Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii

From dKosopedia

The Housing and Comminity Development Corporation of Hawaii, is no longer, having been split into two agencies as of July, 2006.

On July 5, 2005, Governor Linda Lingle enacted Act 196 which effectively split the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii in two agencies. One of the new agencies, the Hawaii Public Housing Authority (HPHA), is charged with managing federal and state public housing programs, including Section 8 and senior housing. The other, the Hawaii Housing Finance and Decelopment Corporation (HHFDC), is tasked with developing and financing low- and moderate-income housing projects and administering homeownership programs. [1]

A Star-Bulletin article dated, May 22, 2006, several months before the split explains the split:

HCDCH was formed in 1997, uniting the state's public-housing authority and its housing development agencies. Then-Gov. Ben Cayetano had hoped the change would improve the agency's efficiency.

But HCDCH has been under scrutiny in recent years, especially for its inability to fill vacant units. The vacancy rate contributed to the agency's "troubled" status under federal guidelines from 2004 to 2005.

In December there were 760 vacant apartments at federal public housing complexes statewide.

This month, 621 units were empty, HCDCH statistics show. Of the vacant units, 178 are set to be demolished, 166 will be "modernized" and 32 have been decommissioned because of damage.

"I think it's going to be critical for our new public-housing agency to do a more effective job in making vacant housing units available for occupancy," Menor said. "The inability to achieve that objective has been one of its (HCDCH's) greatest failures."

Lusia Wieckowicz, secretary of Island Tenants on the Rise, said maintenance should also be improved.

"They need to create better housing management," she said, adding that repairs in public housing are backlogged and slow in coming.

On July 1 the Hawaii Public Housing Authority will officially start operation at its School Street offices under the state Department of Human Services. The housing agency will pull about 300 employees from HCDCH.

The Hawaii Finance and Development Corporation will be a separate entity -- with about 100 HCDCH workers -- under the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, officials said. [2]