The following editorial is from an editorial in today’s Austin-American Statesman. A state disaster relief contract has itself been declared a disaster by federal auditors who recommend that Texas repay $9 million in overcharges collected by HNTB to administer disaster relief grants. Federal auditors found instances of overbilling by the company and poor oversight by [...]
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Tag Archives: Hurricane Dolly
State report: 29% of TX first round HUD disaster funds drawn down, 0% 2nd round
March 14, 2012
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Recent stories in the Austin American-Statesman, the Texas Tribune and the New York Times have chronicled the slow pace of the Texas Hurricane Ike and Dolly disaster recovery program using federal funds. Let’s step back and look at a snapshot of the state’s entire disaster recovery effort to get some perspective. Here are the numbers [...]
Read moreCandidate for most outrageous quote of 2012: HNTB says Texas disaster recovery program is “on target and on budget”
March 11, 2012
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Austin American Statesman reporter Brenda Bell has an amazing quote from HNTB in her story today about the HUD audit of the State of Texas Hurricane Ike and Dolly disaster recovery program. The HUD audit found that Texas improperly contracted with the engineering firm HNTB to manage hundreds of millions of dollars worth of hurricane recovery [...]
Read moreFederal Audit Questions $8 Million Paid to HNTB — General Land Office | The Texas Tribune
March 10, 2012
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In the second article in as many days, Texas Tribune reporter Becca Aaronson has disclosed a HUD inspector general’s report that says the State of Texas’ Ike-Dolly disaster recovery program, which is funded by the federal government, is facing a potential $8 million repayment of inflated fees paid to the private contractor hired by the [...]
Read more Hurricane Ike and Dolly home reconstruction drags on at unacceptable rates
February 13, 2012
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According to a State of Texas report covering the period through January 31 2012, only 38 percent of houses destroyed by Hurricanes Ike and Dolly and contracted to be repaired by local governments have been completed. A second, far larger round of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funded home repair contracts are expected to [...]
Read more Colonia Resident Worried About Tropical Storm Don
July 30, 2011
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Channel Five in McAllen ran a story tonight on a resident of a colonia in Cameron County who was dreading the approach of Tropical Storm Don. The subject of the story lives in Green Valley Farms (not Green Acres as the story claims). It is a colonia that has attracted our attention of late because [...]
Read more Where Texas border housing and community development issues stand after the legislative session
July 17, 2011
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Earlier this week I spoke to the National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders about developments during the last session of the Texas Legislature that impacted colonias. These are my prepared remarks. The situation faced by those of us who work on affordable housing and community development issues along the Texas Mexico border can be [...]
Read more A “new sheriff” takes over Texas disaster recovery
July 6, 2011
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(Photo: Texas General Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, from Texas Tribune) Readers will recall Governor Perry passed responsibility for the Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Dolly disaster recovery programs to Texas General Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson effective July 1. This afternoon I met with Gary Hagood, Deputy Commissioner of GLO and the new man responsible for overseeing [...]
Read more I woke last night to the sound of thunder
June 23, 2011
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As other parts of the state literally burn and the Governor calls on Texans to implement a critical part of his disaster response program, prayer for rain, here in the Valley rain clouds are rolling in. As I’ve been writing this post, the lights in my downtown Edinburg office have gone out, interrupting my work. The city streets flood terribly with even ordinary rainstorms like today’s, but colonias have it much worse.
Read more Governor Perry switches agencies responsible for disaster recovery funds
June 20, 2011
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Shakeups in the State’s troubled disaster recovery program continue. In the wake of the virtual elimination of the Governor’s designated lead agency for disaster recovery, the Texas Department of Rural Affairs and a veto of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, the Governor has informed HUD of his intention to change lead disaster [...]
Read more Analysis: Governor Perry’s veto of Texas Department of Housing
June 19, 2011
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On Friday Governor Perry vetoed the “Sunset Bill” for the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) that would continue the agency in operation for 12 more years. Without passage of the Sunset Bill the state housing agency will wind down operations and cease to exist. The Governor says he vetoed the bill because [...]
