Transcript The GOGP v. The Galveston Poverty Industry

Galveston Open Government Project
v.
Galveston Poverty Industry
by David Stanowski
President
Galveston Open Government Project, Inc.
GalvestonOGP.org
Public Housing is a failed social experiment;
a new plantation system run by Uncle Sam
“A benevolent Uncle Sam
welcomed mostly poor black
Americans onto the government
plantation. Those who accepted
the invitation switched mindsets
from "How do I take care of
myself?" to "What do I have to
do to stay on the plantation?”
Star Parker
“Instead of solving economic problems, government
welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual
problems…”
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“The legacy of American socialism is our
blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city
schools, and broken black families.”
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“Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is
the same. But black families are not, with
triple the incidence of single-parent homes
and out-of-wedlock births.”
Why does Galveston have Public
Housing?
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NO CITY in this country is required to build
and operate public housing.
It is the CHOICE of city government.
MOST cities choose NOT to build and
operate public housing, because it is a
liability NOT an asset.
Galveston is the ONLY city in the County
that chooses to have Public Housing.
Galveston is a Dumping Ground for
Public Housing
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With the current 410 PH units, Galveston already
has more than the national average number of
people living in PH per capita.
If 569 additional PH units are rebuilt, Galveston
will have more than FIVE TIMES the national
average per capita.
There are currently 801 Section 8 housing units in
the City, or THREE TIMES the national average
per capita.
Public Housing Density in Galveston
versus other SE TX Cities
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Galveston
Beaumont
Victoria
Bryan
Port Arthur
Texas City
Huntsville
Nacogdoches
Baytown
Houston
City
Residents
2008
Census
Estimate
Public
Housing
Units
City
Residents/
PH Unit
Galveston
57,086
995
57
Beaumont
110,553
663
167
34%
Victoria
62,558
321
195
29%
Bryan
72,357
300
241
24%
Port Arthur
55,910
216
259
22%
Texas City
44,491
130
342
17%
Huntsville
38,480
100
385
15%
Nacogdoches
32,205
76
424
13%
Baytown
70,330
150
469
12%
Houston
2,242,193
3898
575
10%
City
PH Units
Per Capita
Compared to
Galveston
What can be done to save Galveston?
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Plan A: Shut down Public Housing.
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Plan B: Force Public Housing into HighOpportunity neighborhoods.
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Plan C: Demand GHA rebuild using the
authentic East Lake model.
Plan A: Shut Down Public Housing
Requires a national campaign.
 Mobilize support from:
Conservative & Libertarian organizations,
politicians, spokesman, and national media.
 Convince a court that PH is a complete
failure.
 Legal fund needed may exceed $1 million
(breaking new legal ground).
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Plan A: Status Report
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NO SUPPORT from: Conservative &
Libertarian organizations, politicians,
spokesman, and national media.
NO SUPPORT from City government.
Fearful citizens: many unwilling to offer
public support and/or donate money.
Very unlikely to raise $1 million locally.
Plan B: Force Public Housing into
High-Opportunity Neighborhoods
Mobilize support from:
Liberal & Progressive organizations,
politicians, spokesman, and national media.
 Convince a court that PH must be built in
high-opportunity neighborhoods; primarily
on the Mainland.
 Legal fund needed $25,000-$70,000
(following long line of precedent).
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Plan B: Status Report
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No Support from: Liberal & Progressive
organizations, politicians, spokesman, and
national media.
Except, the Kirwan Institute will be doing a
“Communities of Opportunity” study.
City government might support this plan.
Legal fees are doable.
Plan C: Demand GHA rebuild using
the Authentic East Lake model
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East Lake developments seem to be the Public
Housing model that will have the least negative
impact on the community.
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They achieve their superior results by offering:
private security, and on-site: charter schools,
child development centers, community centers,
PLUS day-care and after-school programs.
Plan C: Status Report
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The GHA does NOT have a plan to build any
PH units following the authentic East Lake
model. They are pretending that scattered sites
can achieve the same results. Bait-and-switch.
Scattered sites cannot possibly offer the
facilities that produce the superior results of
East Lake developments.
No legal challenge available; it is a political
issue that must be debated with the Mayor.
Focus on Plan B.
Force the GHA to follow the latest interpretations of the Fair Housing Act.
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Professor John A. Powell:
Co-founded the Poverty & Race Research Action Council
(PRRAC),
Founded the Institute on Race and Poverty (IRP) at the
University of Minnesota,
and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity at
Ohio State University.
