Shameful and Shameless in New York. Good riddance Pataki

It won't be much longer before New York State has a new governor and it can't happen soon enough. The state government is famous for it's 'three men in a room' unofficial form of governance as well it's many instances of corruption. This story I just came across in the New York Observer typifies the crooked style of government Republican Governor George Pataki has exhibited for the last 12 years. More below.

New York State, like every other state, has a serious shortage of affordable rental housing. From the five boroughs of NYC to Albany to Buffalo, working class people are finding it harder and harder to afford a place to live. My profession puts me in contact with renters looking for an affordable apartment on a daily basis and trying to help some of these people find someplace to live is sometimes heartbreaking.

In New York State there is a state agency responsible which is responsible for financing affordable housing construction. However, it turns out that since 2000 the New York State Housing Finance Agency has been financing more luxury units than affordable units. This is astounding. This funding is directly from state's own tax exempt bonds and only 47% of the housing built with this funding is affordable housing.

From the Observer article:

The report concludes that HFA is no isolated case: The Pataki administration has almost completely disregarded New York State's growing affordable housing crisis. The report maps out the details of a failed housing legacy that has left New York as one of the least affordable state in the country. While the federal government's "fair market rent" for a two-bedroom apartment in New York State increased 20 percent in the past eight years, the median income for tenants fell 21 percent (adjusted for inflation). Despite this need, New York remains one of just seven states without an affordable housing trust fund replenished by steady funding sources.

Here's more:

"The neglect and cutbacks have had a terrible impact in poor neighborhoods of struggling upstate cities like Troy, Schenectady, and Albany," said Fr. Gary Mercure, Pastor of Sacred Heart/St. William RCC in Troy, Clergy Caucus Chair for ARISE in the Capital District. "It is a matter of the highest urgency for people of faith and conscience to speak out to state leaders, both the governor and the legislature, and for our leaders to make a drastic change of course. "

"Not only has the Pataki administration failed to invest in affordable housing, under his watch we've lost significant ground, hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of rent regulated units," said Julie Miles, Executive Director of Housing Here and Now, a New York City-wide affordable housing coalition. "The next governor will need to be especially aggressive on housing to make up for all this lost ground."

The homeless population consists of more than just the unemployed, the mentally ill and those down on their luck. It also consists of working people. People who despite having a job, just can no longer afford to put a roof over their head. In New York City, 44% of the homeless population are children.

When you couple this corruption with the state Republican assault on rent regulations, you have a state where many working class families have nowhere to go. Some will have to spilt up and live with different family members. Some will live in their car. Some will be forced to the streets, and if 'lucky', wind up in a family shelter.

I'm optimistic for 2007 and beyond. With a new Democratic Governor and hopefully a Democratic majority in the state senate, the Democrats will control both legislative branches as well as the Governor's mansion. We can then start to clean up the mess that Pataki and Senate Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno have left and make sure that state agencies like the Housing Finance Agency start fulfilling their mission instead of being used as a tool of luxury developers.