Well, Spider, at least no matter what the Middletown Housing Authority decides to do, there IS a "check" on them since the city council must appropriate any money before they can spend it!!!

CITY OF MIDDLETOWN TO REINVENT EXISTING FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION (FHA) HOMEOWNERSHIP INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, TEACHERS, FIRE FIGHTERS & EMERGENCY PERSONNEL??? It seems that the new Community Revitalization Department braintrust wants to reinvent an already existing FHA home ownership initiative that has helped/is helping police, emergency and fire fighting personnel plus teachers in purchasing government owned housing at significant discounts??? At the last City Council meeting a prominent member mentioned a project that Community Revitalization Department staff is working on to provide financial incentives to assist these classifications of local government employees to purchase homes at discounts.  It would appear that he and City of Middletown staff are unaware of the following???   I hope that they won't mind me bringing this matter to their attention so that the multi-million dollars of HUD funds they plan on can be used as wisely and efficiently as possible???   About HUD Good Neighbor Next Door  Information by State  Esta página en español  Print version   Related Information   Good Neighbor main page   Good Neighbor Mortgages   Homeownership Center   Property Listings by State   Revitalization Areas Law enforcement officers, pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers and firefighters/emergency medical technicians can contribute to community revitalization while becoming homeowners through HUD's Good Neighbor Next Door Sales Program. HUD offers a substantial incentive in the form of a discount of 50% from the list price of the home. In return you must commit to live in the property for 36 months as your sole residence. How the Program Works Eligible Single Family homes located in revitalization areas are listed exclusively for sales through the Good Neighbor Next Door Sales program. Properties are available for purchase through the program for five days. How to Participate in Good Neighbor Next Door Check the listings for your state. Follow the instructions to submit your interest in purchasing a specific home. If more than one person submits on a single home a selection will be made by random lottery. You must meet the requirements for a law enforcement officer, teacher, firefighter or emergency medical technician and comply with HUD's regulations for the program. HUD requires that you sign a second mortgage and note for the discount amount. No interest or payments are required on this "silent second" provided that you fulfill the three-year occupancy requirement. The number of properties available is limited and the list of available properties changes weekly. To learn more, please see our Good Neighbor Sales Frequently Asked Questions! Comments and Questions
Content current as of 27 February 2007    Back to top    FOIA Privacy Web Policies and Important Links  Home U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 7th Street S.W., Washington, DC 20410 Telephone: (202) 708-1112   TTY: (202) 708-1455 Find the address of a HUD office near you

Section 8 is fine for LEGITIMATE users of the program. The rap on the Section 8 program here in Middletown is the AMOUNT of Section 8 housing the city has and apparently wants to increase because the federal program provides revenue for the city. Since the city leaders don't want to address the lack of revenue problem by luring companies to town to create jobs that will allow more people to earn money and move to the city to buy the abundance of homes for sale, they are trying every trick in the book (such as Section 8 saturation funds) (EXCEPT traditional means) to raise revenue. We have , at last count, 1662 Section 8 vouchers (probably more to come). The city is slated for approx. 700 or so by population. Middletown has more Section 8 vouchers than any city in Butler County by a large margin. (Correct me if I'm wrong on that posters) That's the problem here. We citizens who care, are mad as he-- about the 1662 and the apparent plan by the city manager and others to make Middletown the slum capital of Ohio by saturating the town with HUD/Section 8. We've gone from a normal blue collar town to an Appalachian slum ghetto town using this approach. JMO

Thanks for your reply. I had no idea there were that many section 8 houses in middletown., but until they get jobs in this town again i imagine the numbers will go up. I grew up in this town and hate to see it declinging.

Pattyinohio it is not the Section 8 program that is the problem it is the excessive amount of Section 8 that Middletown has.  Middletown supposedly has 1662 Section 8 Vouchers assigned by HUD but has had up to 1698 in use in a given month.  Supposedly Section 8 vouchers were supposed to be reduced to about 700-800 by the city by attrition but some say now the City has reneged on that statement  To put it in perspective the last time I checked Middletown had 1 Section 8 voucher for every 31 residents and New York City had 1 for every 100 residents.  Our Section 8 is excessive considering our Population in Butler County.  We make up 15% of Butler County's residents yet have 60-70% of the Section 8 Vouchers.  There is something wrong with the system and City leadership that permits this to happen.

