It appears that the rebuilding of the 569 public housing in Galveston demolished in the wake of Hurricane Ike may be back on track. Sources tell me that the Galveston Housing Authority voted today 4-1 to accept the requirements of the Texas General Land Office concerning the rebuilding of public housing. Last week the Galveston City […]
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Tag Archives: Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike survivors testify at House Ways and Means
April 19, 2013 
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Shelly Batten and Tina Colunga drove up from Galveston yesterday to testify on HB 835. HB 835, by Representative Eiland, (and it’s aptly numbered companion, SB 835, by Senator Lucio,) say that homes provided through a government disaster recovery program are not considered newly valued improvements if they replace or repair a substandard home. This addresses […]
Read more Will Texas learn a lesson from the tragedy at West?
April 18, 2013 1 Comment
Everyone is horrified at the loss of life and destruction last night from the explosion of a fertilizer plant in the town of West. One of the many things we must resolve in light of this disaster is to make sure that steps are taken to prevent a recurrence elsewhere. It was clearly a mistake […]
Read more Chrishelle Palay helps Houston’s poor and needy plead their cause
April 2, 2013 0 Comments
Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. – Proverbs 31:9 . Chrishelle Palay works to help the poor plead their own cause and she lends her voice to their cause as well. Palay is the policy analyst for Texas Low Income Housing Information Service in Houston. Her mission […]
Read moreAustin American-Statesman: State should ask HNTB for a refund
March 15, 2012 Comments Off
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 […]
Read more State report: 29% of TX first round HUD disaster funds drawn down, 0% 2nd round
March 14, 2012 Comments Off
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 Comments Off
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 Comments Off
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 moreAmid Finger-Pointing, Hurricane Relief for Texans Lags – NYTimes.com
March 9, 2012 Comments Off
The NYT ran a story written by Texas Tribune reporter Becca Aaronson on the state of disaster recovery in Texas… Nearly four years after Hurricanes Ike and Dolly wreaked havoc on the Texas coast, thousands of Texans are still waiting for housing assistance. The long-term disaster recovery effort financed by the federal government has made little […]
Read more Hurricane Ike and Dolly home reconstruction drags on at unacceptable rates
February 13, 2012 1 Comment
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 Couple lives in tent waiting for Ike-damaged home’s repair | khou.com Houston
September 17, 2011 Comments Off
Just when you think you have seen the worst government can do to Hurricane Ike victims along comes this story. This is funded with the $3.1 billion State administered disaster recovery program. Is no one monitoring how local recipients of the funds treat the people who are being “assisted” under the program? (Watch the video) […]
Read more Fewer than 500 Texas homes repaired in three years since Hurricane Ike
September 15, 2011 Comments Off
Official figures from the State of Texas show that fewer than 500 homes have been repaired or rebuilt under the State of Texas Hurricane Ike/Dolly disaster recovery program as of this week, the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Ike. A minimum of $1.7 billion in available federal funds provided to the state are aside for housing […]
Read more On 3rd anniversary 200 tell Houston City Council reforms are needed in Hurricane Ike recovery program
September 14, 2011 Comments Off
The following testimony was presented before the Houston City Council on the third anniversary of Hurricane Ike, September 13, 2011.