Read moreNew York Times praises State of Texas/TxLIHIS disaster recovery settlement
June 14, 2010
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The New York Times published this editorial Monday about our settlement with the State of Texas. Editorial HUD Steps Up in Texas Published: June 13, 2010 Washington too often looks the other way as state governments rob low-income victims of their fair share of federal disaster aid. The Department of Housing and Urban Development did [...]
Read moreStatement on our Fair Housing settlement with the State of Texas
May 25, 2010
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HUD ACCEPTS $1.7 BILLION REVISED DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN PRIORITIZING REBUILDING HOMES OF SURVIVORS An historic agreement between affordable housing advocates, HUD and the State of Texas redirects hundreds of millions in federal disaster recovery funds to benefit low-income survivors and devastated communities while ensuring fair housing opportunities. Austin, TX – In an historic victory for [...]
Read moreThe TxLIHIS / TX Appleseed / State of Texas fair housing settlement agreement
May 25, 2010
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The settlement agreement can be viewed as a PDF document on the HUD website: http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/press/press_releases_media_advisories/2010/HUDNo.10-106/conciliationagreement.pdf
Read moreHUD announces approval of TxLIHIS – Texas Appleseed – State of Texas Fair Housing settlement on hurricane recovery
May 25, 2010
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HUD has issued an announcement of their approval of of the settlement agreement to the TxLIHIS/Texas Appleseed fair housing complaint against the State of Texas. HUD APPLAUDS REVISED $1.7 BILLION TEXAS DISASTER PLAN Proposed plan targets more funding to high-need areas and housing activities WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today applauded a revised [...]
Read moreThe Texas plan directs rebuilding money away from those in need
January 11, 2010
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There is really no other way to characterize the plan Governor Perry submitted to HUD to spend $1.7 billion in federal disaster recovery funds. The Texas plan is to take money away from those suffering and in need to give to those not in need – reverse Robin Hood. HUD’s research, summarized in the map [...]
Read moreHUD pushes Governor to redirect hurricane rebuilding funds to hurricane impacted counties
January 11, 2010
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Things did not slow down during the holidays over the shape of Hurricane Ike and Dolly rebuilding programs in Texas, but my blogging did. This update recounts what has been happening. The concerns we have been raising for the past two years came to a head as the State of Texas moved to request an [...]
Read moreWhat the State of Texas must do to fix the Hurricane rebuilding plan (and what we plan to do to make sure it does)
November 23, 2009
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People have asked me what we want from the Texas CDBG Disaster Rebuilding Plan that we have criticized and that HUD has asked the Governor to revise. The complete answer lies in the extensive comments that we have submitted on repeated occasions to the State of Texas and in our complaints to HUD. Here is [...]
Read moreHUD Rejects State of Texas CDBG Disaster Recovery Plan
November 16, 2009
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HUD has rejected the State of Texas Plan to spend $1.7 billion in CDBG disaster recovery funds for Hurricane Dolly and Ike recovery. In rejecting the plan HUD mirrors concerning that we have expressed over the past months. We applaud HUD’s decision. More analysis will follow. Read HUD’s letter to Governor Perry rejecting the Texas [...]
Read moreHUD should reject the State of Texas plan to misspend $3 billion in CDBG disaster recovery funds
September 25, 2009
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The State of Texas is required to submit a plan amendment to HUD by September 30 outlining its final plan for spending the $3 billion in CDBG funds earmarked for Texas for disaster recovery from hurricanes Ike and Katrina. The state’s long road to producing this plan has been plagued by false starts and reversals. [...]
Read moreGovernor orders $1.3B Hurricane recovery plan changed but fails to fix the problem
September 16, 2009
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Not surprisingly the ill-conceived “weather report plan” proposed by ORCA to divide up the federal disaster recovery dollars in Texas attracted such a firestorm of opposition that Governor Perry ordered it changed today. The weather report plan allocated funds based on wind and rain rather than damages incurred and allowed ORCA staff to shift funds [...]