pattyinohio wrote: Thanks for your reply Pac Man I can see the problem with the HUD situation. I have a grandson who is a special needs adult (19 yrs old ) he's been waiting for a  voucher for close to a year He get ssi and does not have alot of money for rent and section 8 would really help him. Its a shame it is abused because that makes it hard for the people who need it to be left without the help. i know of a case where a woman with kids has section 8 and her  boyfriend works at ak and they live together, it abuses like this that need worked on but i don't ever see that happening anyway thanks for your info

They actually have to temporarily De-Man the Apartment for their scheduled inspections. This is a common practice and I am sure the Inspectors are aware. Generally the "Man" provides little Luxury items like Cable to stay in good with the Lease Holder.

Mike

SECTION 8 -- MORE HYPOCRISY FROM CITY HALL & SELECTIVE LOCAL "REPORTING"

 

Eddie -

 

Amongst the volumes of information that I foolishly provided you about the waste and mismanagement of HUD funds, please check your e-mails, etc. regarding Section 8.  You will find information that conflicts with today's news article about the highly-controversial Housing Choice Voucher Program in Middletown!

 

Shortly after assuming the Community Development Administrator position in January 2007, I was approached by the two Housing Code Specialists and the two Neighborhood Improvement Advisors that I supervised.  I learned that these CDBG-funded personnel were previously directed by senior Planning Department staff NOT TO HANDLE Section 8 properties as they would all other code deficient properties.  Their rationale was that the long-time Section 8 administrator already had HUD-paid staff to take care of this matter.

 

Please note that I changed this policy immediately.  I informed these four staff members to notify the Section 8 administrator and me whenever they found housing code violations during their routine cavassing of neighborhoods.  Also, please note that there were many e-mails and phone calls made by me to the Section 8 administrator each and every time a violation was found.  I dictated that follow-up site inspections take place between my staff and the Section 8 staff to ensure that all International Property Maintenance Code violations were satisfactorily corrected.  I hope that this overview enlightens you!  Your comments about Judy Gilleland's role in addressing this matter needs to be re-examined.

 

Eddie, you also point out issues involving Housing Choice Voucher background checks and the possible lack thereof.  In March of 2008 I was contacted by Middletown Police Department personnel regarding this matter.  Even though Judy Gilleland and Marty Kohler had taken over all Section 8 matters of any importance, I recall setting up one or two meetings with Sgt. Cunningham, etc. and C.O.N.S.O.C. to discuss this matter and to find mutually acceptable solutions.  This resulted in closer dialogue between C.O.N.S.O.C. and the Police.  I hope that this overview enlightens you!  Your comments about Judy Gilleland's role in addressing this matter needs to be re-examined.

 

You also fail to mention that it was me who started the process of requesting monthly databases of Housing Choice Voucher properties and owners from C.O.N.S.O.C. in the latter part of 2007.  I don't believe that this occurred before.  I made certain that Middletown Police, Les Landen, Judy Gilleland, Marty Kohler, my staff and the Water Department received these lists.  Major Hoffman and others can attest to this!

 

Shortly after my employment ended with the City of Middletown in January of this year, one of Miss Gilleland's weekly newsletters mentioned the departure of a key staff person who administered Section 8 as well as the CDBG and HOME Programs.  She failed to mention that I had little to nothing to do with Section 8 about one year before as noted previously and that I was "railroaded" out of my position.  Do you remember using the term "railroaded" when I finally agreed to meet with you in person and your boss at Pisanello's Pizza in Franklin about six days following my official departure in late January of 2009?

 

If I sound angry ......................... wouldn't you be?  Please report the facts as they actually occurred!  You have more than enough information to FINALLY set the record straight about so many abuses of HUD funds!

 

 

 

 

I agree with you on a couple of points Spiderjohn, the area is an eyesore and I'd bet that none of you know this better than me. You see, I grew up on the Southwest side of Mtown and have seen the drastic change in the community. I visit home less and less due to the depressed spirit that resides over the city. And I'm not just speaking of the southwest side of town, I'm talking about from that sad little exit sign off of 75. You see and feel the lack of life right before you enter the "city".

City Government and the future of Middletown ............ We're lost, but we're making progress? 