Read more Protesters say city slow to repair Ike-damaged houses – Houston Chronicle
September 13, 2011 Comments Off
Bearing photos of homes that still have blue tarps on the roofs, more than 100 protesters held a rally at City Hall on the third anniversary of Hurricane Ike on Tuesday and pleaded with the City Council to accelerate its repair program. “I’m tired of the city telling me to be patient,” said Elvis Malveaux at […]
Read more Senior’s city-built home lacked insulation – Houston Chronicle
September 13, 2011 Comments Off
After months of delay in getting its housing repair program under way, Houston’s housing department was eager last month to show off the first batch of new homes built to replace those damaged by Hurricane Ike. But one of the homes wasn’t quite finished when it was turned over to the homeowner. The contractor neglected to […]
Read more Three Years After Ike, Many Still Await Assistance | Public News Service
September 13, 2011 Comments Off
AUSTIN, Texas – Today marks the third anniversary of Hurricane Ike, and many low-income Texans, particularly in the Houston area, have yet to recover from its devastation. Hundreds of affected residents plan to converge on City Hall today, carrying symbolic blue tarps and photos of unrepaired homes, charging that the city has neglected them while […]
Read more September 13, 2011 is the three year anniversary of Hurricane Ike
September 12, 2011 Comments Off
Please take a few moments to consider the plight of the tens of thousands of elderly and disabled Texans who are still waiting for help to repair their homes. Some tell their stories in this video produced a year ago for TxLIHIS by former staffer Melissa Cha. The people in the video are still waiting […]
Read more Thousands still recovering from Hurricane Ike | abc13.com
July 31, 2011 Comments Off
The community organization TOP held an information fair for low-income Houston homeowners Saturday to help them find out when they can expect to see home repairs through the City of Houston’s long-delayed CDBG disaster recovery program. The following is from a TV news report. It’s been almost three years since Hurricane Ike hit, and thousands […]
Read more It’s finally time to get rid of those post-Ike blue tarps | Houston Chronicle
July 30, 2011 Comments Off
September 13, 2011, will mark the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Ike making landfall along the upper Texas coast. Residents of the Houston-Galveston area remember all too well the death and destruction Ike left in its path. This community has made remarkable progress over three years recovering from Ike. Yet for too many Houstonians, particularly those […]
Read more HUD pointedly directs Galveston to rebuild its public housing
July 15, 2011 1 Comment
In an unusual joint letter to Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski, three top HUD leaders told Galveston to move forward to rebuild public housing destroyed by Hurricane Ike or face the loss of federal funding. The July 13, 2011 letter was signed by Mercedes Marquez, HUD Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, John Trasvina, HUD Assistant Secretary for […]
Read more A “new sheriff” takes over Texas disaster recovery
July 6, 2011 Comments Off
(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 Wait gets longer for public housing in Galveston | Houston Chronicle
July 2, 2011 Comments Off
There is an interesting and sobering story about rebuilding Galveston public housing that ran in today’s Houston Chronicle. The story is exerted below. The Galveston Housing Authority (GHA) needs to address the fears of the community that rebuilding will take too long — in fact it already has taken too long. The GHA board of […]
Read more The racism of New Berlin is growing in Galveston
June 25, 2011 9 Comments
We noted yesterday the United States Department of Justice brought suit alleging the City of New Berlin, Wisconsin had violated the Fair Housing Act by denying a developer permission to build a mixed senior, family development financed with Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). I just read the Justice Department’s compliant in the case. The same […]
Read more Governor Perry switches agencies responsible for disaster recovery funds
June 20, 2011 3 Comments
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 4 Comments
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 more Galveston housing authority director resigns
June 13, 2011 Comments Off
The Galveston County Daily News is reporting Galveston Housing Authority Executive Director Harish Krishnarao resigned effective immediately during an executive session of the housing authority’s board of directors. Krishnarao has come under criticism for the slow process of the planning process for rebuilding 569 public housing units demolished by the housing authority after Hurricane Ike. […]
Read more Houston Town Hall on Disaster Single Family Home Repair
May 26, 2011 1 Comment
On Saturday, May 21, 2011, Texas Organizing Project (TOP) along with other supporting organizations spearheaded a record attendance Town Hall meeting to address the City of Houston’s lack of attention to Single Family Home Repair due to Hurricane Ike. Over 300 attendants packed Jerusalem Baptist Church to receive information about the ongoing slow progress of […]
Read moreHUD Approves Phase I of Texas Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing
May 13, 2011 1 Comment
One of the conditions of the TxLIHIS – Texas Appleseed – State of Texas Fair Housing settlement on hurricane recovery is that the state would update its Analysis of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing. (See our post Introduction to an “Analysis of Impediments” for discussion of what an AI is). Today, HUD approved the first phase […]
Read more John Henneberger Testimony at TDHCA Board Meeting on Disaster Recovery Housing Programs
May 9, 2011 Comments Off
John Henneberger, a Co-Director of the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service, spoke at the May 5, 2011 board meeting of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) regarding the status of and proposed changes to the Hurricane Ike Disaster Recovery Housing Programs in Houston and Galveston. Youtube videos of selections of his […]
Read moreNew York Times praises State of Texas/TxLIHIS disaster recovery settlement
June 14, 2010 Comments Off
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 […]
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