County, City Housing Authorities Look at Merger
WESB/WBRR News Director
The housing authorities of McKean County and the City of Bradford have been sharing a director for about a year and a half, and now they want to know if the city wants them to go ahead with some kind of merger.
County Redevelopment and Housing Authority Executive Director Dusti Dennis, who has been working 20 hours a week for the city authority, explained during a city council work session Tuesday what the housing authorities do, and what they don’t do.
The city has 200 public housing units and the county has 216. The city has 112 Section 8 vouchers, while the county has 356. Residents pay 30 percent of their income in rent.
“At this point we’re just exploring,” Dennis said. “What (a merger) could like we don’t know.”
She said a merger “seems to make sense” financially, at least, because federal funding has been cut. Capital fund budgets for both authorities have been cut by 20 percent over the last three years, she said.
Whether it’s a complete merger, or long-term management agreement, both authorities would save money on administrative costs, which could then be put back into the program.
Among the improvements they’ve been able to make so far are adding a security guard at the High Rise on Bushnell Street. Dennis said city police have told her that has made a tremendous difference in the number of calls officers receive from the building.
She said they are also currently taking steps to turn the High Rise back into a facility for elderly and disabled residents.
Dennis did say there are many misconceptions about public housing and Section 8. “A lot” of the tenants are working poor and single mothers, she said.
She did say she does have quite a few inquiries from landlords who want to be Section 8 tenants because they know they will be getting part of the rent payment from the Housing Authority. But, she said, there are misconceptions about Section 8 tenants, too. “You can get bad tenants no matter who you rent to,” she said. “I don’t care if it’s a Section 8 tenant or somebody who makes $100,000 a year. It just all depends on if that person takes care of that property.”
In talking about putting money back into the program, she said a merger could mean “possibly – we don’t know for sure – possibly an increase in our capital fund dollars.”
That increase could go toward improvements to Bradford Housing Authority properties that are “the gateway to Pitt. They’re right next to Zippo. There’s a lot of traffic in those areas. We want them to look as good as they possibly can,” she said.
The Department of Housing and Urban and Development and the McKean County Commissioners support a long-term agreement, Dennis said.
She said lawyers for both authorities are currently working on a proposal, and she believes some kind of merger would be in the best interest of both the city and the county.
“We feel we can do better as a larger authority,” Dennis said.
During its regular meeting, council accepted a $45,000 proposal from CJL Engineering for design and construction inspection services for the Callahan Park ice rink resurfacing project.
Council also heard from Hobson Place resident Jim Belardia who said The Guidance Center has been treating residents on his street “like a piece of you-know-what” during its renovation project and, among other things, has let weeds grow wild and left asphalt lying around. Fire Chief Chris Angell said he will look into the problem.
And, council set Trick-or-Treat hours for 6 to 7:30 p.m. on October 31.
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