A better housing policy

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Memo from Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer to Hopewell Township: Thanks but no thanks for the affordable housing money. You're going to need it.

That's the gist of Mayor Palmer's announcement last week that Trenton would no longer accept so-called regional contribution agreements (RCAs) from Hopewell or other suburban towns. RCAs are legal agreements that allows a town to pay another community to assume its affordable housing.

The mayor, who until only recently embraced RCAs as a way to build badly needed new housing in Trenton, has changed his position. He's willing to end his opposition to legislation that would amend the state's affordable housing obligations in exchange for money the Legislature provides that will help people in New Jersey's hard-pressed cities to afford new homes. That bill is now in committee in the Assembly.

Still, it's a sea change in the argument over RCAs. And Mr. Palmer should be lauded for using his clout as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors to help convince mayors of other cities to go along with the new approach. The New Jersey Regional Coalition, a state-wide interfaith organization of church groups, unions and community improvement groups, also deserves credit for moving to eliminate RCAs and for working with the urban mayors on a compromise.

As stated in this space be fore, RCAs have outlived their usefulness. They have concentrated poor people in urban pockets around the state, resulting in middle class flight to the suburbs and poorly performing public schools.

It will be a whole new ball game in the affluent suburbs. Mr. Palmer's response to Hopewell Township reflects the new reality. Not happy over losing Capital Health System's Mercer Medical Center to the township (presuming Hopewell officials give Capital Health permission to build there), the mayor in a press conference last week rejected Hopewell's offer of $3.25 million to build the township's share of affordable housing in the city.

The mayor insisted the rejection had nothing to do with the hospital's move out of Trenton, which will cost the city some 1,500 jobs. Mr. Palmer said the city was giving back the RCAs because the township will need the money to build affordable housing for the people who will work at the proposed new hospital.

"This is not a way of sticking it to them," Mr. Palmer said.

Actually, the affordable housing obligation agreement between the two towns wasn't a done deal. It still needed approval from the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH). But the city sent a letter to Hopewell Township Mayor Vanessa Sandom informing her that Trenton would no longer accept the money, which would have built 93 new homes.

Now the Legislature must follow through with creation of an urban fund to pay for rehabilitation of existing housing and assistance even for the suburbs, especially the so- called "first rung" communities that surround cities, in building affordable units. Or as the New Jersey Regional Coalition put it: "a sane and just housing policy."

© 2007  The Times of Trenton

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