Representative John Keenan Hosts Community
SALEM – Representative John Keenan (D-Salem) moderated a community roundtable of elected officials, nonprofit advocates, and business leaders this morning as they discussed the topic of affordable housing and affordable homeownership in Salem. The goal of the meeting was to provide a venue for policy makers, government officials, community advocates, private sector leaders, and Salem citizens to collectively address an issue of predominant concern in the region and the Commonwealth. After introductory remarks from Representative Keenan, a panel of invited guests offered fascinating testimony on a range of topics related to affordable housing. Carol MacGown, the director of the Salem Housing Authority, opened the panel by providing an overview of the affordable housing stock in Salem controlled by the SHA. “The need for affordable housing is clearly demonstrated by our waiting list,” said MacGown. With over 1,900 families on the waiting list for placement in affordable housing in Salem, the wait time for an accepted applicant is between four and five years at minimum, and about three years for elderly housing. “But, as great as the need for affordable housing is,” continued MacGown, “there is a stronger need for affordable financing.” The Commonwealth’s Department of Housing and Community Development have level-funded the local housing authorities for the last three years, explained MacGown, but at the same time costs for the authorities have been increasing exponentially. MacGown praised Representative Keenan and Senator Fred Berry, along with their colleagues, for recommending in the fiscal year 2006 state budget an increase of about $4 million to build and improve the Commonwealth’s affordable housing stock. Salem Harbor CDC director Jim Haskell provided a fascinating explanation of the status of housing in general in Massachusetts, including a detailed statistical presentation that placed the entire discussion into context. Haskell demonstrated that while Salem’s population is relatively stable, the number of households in the city has increased greatly, “and those households need a place to live,” explained Haskell. About half of Salem’s population moves every five years, Haskell outlined, meaning that the housing market is extremely dynamic, driving up housing costs. In addition, since more than half of Salem’s housing stock was built before 1940, “the rehabilitation needs of the existing housing is ongoing.” Haskell concluded by showing how immense the increase in housing costs actually was in Salem: in 1980, the median cost of a single family home was $150,000. In 2004, it was $320,000. In 1980, only six percent of renters in Salem paid $500 or more a month in rent; in 2000, nearly three-quarters of renters paid $500 or more. Chris Norris, the assistant director of the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, followed up by providing some fascinating anecdotes about specific Salem and Boston area residents who moved to different states to become homeowners there exclusively because of the housing costs in Massachusetts. Norris placed the discussion in a state-wide context and also described some major state programs and pieces of legislation currently under discussion that would impact affordable housing in the Commonwealth. He also explained how the problem of affordable housing is connected to many other pressing issues of the day, especially workforce development and jobs. The housing issue “has an economic impact on businesses…throughout the region,” said Norris. Norris also explained the causes of the increase in housing prices Haskell had described, “We are trying to house fewer people in more houses…supply just isn’t keeping pace with [demand]… We need a balanced approach. There is no one solution to this problem. We have to build new housing, improve the existing housing, and provide financial support altogether,” in order to successfully address the housing crisis in Massachusetts. Following Norris’ presentation, Andrew Oliver, the president of the Board of Governors of the Salem Mission, addressed the related issue of homelessness in Massachusetts and its impact on the housing situation. Oliver focused on the Mission’s renewed goal of eradicating homelessness, “one person at a time,” in order to end “the institutionalization of the shelters.” Through supportive housing at their new campus at the former St. Mary’s building on Margin Street in Salem, the Mission hopes to move their clients beyond homelessness by providing job training, educational assistance, substance abuse counseling, and all manner of individualized help. The new shelter campus will provide “stepping stones from…hopelessness to hope,” said Oliver. Barry Salloway, vice president of Salem Five Bank Mortgage Company, spoke after Oliver about mortgage and loan products available to first-time and low-income homebuyers in Massachusetts offered by Massachusetts Housing. “The American dream is to buy a home,” said Salloway, “Through homeownership, you have a sense of self-worth… you have something that is your own.” MassHousing offers a number of low-interest loan programs such as “Take the T Home” and the “Massachusetts Municipal Program.” These programs are designed to help homebuyers who cannot afford to save enough to make a down payment in today’s housing market. Finally, City Planner Lynn Duncan discussed the role of smart growth, including Chapters 40R and 40B, in affecting Salem’s affordable housing stock. “We recognize the real need for affordable housing in Salem,” said Duncan, even though Salem’s affordable housing rate is currently 12.75%, well over the 10% threshold set by Chapter 40B. Duncan described the “soft second” loan the city offers to first time homebuyers, a no-interest matching loan that helps qualifying buyers pay for closing costs on a new house. Duncan also detailed the city’s smart growth agenda, to preserve older units and produce newer units in the downtown core, in order to help stabilize housing costs and “preserve the diverse mix of housing stock in Salem.” After the panelists, invited guests - including Councilor-at-Large Arthur Sargent, Jack Harris of the Salem Commission on Disabilities, Steve Falvey of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, and Heather Pickard of North Shore Community Action Programs - offered their own feedback and reactions to the various presentations. Salem Mayor Stanley Usovicz concluded the meeting by making a few closing remarks drawing the various presentations together. “Housing isn’t the symptom of a problem” said Mayor Usovicz, “It is a problem… People are in need, and I mean dire need.” Some ideas the Mayor offered were a comprehensive affordable housing study to ensure that as Salem’s housing stock and population grows, the quantity and quality of the city’s affordable units is maintained and improved comparatively, and a renewed look at regional “clusters” in measuring and determining affordable housing stocks. The Mayor also indicated that even though Massachusetts lost population in the last census, Salem was one of the only communities in the Commonwealth to grow over the last few years, with nearly 1,200 new units of housing being built and, “a growing population is a prosperous population.” “The connected issues of affordable housing and affordable homeownership are two of the most pressing public policy questions we must address in government today,” said Representative Keenan, who organized the roundtable, “More and more of our elderly residents can no longer afford to live in the city in which they grew up, public housing waiting lists are growing exponentially, working families are struggling to make a down payment on a starter home, and government regulations are changing the way our affordable housing system functions. The solutions to all of these issues will not come overnight, but this forum was able to provide a place for the dialogue to take place.” About twenty-five people were in attendance for the roundtable, including Ward Five Councillor Matthew Veno, Ken Amero of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, Sharon Felton and Lynne Barrett of the Salem Council on Aging, Jennifer Hayden of Neighborhood Legal Services, and Ana Reid of Citizens for Adequate Housing. The meeting was videotaped by Salem Access Television, who will be broadcasting it on Channel 16 over the next several weeks.
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