Solutionbased

    I also grew up in Middletown moved away and then returned. When I returned I was upset with the condition of many areas of the city and I'm sorry to say it has only gotten worse over time.
    I do not believe that anyone on this blog is against the HUD or Section 8 programs for those that need it. I don’t believe anyone on this blog wants to see a family homeless or hungry. HOWEVER…What we are against is the fact that City Hall in its greed has made us into “HUDTOWN”,
    Like many government programs that started out to help those in need has now become a beast with a life of its own. When a program cost 50 to 80 cents of every dollar to administer, it is no longer operating to help the poor but to fill the pockets of those that run the programs. I believe this is part of the current problem here in Middletown. SOLUTION: We need to reduce the number of Section 8 rentals. City Hall should be frugal with these government funds and cut cost of administering these programs. Use these government funds to help the citizens of Middletown and not their personal pet projects.
I disagree with you on the matter that the number of Section 8 has no effect on our city. All studies show that it effects the schools, health care and crime rates.
    And we have the major problem of education. Our schools are a mess and therefore we do not have a well educated work force. When the children grow up and can't get a job they find other ways of making money that are not legal and the crime rate goes up and the cycle begins. Young girl have babies with the boys that can't get a job and they drop out of school and the cycle continues. SOLUTION: Head Start Programs need to do a better job of getting our children ready for school. Parents need to get involved in the education of their children long before they ever start school.
    I have tried to solve a few of the above problems however without LEADERSHIP from City Hall and School Board little can be accomplished.
     
   

 

OK Solutionbased. You stated "if anyone had anything to contribute to a solution...." and "so after you stop laughing let's come up with solutions" and "toss in an idea or two to help fix it"--- SUGGESTED SOLUTION- Reduce the strain on the city's operation/resources. reputation and image and the school's burden by eliminating the overabundance of Section 8. We have 1662 vouchers for the city now. This is 2 1/2 times the number we are suppose to have. Remove the excess Section 8 from the city and distribute it back to the other Butler County cities that have less than their fair share. TYPICALLY, Section 8 creates a hardship for the police with more calls to the area , places a burden on the schools because, TYPICALLY, the Section 8 family does not put a high priority on education. TYPICALLY, Section 8/lower income families send their kids to school unprepared as to hunger, classroom work or attitude. More free lunches are given in Middletown schools due to the abundance of Section 8/lower income families.Talk to the school officials. They're not happy having to deal with all the Section 8 either. As Vivian stated, we have become the Hudtown/Section 8/ lower income capital of SW Ohio ( which will take many years to overcome) and that's not a good thing. It is shameful to us folks who have been around since the 50's. SUGGESTED SOLUTION- city operations- we, the people, are angry, frustrated and disgusted at the way the city is being run. We have tried to talk to the city leaders and have been ignored. We have indicated over the years that we want the city to go in a growing, progressive, job growth oriented, street fixing, business friendly, logical thinking, money frugal, citizen friendly, open government, private investment downtown planning, entertainment driven, income elevating type of town. We have delivered our message loud and clear to the leaders. End result, after years of delivering the message- we are ignored. SOLUTION- the damage has already ben done by the past Councils and city building leaders. Nothing we can do about that now. However, we can begin at the polls by fielding candidates that have a totally different view for the direction of the town and work to get them elected, replacing the current group who are ruining the town as we speak. If successful here, we're not done yet! The second phase of the change is to clear out the deadwood in the city building. Mass forced resignations must occur from the city manager on down, eliminating the habitual problem children like Planning Director Kohler and others like him. People like him have done so much damage to this city that it will take years to recover. SUGGESTED SOLUTION- we have gone years without producing much of anything on the job front from our so-called Economic Development Department. They have, for the most part, been a non-factor in bringing in any meaningful employment for the people in town. Pittedly little $7 /hour jobs don't count in today's world as to a livable wage. Can't have anything of any worth with that wage scale. Fire the whole Econ. Dev. department and hire a new crew with the stipulation that they will gain the city some meaningful jobs in a certain time period or we'll keep cleaning house until we find a workable combination of people.Change marketing strategy, emphasize the location factor on the I-75 corridor. Go after corporate tech centers, fiber optics companies, communications companies, environmental equipment manufacturers, etc. Don't settle for "industrial park" type positions and wages. He--, find some successful employment marketers in other cities and adjust their plan to fit this city. Use success to breed success.Jobs, jobs and more jobs!!! I relinquish the floor to the other learned members on this site-- Anyone with any other ideas for Solutionbased????? She still may not be convinced that we do have our own ideas and are not just "complainers".