HUD Participates in League of Women Voters Fair Housing Forum

(l-r): At Lecturn, Karen Schatzel, LWV VP and Director of Housing; Mary Jennings Mahon, Senior Assistant to the Westchester County Executive; Norma Drummond, Deputy Commissioner, Westchester County Planning Department; Judith Myers, Member, County Board of Legislators; Bryan Greene, HUD Acting Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing; Mirza Orriols, Acting Regional Administrator for NY/NJ; and, James Johnson, Federal Court Appointed Housing Monitor.

On September 16, Bryan Greene, Acting Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Mirza Orriols, Acting Regional Administrator, attended a panel discussion of the 2009 Westchester County Fair Housing Settlement sponsored by the League of Women Voters. The forum, entitled, "The Housing Settlement Agreement: Its Obligations and Opportunities for Westchester Residents," was held in the White Plains Library and attracted over 100 residents and community leaders. The panel included two senior HUD representatives and two Westchester County representatives, a local elected official and the Federal Monitor. Most of the discussion focused on the controversy surrounding the reasons for HUD not releasing CDBG and lead abatement funding to Westchester County, as well the issue of zoning and HUD claiming that parts of the County possess exclusionary zoning.

The League of Women Voters hosted the forum to give the public an update on the status of the Fair Housing Settlement, which is in its fourth year. The settlement, which is supposed to be fully implemented by 2016, calls for Westchester County to build 750 affordable housing units in 31 nonminority communities and remove barriers to fair housing.

###