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<br />Mr. Paul Patrick, 517 Ridge Street, Apt. I, said he worked for a homeless
<br />organization for many years. He said he thinks we can obtain federal funds to match City
<br />funds.
<br />
<br />Mr. Art Lichtenberger, 2024 Minor Road, Co-Chair of the Charlottesville
<br />Housing Committee, supported the proposal. He said teachers cannot afford housing in
<br />the City. He said Council should put teeth into its commitment. He said having the
<br />ordinance will make it more public to remove the commitment. He said County
<br />cooperation with the City is improving. He noted that developers need long-term
<br />commitments.
<br />
<br />Ms. Sena Magill, 710 Anderson Street, said it costs about $3,000 to move into a
<br />new place. She said housing is a crisis in the country. She said she works at Region Ten
<br />and sees people struggling to find a home.
<br />
<br />Mr. Overton McGee, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity, said Council
<br />has proved its commitment to affordable housing. He said firefighters, police, teachers,
<br />bus drivers, and nursing assistants cannot afford to live in Charlottesville. He said he
<br />hopes Council will view this as an investment. He said it can function as a true trust
<br />fund. He said State funding stopped because there was no dedicated revenue.
<br />
<br />Mr. Jack Gwynn, 2503 Brunswick Road, said he is worried about the precedent of
<br />having a dedicated fund. He said he is being taxed out of his home. He asked if any of
<br />the surplus funds were used for affordable housing, and if so, he would like a list of
<br />where it went.
<br />
<br />Mr. Tom Vandever, 916 Druid Avenue, former Mayor, said he commends
<br />Council for addressing the problem of affordable housing. He said as a long time
<br />observer and student of local government he has serious concerns about the mechanism
<br />proposed. He said having an ordinance to dictate funding is bad government. He said he
<br />understands that people want to make a strong statement, but he said the ordinance
<br />creates a false public appearance. He urged Council to allocate the resources, but not in
<br />this artificial manner.
<br />
<br />Ms. Heather Peck, 760 Lexington Avenue, strongly encouraged Council to create
<br />a structure for funding. She said Council needs to structurally address the issue of low
<br />wages.
<br />
<br />Ms. Carol Johnston, 410 Altamont Circle, a City representative on the Region Ten
<br />Board, expressed her gratitude for the ordinance. She said it is important to be able to
<br />count on funding every year and make funding a permanent commitment.
<br />
<br />Ms. Joy Johnson, 823-D Hardy Drive, said she is a member of several boards
<br />such as PHA, QCC, Legal Aid, MACAA, and CRHA, and she supports the ordinance.
<br />She said public housing is supposed to be transitional, but asked where are residents
<br />supposed to go. She said the fundamentals do not change with the ordinance.
<br />
<br />Mr. Blake Caravati, 1108 Little High Street, former Mayor, applauded Councilors
<br />for the aggressive way they are approaching the issue, but he said he cannot support
<br />doing it by ordinance. He said he thinks that is bad government and “smoke and
<br />mirrors.” He said there are other important programs such as schools, fire, and police
<br />that are funded every year by Council. He said Council can make a commitment by
<br />political will. He said no other programs get funding by ordinance except for the CIP.
<br />
<br />Ms. Meredith Richards, 1621 Trailridge Road, former Council Member, said
<br />Council made an investment with PHA, and when they investment in affordable housing
<br />they also invested in neighborhoods. She said the ordinance establishes a commitment.
<br />She said this must be combined with a visionary and strategic plan.
<br />
<br />Ms. Tammy Londeree, 813 Locust Avenue, Apt. C, said she is on disability, and
<br />she has no extra money for savings.
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