Town of Castle Rock’s Letter About Declining HUD AFFH Funds

Intro by Smith Young “:)” This is an excellent letter from the City Council explaining reasons for town declining HUD CDBG funds.

Douglas County,
Town of Castle Rock, Office of the Towns Clerk,
April 5, 2016
_____________________________________________________________

Reply To:  Audio Information Network of Colorado, Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, Crisis Center, Douglas County Housing Partnership, Elbert Task Force,  Parker Task Force for Human Services, Southeast Community Outreach, Society of St. Vincent de Paul

(click Original Letter)

Thank you (above organizations) for your letter concerning CDBG funds and the Town of Castle Rock.  Last year, when faced with the question of whether the Town should become an entitlement community under the CDBG program, the Council declined to pursue that status because it would result in unclear and unwarranted interference from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  For years Castle Rock has accepted various grant monies offered by HUD through Douglas County.  This money was parceled out by Town Council mainly to fix alleyways and make curbs ADA accessible.  But last year HUD added very alarming strings to the grants; 377 pages of new rules that give HUD drastic new powers over our cities and counties that in affect eliminate the zoning and planning powers of your local elected officials which can now be overruled by HUD bureaucrats in Washington DC.

If we continue to accept the HUD grants, we will be forced to prepare detailed taxpayer-financed studies of our schools, retail, housing, and other community aspects to HUD who will decide if our neighborhoods are “furthering fair housing.” That means that even though our town has never been found in violation of the anti-discrimination housing rules that have been law for over 50 years, HUD on a whim could force us to build low-income, government subsidized housing into our neighborhoods if HUD decides we aren’t racially balanced enough. This is already happening across the U.S.; just google Westchester County, New York,

One example: according to HUD, if your family home sits on a quarter-acre property, your neighborhood is potentially discriminatory. It would be much less racist if a high-rise low-income apartment building went up next door, never mind local zoning regulations.

The result for us could be reduced property values, a large population increase due to an influx of people from the cities to our suburbs, more crime, large local tax increases to support HUD’s mandate, and loss of local zoning control and other local decisions.

As a Town Council, we will resist all federal attempt to destroy our local sovereignty, be it from HUD, the EPA, or any other government agency. Council will always defend our resident’s right to make their own local decisions without federal interference. While I appreciate the many good works that are represented by your programs, accepting onerous federal grant requirements which harm our community cannot be the price to pay for federal monies.

Sincerely,

Paul Donahue Mayor, District I

Jennifer Green, Mayor Pro Tern, District 3

Renee Valentinem Councilmember District 5

George Teal, Councilmember District 6

Mark Heath, Councilmember District 2

To:                 Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council

From:            Lisa Anderson, Deputy Town Clerk

Title:              Record of Vote

Executive Summary

According to the Minutes of the August 18, 2015; Mayor Pro-Tern Green made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Teal, to direct staff to decline participation in the CDBG program in the future.

The motion passed by the following vote:

Brett Ford                  Not Present

George Teal              Yes

Renee Valentine Yes

Paul Donahue           Yes

Jennifer Green         Yes

Chip Wilson               No

Mark Heath               Yes