The Durham Housing Authority (DHA) is asking Durham City Council for
a $1.5 million loan so that it can pay for its most basic needs.
According
to numbers provided by the housing authority, the agency owes more than $2
million, with roughly half-a-million owed to Duke Energy alone.
DHA Interim CEO Anthony Snell told WRAL Investigates there a
are a few factors contributing to the budget deficit. He said DHA still hasn’t
financially recovered from the carbon monoxide crisis at McDougald Terrace in
2020, which caused DHA to spend roughly $6 million from its reserves.
He also
said that many residents are not paying rent, and some have not paid anything
since the pandemic started, putting them further behind. According to numbers
provided by DHA, in the first three months of this year, DHA collected only two-thirds of the rent money it was owed.
Mayor Leonardo Williams had strong words for the housing
authority and its residents at a work session Thursday afternoon.
“I don’t want to hear ‘well some people just
can’t,’ [pay rent]” Mayor Williams said. “Some people probably can’t.
That’s a reality. But many can. And I’m not going to have this conversation
without saying that. At some point we start to promote enablement. And that
just can’t happen.”
Williams and other council members stressed that, if they
grant the loan, they expect accountability and increased communication
from DHA.
Council did not formally vote on giving the loan, though
many on council expressed support for it. A vote is likely at the June 16
council meeting.
“These are taxpayer dollars we are bailing out a
long mismanaged organization,” council member Chelsea Cook said.
“And it is hard. I know that I heard folks say that it’s not hard, it’s
not a complicated vote. It is hard. It’s a hard, complicated vote for me.”
Council member Javiera Caballero, who said she would be
supporting the loan, expressed frustration at the federal government.
“We are in this predicament because the federal
government… abandoned social housing,” she said. “We’re here
because they have decided that folks don’t deserve housing.”
Historically, DHA has not done many evictions.
According to numbers provided to WRAL by DHA, there are more
than 10,000 residents, 1,200 of whom are behind on rent. DHA said there are 26,000 people on its waiting list for various kinds of properties. DHA has evicted six
people for nonpayment of rent so far this year.
Snell told WRAL Investigates that the agency would be
considering more evictions, noting, though that “we will not be having a
mass eviction. There’s a process.”
Maurice Quick, a resident of the JJ Henderson public housing
complex, told WRAL Investigates that while he is up-to-date on his rent, he
sympathizes with those who have fallen behind.
“It’s getting hard out here,” he said. “It’s
really getting hard.”