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More than a decade
after HOME began its investigation of the Marine Drive Apartments, on
January 15th control of the 616-unit waterfront complex was
returned to the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority. Choosing among six
proposals, BMHA designated a partnership formed by veteran rental managers
Richard Hutchins & Associates and Anthony Kissling as the interim operator
of the complex.
The Marine Drive
Apartments Inc., a tenant cooperative which has managed the complex for 40
years and been the repeated target of allegations of discrimination,
reportedly refused to cooperate with the new operator to ensure a smooth
transition for tenants. In the days that followed, it came to light that
the Board of Directors of Marine Drive had voted an extraordinarily
generous severance package of $1.5 million to outgoing employees, which
was to be paid from the complex’s reserve accounts.
Once discovered by
Buffalo News reporter James Heaney, the severance package generated a
fusillade of criticism—being called “unconscionable” and a “raid on
reserve funds, which should continue to benefit the people of Marine
Drive.”
Prodded by front-page
criticism and outrage from the Mayor’s office, officials of New York State
Division of Housing & Community Renewal (responsible for supervising the
complex) moved to block payments to three departing managers and delay
payments to 18 unionized workers.
Although current
residents have been assured that no income-eligible tenants will be
displaced, final decisions about the complex have yet to be made.
Interested observers are watching carefully the decision making process
used by officials of BMHA, the City and the State Division of Housing.
It seems
inevitable that there will be many more installments written in the
continuing saga of Marine Drive.
Layoffs hit HOME
Elsewhere in this issue
we have reported on the City of Buffalo’s 82 percent reduction in support
for HOME’s fair housing program. Coupled with the City’s failure to honor
contractual obligations to the Community Housing Center, HOME has been
left with a shortfall of more than $111,000 in our current budget year.
Faced with the loss of
nearly 20 percent of anticipated revenues, the Board of Directors
reluctantly eliminated three of the 12 positions funded last September—one
each from the Fair Housing, Mobility and Support Units. We will miss the
contributions of Mobility Counselor Stacy Brownell and Senior Data
Specialist Nina Worrell. (A third position had been left vacant since
financial storm clouds began to gather late in 2003.) Both Nina and
Stacy are dedicated employees who have done very good work for HOME; they
deserve much better.
Despite the loss of
these positions, draconian cuts in non-personnel lines and some new
revenues, HOME’s still faces a deficit of $24,282 between now and August
31st. Without additional revenues, more layoffs will
inevitably follow.
HOME began the budget
year with too few staff to address barriers to fair housing in seven
counties of Western New York. Now that staff is 25 percent smaller. |
