Housing advocates, other groups call for more transparency with Sandy aid

Published: January 15, 2014
By Erin O'Neill

A coalition of housing advocates and civil rights groups critical of how Gov. Chris Christie’s administration has distributed Hurricane Sandy relief aid today issued a series of recommendations for spending the next round of federal funds headed to New Jersey.

The Fair Share Housing Center, Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, Latino Action Network and NAACP New Jersey State Conference released a report that called on state officials to allocate recovery funding by county and towns proportional to the amount of damage, among other changes.

The groups said its recommendations were necessary due to disparities in the way certain groups have been treated in recovery programs the state funded with nearly $1.83 billion in Community Development Block Grants. State officials have denied there has been unfair treatment.

In the report, the groups again raised concerns about how much money has been dedicated to renters, saying those residents have been shortchanged in the recovery effort. At a legislative hearing last week, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Richard Constable called that criticism “unwarranted,” saying the state over allocated funding to renters.

The groups’ report comes as the state plans how to spend more than $1.46 billion in additional federal relief aid that has been allocated to New Jersey and is expected in the spring.

“The allocation of these funds provides a singular opportunity — for many people impacted by Sandy perhaps the last opportunity — to get this recovery on track and help people rebuild,” the report says.

Other recommendations included in the report are:

• Develop programs to address the immediate needs of renters, like the Resettlement program that provides flexible $10,000 grants to homeowners

• Only distribute infrastructure funding to communities that facilitate rebuilding homes for both renters and homeowners

• Provide a step-by-step process of how funds have been allocated so far and will be allocated in the future

Staci Berger, president of Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, said “these recommendations can move all of New Jersey forward and rebuild the lives of those affected and restore thriving communities around the state.”

Lisa Ryan, a spokeswoman for the DCA, noted that more than $800 million in housing recovery assistance has been distributed or obligated so far. Of that, she said, more than two-thirds is going to low- to moderate-income households.

Constable said last week that there will be a public hearing on the state's plan to spend the $1.46 billion, as well as other opportunities for the public to comment.