As George Bush declares war on low-income housing, budget cuts are affecting public housing tenants in San Francisco where it hurts the most. At various apartment buildings for senior and disabled tenants, the local Housing Authority has eliminated 24-hour security – while the City’s most vulnerable tenants are afraid to leave their apartments. Supervisor Chris Daly called a public hearing at yesterday’s Budget Committee to review the Housing Authority’s finances, and demand answers from Executive Director Gregg Fortner.

Nobody expects the Housing Authority to have an easy job with federal budget cuts, but yesterday’s hearing revealed how misfunded and potentially mismanaged the Housing Authority has become. Despite owing the City $8.2 million, the Housing Authority continues to run a budget deficit. Meanwhile, San Francisco police aren’t sure if they can patrol the housing projects – because the City and the Housing Authority are legally separate entities. With increasing frustration over the City’s lack of control, is it time for the Board of Supervisors to take over the Housing Authority?

Beverly Sava lives in a public housing complex at 430 Turk Street, in the heart of the Tenderloin. Her building used to have 24-hour security at the front desk to monitor people coming in and out of the building. Now the Housing Authority has replaced them with a desk clerk who’s only there from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., security cameras in the building that nobody’s watching, and a roving team of security guards who patrol various senior and disabled housing complexes.

“There is urine and fecal matter in the elevator,” she said. “There is aggressive behavior from outsiders, constant noise and distraction.” Security cameras might help prosecute a crime after it happens – but it won’t stop an elderly tenant from getting mugged in their own building. Roving security guards are no substitute for 24-hour security, because the building needs a constant presence that only a round-the-clock desk clerk can bring. “All the good work that our one desk clerk does is ruined by the 16 hours when we have no permanent security,” she said.

Leslie Clark, who lives in the same building and uses a wheelchair, says that tenants are scared. He advises them to keep their doors locked at all times, but the real solution is to bring back the 24-hour security. “I am fearful for my life,” he said. “You don’t know who these people are in the building, and you may get hurt.” Other tenants at Clementina Towers spoke out at the public hearing with similar horror stories.

Gregg Fortner, who runs the Housing Authority, explained to the Supervisors that they are grappling with budget cuts. Next year, they expect to lose an additional $9 million in federal funds. They already had to lay off 24 employees in November, and have been cutting about 30 staff a year for the past six years. In trying to better utilize scarce resources, he said, “we have invested in more security cameras because we cannot afford the salaries of permanent employees.”

But when Chris Daly asked how much money the Housing Authority was saving by not providing 24-hour security, Fortner was unable to provide an answer. Fortner even admitted that the Housing Authority had experimented with roving security guards in the past at Clementina Towers and other projects in the Tenderloin, but they discontinued it when it was deemed “not effective.”

“I want to be supportive of your efforts,” said Daly, “but I’m less helpful when cuts like these are made. Before you do cuts like this, we should be able to work together to deal with basic security services – especially on sites with senior and disabled tenants.”

Federal budget cuts are nothing new, and other Supervisors scolded the Housing Authority for not planning ahead and by simply acting on “crisis mode” every year. “We find ourselves reacting to these federal budget cuts,” said Ross Mirkarimi. “Systemically, it needs to be done in a different way.”

Moreover, the hearing revealed that the Housing Authority is not only under-funded – but mis-funded as well. Jerry Abrams, a public housing tenant for over 16 years, complained of a mismanaged agency where “little or no maintenance has been done successfully,” and “promises and agreements are routinely ignored.”

While such testimony is anecdotal, the Board’s audit of the Housing Authority did show that it owes the City $8.2 million. Pursuant to an agreement that goes back to the 1960’s, the Housing Authority is supposed to pay the City 10% of its rental revenue – in lieu of property taxes. While the City agreed to waive these in the past, the Housing Authority has not had any of its waivers approved – or in some years didn’t even ask for waivers – since 1990. According to the Board’s Budget Analyst, the City has let the Housing Authority get away with not paying a total of $8.2 million over the past 16 years.

As the Housing Authority cuts back on security in its own buildings, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has sought to expand police foot patrols to the housing projects of District 5 – where 7 of the City’s last 10 homicides have occurred. But under state law, the District Attorney cannot prosecute cases where the Police kick trespassers out of public housing projects – unless the Housing Authority gives the City explicit permission to patrol their property. This is because the City and Housing Authority are separate legal entities.

Mirkarimi held a hearing on February 15th at the Board’s Public Safety Committee, where representatives from the Police Department, the D.A.’s Office and the Housing Authority testified on the legal limitations. As a result of Mirkarimi’s efforts, the Police Department finally announced on March 6th that they will patrol the housing projects at Alemany, Plaza East and Hayes Valley North and South.

The Housing Authority is governed by seven Commissioners, all of whom are appointed by the Mayor. Because it is a separate entity from the City, the Board of Supervisors have no jurisdiction over it. At the hearing, Supervisors expressed frustration at how inattentive the Housing Authority Commissioners have been – and challenged the Mayor to look more closely at his appointments.

It’s infuriating for the Supervisors to be unable to control the Housing Authority’s budget, or that the Police must get permission just to patrol the common areas in their property. But meanwhile, the Supervisors must respond to the needs of their constituents – who are clamoring for solutions to a very pressing problem.

At the hearing, Supervisors contemplated the idea of having the City take over the Housing Authority. It was tried once before, but became a political disaster that embarrassed the Board of Supervisors. In February 2001, Matt Gonzalez floated the idea of having the City take over the Housing Authority – but public housing residents (egged on by the Rev. Amos Brown) packed the Board chambers to protest.

Yesterday, Supervisor Tom Ammiano told me that it’s still a good idea. “But you can’t be cavalier about doing it,” he said. If the Supervisors are going to try it again, they need to work with the public housing tenants – rather than independently.

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