Not all mayors back affordable housing transfers
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 05/1/07
BY NICOLE PLETT AND
THE REV. CHARLES J. STEPHENS
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William Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of
Municipalities, recently wrote to Gov. Corzine, attacking the New
Jersey Regional Coalition. His aim was to defend his organization's
stubborn support for regional contribution agreements, or RCAs, a
discredited policy that promotes and reinforces racial and economic
segregation, and to discredit our coalition through
misrepresentations and distortion of our statements, positions and
actions.
We do not wish to engage in a public debate with Dressel about what
did and did not occur over the course of our encounters with the
league. But we feel compelled to set the record straight to remain
focused on the critical issue: the RCA system that is denying
opportunity for thousands of poor families in New Jersey.
On March 15, we met with Dressel regarding his intense lobbying
against bills introduced by Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr., D-Camden,
Sen. Nia Gill, D-Essex, and Sen. John Adler, D-Camden, that would end
RCAs in New Jersey. We requested this meeting because, despite
mounting evidence that RCAs contribute to segregation in our state,
the league has been the leading defender of the RCA system.
Prior to meeting Dressel, we met with the league's president, David
DelVecchio of Lambertville, about the league's support for RCAs. The
outcome of that meeting was a commitment by DelVecchio that the
league would cease its opposition to Roberts' bill if any mayors in
New Jersey disagreed with the league's position. That was in
February, but the league continues its defense of RCAs.
Dressel, in his letter to the governor, claims that "urban and
suburban mayors are united against this legislation." This is not
true. Montclair recently passed a resolution supporting the Roberts
bill. In 2005, Pennsauken's leaders turned down RCAs from the growing
suburb of Medford.
Dressel claims that urban mayors are solidly behind RCAs. In fact, no
urban mayors have endorsed the idea of prospering towns shirking
their obligation to provide affordable housing. The Camden recovery
legislation outlawed the use of RCAs in that city due to the damage
it would inflict on its revitalization efforts. This legislation drew
no opposition from urban mayors or Camden city officials.
Dressel is quick to highlight how some urban mayors, such as Douglas
Palmer of Trenton, have put RCA revenues to good use in their cities.
This is far from an endorsement of a system that keeps New Jersey's
richest communities economically segregated.
Dressel also wrote that the leaders of our coalition demanded a
reversal of his position "before we begin any dialogue." This is
untrue. We asked only that he do what his president, DelVecchio,
promised to do: stop attacking the bill and its proponents and begin
a constructive conversation.
Dressel complains of our coalition's "outrageous tactics" and paints
himself as a victim. He states that the coalition has accused the
league of "running a segregationist organization." We have not called
any individuals or organizations "segregationist," as Dressel
charges. But we do not mince words about the intense racial and
economic segregation in our state and the powerful consensus among
experts, policymakers and moral and civil rights leaders who all
agree that RCAs are contributing to, if not causing, segregation. We
stand behind our actions and our statements.
We have no need to accuse the league of anything. It is clearly on
record as supporting RCAs on the grounds that, in Dressel's words,
they "facilitate the ability of municipalities to meet their fair
share responsibilities." In other words, the league supports RCAs
because they let the wealthiest towns avoid ever meeting their full
affordable housing obligation. This is the issue.
Contrary to Dressel's charges, our coalition's objective is to engage
the League of Municipalities and all relevant stakeholders to play a
constructive role in helping to facilitate a speedy end to RCAs in
our state a goal the governor has clearly espoused. We again urge
Dressel to stop his attacks on our organization and the efforts of
our allies to ban RCAs and instead join with us in this historic
opportunity, in Roberts' words, to "move forward together all of
us and not pay others to stay behind."
Nicole Plett, of the League of Women Voters of Lawrence, and the Rev.
Charles J. Stephens, pastor of the Unitarian Universalist Church at
Washington Crossing, are members of the New Jersey Regional
Coalition, Cherry Hill. The coalition was formed to develop regional
strategies to combat urban decline, racial segregation and fiscal
disparities in New Jersey.
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