Hope and anxiety for
affordable housing
From thnt.com Online,
November 10, 2007
There were no real surprises in
Public Advocate Ronald Chen's critical analysis two weeks ago of the state's
affordable-housing record. It has been plain for many years that the state
has failed to live up to both the spirit and the letter of the landmark ruling
that called on New Jersey to provide housing for all income levels in each of
its municipalities.
But that does not mean Chen's report was neither necessary nor heartening.
Indeed, Chen's report comes at a moment of both great anxiety and hope.
The Corzine administration is due to release new rules that will govern the
building of affordable housing at the end of the year. Those rules are of
paramount importance. If they are fair, thorough and enforceable, then the
state might at last begin to get a handle on its great housing need. If
they are not, the state will be sunk for at least another decade.
The hope, of course, is that Chen's report will reach the ears of those who are
now deciding just what sort of system to introduce in the state. Besides
his blistering critique of the methods used so far — methods, Chen contends,
that have failed even to properly assess the housing need — Chen lists several
other criteria necessary in determining how to structure the program moving
forward. His analysis deserves attention.
After starting off with a bang, during which it pledged to build 100,000
affordable units in 10 years, the Corzine administration has been slow to get
its housing program off the ground. Corzine was handed a golden
opportunity early in his administration when an Appellate Court overturned many
of the hard-hearted rules that had been established in 2004 by then Gov. James
McGreevey. Rather than rush to reform those rules, however, the Corzine
administration dragged its feet, appealing some portions of the ruling and
missing court-ordered deadlines on others.
The administration is out of time and excuses. Thankfully, the rules are
now in the hands of new Community Affairs Commissioner and former Assembly
Speaker Joseph Doria, who housing advocates hope will be more sensitive to the
needs of New Jersey's poor and working-class citizens.
Chen's report should help him and the governor see the light. Corzine
brought back the Public Advocate. The least he can do is listen to him.
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