Read moreHow much housing money is needed for Ike/Dolly rebuilding?
September 10, 2009
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ORCA has proposed to allocate the remaining $1.3 billion of the $3,057,991,440 in Ike/Dolly CDBG rebuilding funds based on a model of how much wind, storm surge and rain fell in a place rather than the amount of damage the area suffered. This is clearly wrong, a fact that most people now acknowledge. There is another [...]
Read moreTestimony describes absurdity of Texas hurricane disaster fund allocation plan
September 6, 2009
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Joe Higgs, organizer for Gulf Coast Interfaith, laid out clearly the problems with the proposed State of Texas plan to spend $1.3 billion in federal Hurricane Ike and Dolly CDBG rebuilding funds. His testimony was presented at the board meeting of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs on September 3, 2009. Here is [...]
Read moreHouston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey on the politics of hurricane rebuilding
September 6, 2009
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In his column today Houston Chronicle featured columnist Rick Casey speculates about why Governor Perry is allowing the Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA) to so badly misallocate federal hurricane disaster rebuilding funds. Casey correctly describes ORCA’s bizarre plan to allocate $1.3 billion in disaster recovery funds not on the basis of the damage [...]
Read moreFederal court orders FEMA to reconsider denial of home repairs to Hurricane Dolly survivors
August 10, 2009
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Good news for the low income Hurricane Dolly survivors who were denied home repairs by FEMA! The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Brownsville Division issued a ruling on August 6 in the case of La Union del Pueblo Entero v. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Plaintiffs brought suit in [...]
Read moreGovernor Perry’s disaster rebuilding plan is the latest disaster to strike Texas
August 8, 2009
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We share the state auditor’s concerns in a report just released about the unacceptable length of time it takes the councils of governments (COGs) and the state agencies (ORCA and TDHCA) to deliver hurricane assistance to Texas families and communities. The state auditor’s report examined the COGs’ and state agencies’ performance in managing roughly half a [...]
Read moreGetting closer to finding out why so many Texas hurricane survivors were denied housing assistance
June 17, 2009
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The pieces are slowly coming together to answer the question, why were so many applications for FEMA housing assistance in the wake of Hurricane Ike denied by FEMA? While more than 82,000 households affected by Ike have received almost $371 million in FEMA funds for repairs, more than 730,000 families requested help from FEMA, meaning [...]
Read moreTX Legislature seeks better homes, faster repairs for hurricane survivors
June 13, 2009
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It has been almost a year since Hurricane Ike’s and Hurricane Dolly’s floodwaters rose above streets, and above doors and windows, destroying countless Texas homes and affecting the lives of an estimated one million Texans. Today, far too many homes still remain in need of repair. Amid the destruction, the agony of families, and the [...]
Read moreTexas will be forced to ration hurricane home repair grants
January 7, 2009
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Texas should allocate the limited disaster funds so that they take care of the housing needs of Hurricane Ike/Dolly survivors as the State’s top priority and relegate funding for government programs to a lower priority. Families’ recovery should come first and government second. If even after making housing the State’s top funding priority, not enough [...]
Read moreTexas official in charge of disaster assistance refuses to state housing needs will be funded
December 16, 2008
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I predicted the process for allocating funds set out in the draft ORCA Hurricane Ike/Dolly Disaster Plan will result in a gross underfunding of the housing needs of hurricane survivors. Now we have proof that this is indeed a real possibility from the testimony of none other than the executive director of the state agency [...]
Read moreAuthors
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Bo McCarver’s housing news clips for May
- Mitt Romney at private fundraiser: I might eliminate HUD – The Washington Post
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Bo’s housing news clips: Study finds zoning segregates lower-income students in lower-scoring schools.
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Texas LIHTC housing program rocked by second earthquake in two months
- Low-Income Housing Program Compels Building in Poor Texas Areas – NYTimes.com
