The
Worcester Housing Authority (WHA) policy makers are misguided. This might be
caused by the driven personality of Mr. Mariano who cannot seem to see any side
of an argument except his own. He and some in the media cover up this
personality flaw with the façade that he is “motivating” the lazy. The reality
is that to a significant extent the WHA policy of limiting tenancy is a libel
and slander against the poor, women with children, and people with dark skin.
I don’t
dislike Mr. Mariano. He is quite personable and considerate. In 1997 when my
Dad passed, he was the only public official to call me and offer his
condolences. I do not doubt his sincerity. However I have doubts about his
policies.
His policy
to limit the tenancy of some people living in WHA apartments is unprecedented
and therefore unsupported by any evidence, no statistics, and not even anecdotal
hearsay. The limitation of tenancy policy is based entirely on the false
assumption that people receiving benefits are somehow not “motivated”. There should have been additional discussion
on the issue other than the uncommented upon “annual review” at Housing and
Urban development (HUD). HUD correctly stated that it had no authority to limit
tenancy without cause.
Bashing HUD
and libeling the tenants are attempts to cover up the lack of objectivity of
Mr. Mariano’s policy. Nothing less could
be expected from some in the media; the apologies made for Mr. Mariano by
others came as a surprise. I suppose they see him to be sincere, albeit a view
that makes objectivity more difficult.
The
appropriate way to change HUD policy is through the due process seen in laws
made in Congress and interpreted by HUD. The Congress could limit tenancy after a
review of the facts. However to bureaucratically enact limits on tenancy
without due process and public discussion is not how democratically thing
should be done.
I suggest
that Mr. Mariano take a look at his own agency before trying to make national
laws. There is so much to fix there and
it might require more of Mr. Mariano’s attention than he has given it. Recently
I defended a client at a Grievance Hearing at the WHA. The WHA did not follow or even know some of the
rules of HUD. It confused a Grievance
Hearing with an Eviction Hearing. The
Chair of the Grievance Panel would not identify himself nor would the WHA
reveal his relationship to the WHA. The WHA refused to provide documents about
the case even though HUD rules compelled it to do so. The people at WHA were
rude and hostile. I guess that they were
more interested in bullying the poor and people ignorant of their rights than
in due process. I offer my best wishes to Mr. Mariano and hope he gets it
right.