He is also the former National Legal Director of the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
He is widely recognized as a premier expert on issues
relating to race, ethnicity, poverty, and the law, and currently
serves as the executive director of the Kirwan Institute.
Communities of Opportunity
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Professor Powell was one of the primary expert
witnesses in the Thompson v HUD case, and
proposed a “Communities of Opportunity”
approach to guide the remedy.
As Professor Powell ranked each census tract in
the Baltimore metropolitan area, it became
obvious that there were not enough "highopportunity" neighborhoods in the City itself that
could serve as acceptable locations for Public
Housing.
Regional Approach
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For this reason, his analysis convinced the court that the
remedy must look to and include the surrounding area in a
regional approach. Exactly what HUD says should be done in
its "Fair Housing Planning Guide", dated March 1996.
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There is little doubt that the Communities of Opportunity
approach is what should be used to guide the proper
selection of Public Housing locations in Galveston County.
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The Kirwan Institute has generously offered to do a
Communities of Opportunity study of Galveston County!!!!
Measuring Opportunity
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Opportunity is measured in three primary categories:
Economic Opportunity and Mobility,
Neighborhood Health, and
Educational Opportunity.
Census tracts define neighborhoods which are classified
into five groups (very-low, low, moderate, high, and
very-high opportunity) based on the quintile in which
their opportunity index scores fall.
Public Housing should be located in high-opportunity
neighborhoods.
Indicators of Economic Opportunity
and Mobility:
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Job growth over the most recent 4-year period.
The number of entry-level and low-skill jobs.
The number of entry-level and low-skill jobs per
capita.
The percentage of the area within one-half mile
of a public transit line.
The median commute time.
Indicators of Neighborhood Health:
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Population change over the last 10 years.
Crime rate.
Poverty rate.
Vacant property rates.
Median value of owner-occupied homes.
Indicators of Educational Opportunity:
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The percentage of elementary and middle school
students qualifying for free and reduced lunch.
The percentage of classes taught by highly
qualified teachers.
The percentage of elementary school students
proficient in reading.
The percentage of elementary school students
proficient in math.
Apply the Communities of Opportunity criteria
to Galveston County
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Galveston
La Marque
Texas City
Dickinson
Santa Fe
League City
Friendswood
Indicators of Economic Opportunity
and Mobility; Analysis:
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Don’t have much of the economic data.
Public transit could be the key to this
section.
Very few people in the County actually use
public transit to commute.
A court could order some cities in the
County to implement or expand public
transit.
Indicators of Neighborhood Health;
Analysis:
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See tables that follow:
City
La Marque
Galveston
Texas City
Santa Fe
Friendswood
League City
Dickinson
1990-2000
Population Growth
(1990 & 2000 Census)
see TSL
-3.10%
-3.09%
+1.71%
+13.28%
+27.28%
+50.68%
+79.98%
City
Crime Rate
National Average
= 320
(2007 FBI UCR)
see City Data
Galveston
La Marque
Texas City
Santa Fe
Dickinson
League City
Friendswood
650
568
453
275
266
175
99
City
Galveston
La Marque
Texas City
Dickinson
Santa Fe
League City
Friendswood
% of Individuals
Below Poverty Level
(2000 Census)
see QT-P34
22.3%
17.5%
14.9%
13.1%
6.5%
4.8%
3.3%
City
% Other Vacant Housing
(2000 Census)
see QT-H1
La Marque
Galveston
Santa Fe
Texas City
Dickinson
League City
Friendswood
2.74%
2.55%
1.93%
1.74%
1.59%
0.76%
0.34%
City
Median Value of
Owner-Occupied
Homes
(2000 Census)
see DP-4
La Marque
Texas City
Galveston
Dickinson
Santa Fe
League City
Friendswood
$59,500
$63,800
$73,800
$83,400
$86,800
$112,000
$124,500
Indicators of Educational Opportunity;
Analysis:
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See tables that follow:
City
Galveston
La Marque
Texas City
Dickinson
Santa Fe
League City
Friendswood
% Economically
Disadvantaged
Students
(2010 TEA)
see GS
Great Schools
District
Ranking
(2010 GS)
see GS
66%
64%
58%
57%
27%
18%
4%
4
3
5
6
6
9
10
The percentage of elementary school
students proficient in reading.
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2010 TAKS reading test results Grade 3:
GISD 85% - State average 92%
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2010 TAKS reading test results Grade 5:
GISD 82% - State average 85%
The percentage of elementary school
students proficient in math.
