Plan to disperse poverty moves forward, faces hurdles.

from the Wisconsin State Journal

By Matthew DeFour

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz's plan to disperse Madison's pockets of poverty around the county is moving forward this week, though legal issues could limit the mayor's proposal to merge city and county public housing operations.

Cieslewicz in April floated the idea to create a regional housing authority by joining the Dane County Housing Authority and Madison's Housing Operations division, which is overseen by the Community Development Authority.

A regional authority could ensure that poor families aren't concentrated in Madison's public school system and would save money by reducing duplicated services, Cieslewicz said during his state of the city address.


Since then, City Attorney Michael May issued an opinion that the city and county agencies can't legally merge, because there is nothing in state law that allows for that to happen. Instead, the city would have to dissolve the Community Development Authority's role as a housing agency and allow the county agency to administer its program, something Middleton did earlier this year.

The two agencies also could possibly coordinate some of their services, May said, but they would have to maintain separate governing bodies.

The housing authorities support first-time buyers and handle public housing and federal Section 8 vouchers used by low-income residents that offset rent payments.

Cieslewicz is introducing a resolution to the City Council Tuesday that would create an 11-member committee to develop a regional housing strategy and explore the possibility of coordinated operations between the city and county agencies.

The legal issues of merging the agencies is something the committee will have to explore, Cieslewicz's spokeswoman Rachel Strauch-Nelson said.

Carolyn Parham, executive director of the Dane County Housing Authority, said the idea of merging operations has come up numerous times in her 19 years with the authority.

"The topic has been brought up time and time again," Parham said. "This is the first time it's gone to a committee being formed to look at the issue."

Dane County Housing Authority Chairwoman Judy Wilcox and Ald. Tim Bruer, 14th District, a member of the Community Development Authority, have been tabbed to co-chair the committee. The resolution asks for the committee to come up with recommendations by the end of 2009.