A Plan for Housing
I spent my childhood in a densely populated neighborhood in New York City surrounded by my family who arrived from Haiti to build a life for themselves and for me. Today I’m an attorney, a board member, and President of the Bell Court Neighborhood Association where I live with my husband. We know through research, and I know through personal experience, that a thriving city must provide housing options for people from all walks of life.
On LFUCG Council I will work with my colleagues to make Lexington a leader in smart, respectful housing policy. I’ll combine my life experience with my time on LFUCG’s Rural Land Management Board to protect our land resources and our people resources.
Earlier this week, I shared my position on the Mayor’s proposed budget and its cut of the Affordable Housing Program. We should fund this Program, but that alone is not enough.
Particularly in this time of Covid, we must address housing with enhanced urgency. Periods of economic downturn are exactly when gentrification accelerates, and I have vowed to make my campaign work to protect the character of our neighborhoods and ensure everyone who currently lives in Lexington can continue to do so comfortably.
Short Term Steps
There are steps we must take right now to address the immediate crisis surrounding Covid and the related economic downturn.
Direct Housing Assistance
The Lexington Affordable Housing Program currently is prohibited from offering direct payment assistance to renters and homeowners. LFUCG Council should remove this restriction. The Program should identify and work with a nonprofit partner to establish need-based qualifications to support immediate rent and mortgage needs of Lexingtonians.
Lexingtonians have suffered through no fault of their own from the Covid economic downturn. It is in everyone’s social and economic interest to promote stability in the housing and rental markets. Housing disruption will necessarily induce broken families, restless schools, and further fiscal stress in City Hall.
There’s also precedence. Just this week, the Administration worked with Lexington’s 21C to relieve the hotel from making loan payments on a $6 million loan from the city. Just as we help businesses weather the crisis, we should make every effort to keep our neighbors in their homes.
Strengthen Housing Discrimination Laws
Landlords currently use credit checks, excessive deposit sums, and background checks to deny housing to some of our most at-risk neighbors. I believe housing can be a human right and a fair market.
To make the market more fair, and to encourage stability to newly returned residents, Lexington must prohibit the requirement of more than 1 month’s rent for a security deposit. We should also ban credit and background checks in the application process.
Housing stability advances Lexington’s policy and financial goals. And ensuring our neighbors who struggle the most can gain a foothold in the middle class is essential to protecting the character of our neighborhoods.
Looking Forward
As we exit this crisis, Lexington must not stop looking forward and taking steps to advance housing stability and homeownership.
Increase Housing Diversity
Communities that have the most housing diversity — single family, multifamily, mixed-used — are the most economically stable, even in economic downturns. It’s imperative that Council protect Lexington’s economic resilience by promoting housing developments that welcome residents from all walks of life.
Buy and Promote Land for Infill Affordable Housing Development
The City has had great success in identifying land for sale for Commercial development. The examples of the Bluegrass Business Park and the new developments at Coldstream show that the City has had great success in bringing commercial activity to City-owned land.
We must do the same for affordable housing inside the Urban Service Boundary.
Protect the Urban Service Boundary
There is no need to expand the boundary that has served our community well. Every acre we exclude in the boundary is an acre lost to the charm that appeals to residents and visitors alike. There remain more options for development inside the boundary that we should prioritize before discussing boundary expansion.
Minimum Wage
The best way to ensure housing is affordable is to make sure that our neighbors are being paid fairly. Kentucky’s minimum wage is $7.25 and has not increased since 2009. It’s worth less now that it was over 50 years ago.
The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that only the Legislature — not cities — can increase the minimum wage.
As Councilperson, I will give voice to efforts to support Lexington workers and protect our City’s finances by encouraging our Legislators to permit municipalities to increase local minimum wages.