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2010 TAKS math test results Grade 3:
GISD 76% - State average 86%
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2010 TAKS math test results Grade 5:
GISD 83% - State average 86%
Probable Opportunity Rankings
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Friendswood, League City, and Santa Fe
appear to be high-opportunity cities.
Galveston, La Marque, and Texas City
appear to be low-opportunity cities.
Dickinson appears to be a moderate
opportunity city.
Location of Public Housing
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It would be easy to make the case that the City
of Galveston is the worst location for Public
Housing in the County, and that no Public
Housing should be built in Galveston, La
Marque, or Texas City.
Experts would probably argue that most, if not
all, Public Housing should be located in
Friendswood, League City, and Santa Fe.
The court could order some cities to build
public transit systems.
City of Galveston;
Analysis by Census Tract
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Poverty.
Race and Ethnicity.
City of Galveston
Poverty by Census Tract
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During their recent Congressional
testimony, fair-housing groups made a
strong case for the placement of public
housing in census tracts with low
concentrations of poverty.
They said that "the long-standing HUD
definition of ..."low poverty" is less than
10% of the population in a census tract at
or below the federal poverty line...”
Census Tract
(2000 Census)
7240
Oleander
Homes
7241
7242
7243
Magnolia
Homes
7244
7245
7246
Cedar Terrace
7247
7248
7249
7250
% of Individuals
Below Poverty
Level
(2000 Census)
see QT-P34
55.1%
18.9%
18.1%
31.5%
24.9%
39.4%
63.9%
30.6%
22.4%
20.9%
17.0%
7250
7251
7252
7253
7254
7255
7256
7257
7258
7259
7260
7261
17.0%
18.9%
30.8%
8.1%
19.0%
7.9%
14.6%
5.1%
16.9%
19.6%
4.0%
7.8%
City of Galveston
Low-Poverty Neighborhoods
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Census tracts 7253, 7255, 7257, 7260, and
7261 meet HUD's definition of low-poverty
neighborhoods.
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7253 and 7255 lie west of 43rd Street.
7257 lies between 69th and 81st Streets.
7260 and 7261 lie west of 99th Street.
City of Galveston
Race and Ethnicity by Census Tract
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HUD considers the Westchester case the
new “gold standard” on PH placement.
The judge ordered PH to be built in areas
of low Black and Hispanic concentrations.
The City of Galveston in its entirety fails the
Westchester criteria.
However, 3 census tracts would pass.
Census Tract
(2000 Census)
7240
Oleander
Homes
7241
7242
7243
Magnolia
Homes
7244
7245
7246
Cedar Terrace
7247
7248
7249
7250
% Black
(2000 Census)
see QT-P3
% Hispanic
(2000 Census)
see
QT-P3
29.6%
23.1%
23.5%
17.5%
16.4%
15.2%
21.4%
26.7%
31.4%
38.5%
31.3%
10.3%
81.7%
16.5%
71.9%
35.3%
24.1%
16.1%
14.1%
27.4%
36.5%
43.3%
7250
7251
7252
7253
7254
7255
7256
7257
7258
7259
7260
7261
16.1%
51.5%
43.7%
11.2%
12.6%
4.1%
14.9%
4.3%
11.3%
15.6%
0.8%
0.5%
43.3%
31.2%
40.1%
36.1%
47.7%
17.0%
20.6%
13.7%
32.4%
17.6%
10.2%
6.6%
City of Galveston Neighborhoods of Low
Racial and Ethnic Concentrations
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84% of the Public Housing units would have to be
built in census tract 7261.
An additional 8% of the Public Housing units
would also have to be built in census tract 7261,
because no census tracts meet the less than 7%
Black AND less than 10% Hispanic criteria.
The final 8% of the Public Housing units would
have to be built in census tracts 7257 and 7260.
Should any PH be built in Galveston?
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It is certainly possible that a few census
tracts in the City of Galveston may qualify
as high-opportunity neighborhoods.
Some of the 5 census tracts selected
above might pass the full screening; all lie
west of 43rd Street.
However, there are certainly better choices
on the Mainland.
Is this the Tipping Point?
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Galveston is a wonderful and even magical place,
but it is very fragile, because it has been locked
into a long and painful decline for the last 50
years, so it simply does not have the strength to
shoulder the tremendous burden of additional
Public Housing. This is why the GOGP will
continue to insist upon a policy that will place all
new Public Housing in other parts of the County!
We Have a Lawyer!
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After two years, the GOGP has found a lawyer
who will represent the people’s interest!!
He will begin with a research effort to suggest the
best cause of action.
If the GHA does not adopt a Communities of
Opportunity approach to develop its actual plans;
A lawsuit will be filed.