WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. August 2, 2005: Dennis Power, Democrat candidate for Mayor of White Plains, addressed the Common Council Monday evening on affordable housing and released this statement of this remarks to WPCNR:
“White Plains has a strong middle class/workforce tradition - it’s an important part of our fabric as a community. The character of our community is changing at a faster rate than we can comprehend. We need to move aggressively to support our city workers, firefighters, police, teachers, hospital workers, to name a few of the people most affected by the lack of affordable housing. They give so much to our community. It’s only fair to give them, in turn, a chance to live in the community they serve.”
Three Point Plan
- The immediate formation of an Affordable Housing Task Force, comprised of the best minds of the community, residents as well as businesses, to analyze, study and target ‘best practices.’ They would work with the Mayor and Common Council to bring those policies to White Plains;
- Revising the set aside requirement from 6% to 15%;
- Providing that of the 15% set-aside, up to 5% can be bought out at the election of the developer and with the approval of the Common Council.
Over the years, White Plains residents have demonstrated incredible resolve, intelligence and strong community mindedness when called upon to serve as members of commissions and boards. Yes, we need to tap into available federal, state and county resources, develop partnerships with corporations, banks and nonprofits in the area, but what will turn the affordable housing crisis around is harnessing our community’s resolve to fix this problem. The affordable housing issue needs a commitment to resolve it, something the current administration doesn’t have.
The Task Force will send a clear message that our City is committed to giving the wide range of middle income, working families of White Plains a shot at the American dream, whether that’s rental or first-time home ownership. It will bring creative solutions to keep White Plains the culturally and economically diverse community it has always been.
The current affordable housing crisis was exacerbated when the city administration capitulated to developers’ requests to pay a paltry sum to buy their way out of actually building the affordable housing units they promised. A buy-out policy was conjured up that cut developers the biggest break of all. The Mayor said to the developers, Give us $35,000 and you’re off the hook. You are free to turn around and sell that unit now for $800,000. The message sent and received by the middle class city worker who would have moved into one of those units is: You are not a priority. That will change when I am Mayor.
Our new priorities have to be with our city’s workers forced to live so far away, with our young families tossed out of their hometown’s housing market, our retirees and seniors forced to move on at an age when they should have peace of mind, or our younger workers moving up the ladder who want to stay in their home community.
