments on the downpayment assistance cause the borrower to exceed the allowable debt to income ratio. We very nearly had a foreclosure on one of the homes EADC sold due to an escalating first mortgage ARM coupled with EADC’s downpayment assistance.
Catherine Hogue, HED staff, sent a monitoring letter to EADC last fall stating that the organization’s Neighborhood Revitalization Plan needed to be updated. Rob Trevena informed me that when it gets updated, census tract 302 should not be included because it no longer meets HUD’s low-income neighborhood criteria. When I resigned at the end of February 2008, EADC had not begun the process of updating the plan.
When EADC hosted community forums (with food bank giveaways in order to ensure adequate attendance), residents repeatedly indicated the need for a Laundromat. This business opportunity was scoffed at by EADC’s economic development staff. Now a private developer, who purchased commercial property at a tax auction, is responding to market demand to build a Laundromat in the Triangle. One might conclude that EADC’s economic development programs are not responsive to neighborhood input or new opportunities.
When EADC’s full-time Housing Programs Coordinator resigned at the end of September, my hours increased from 25 to 35 hours per week. No additional staff was hired. When I left at the end of February, there was one remaining housing counselor-office manager. No additional staff persons have been hired, although there is a consultant who teaches monthly classes. Winston Heard indicated that he plans to serve as a housing counselor, and he did attend a week-long training in Portland, Oregon in December 2007. He had not met with any clients while I worked at EADC. It would be interesting to know if he met with any clients during March or April. Even if Winston meets with a few clients, with the greatly decreased staff, if does not seem likely that EADC’s client counts will improve.
Board minutes from meetings and the retreat last summer should be available for review, along with monthly reports from each of the program areas. I hope you will take the time to look these over as a double check on what you hear from Winston.
Hopefully you are hearing from some east Athens residents and you have come to realize not all of them support EADC and that quite a few have complaints. My read on the neighborhood is that they would like black organizations to be empowered, but they would also like public funds to be spent wisely. Hopefully that’s not asking too much.
Thank you for your patience with this long email. I was EADC’s housing bean-counter from September through February and I wrote the current version of the housing counseling plan. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions.
posted by Jmac at 9:59 AM
3 Comments:
Talk to EACD's and HCDC's clients to see if they think these two organizations are doinga good job. I think you'll find the answer is "No."
Why didn't the crack reporting team at the ABH get a hold of this?
They have it. I think they have moved on to fresh topics.
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