News Archive
Group asks candidates to back its agenda
Affordable housing, improved mass transportation advocated by PATH
BY LARRY CARSON
SUN REPORTER
OCTOBER 11, 2006
A community-based group working through Howard County churches to
promote affordable housing and better mass transportation and youth
services is pushing political candidates to sign on. People Acting
Together in Howard (PATH) drew more than 400 people from more than 20
county churches to Oakland Mills High School on Sunday to ask candidates
for county executive and council to support its initiatives. Two of
those initiatives would represent a big change in county policy, greatly
upgrading the county's commitment to having affordable housing for working
families.
Among the six questions the group posed were two that caused most
candidates to answer "no." One requested a commitment to require that at
least 25 percent of new homes built in every zone countywide be reserved
for moderate-income families, which could create up to 3,600 new
subsidized units in the county, and the other would devote $30 million a
year to create a Howard County Housing Trust to buy land and promote
subsidized housing.
County planners and housing officials have argued that requiring
subsidized housing in the rural west, far from public transportation,
might not work. Currently, the county requires 10 percent to 15 percent of
new homes in most eastern county zones be for moderate-income families
making up to about $60,000 a year. The other PATH requests
were for the county to reserve more land along U.S. 1 for mixed-use
developments, to reduce waiting times for Howard Transit users from one
hour to 30 minutes, to convene a summit on youth issues and agree to meet
with PATH representatives at least three times a year.
Jackie Roberson, a member of St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic
Church, described how her daughter and son-in-law, both Howard County
teachers, rise at 4:30 a.m. each day with their 18-month-old baby so they
can commute from their northern Baltimore County home to work. They could
not afford a house in Howard County, she said. Joyce Baer, a retiree
who doesn't drive, described how inconvenient it can be to use the bus
system. "A 15-minute errand can take three hours," she said, though there
are plans to reduce the wait between buses on some Columbia routes in
March.
Of the three candidates for county executive, only C. Stephen Wallis,
who did not attend the Sunday evening meeting, agreed to support all the
group's requests. Democrat Ken Ulman and Republican Christopher J.
Merdon, who both attended, said they could not commit to spending $30
million a year on housing or to requiring that 25 percent of all new
housing be for moderate income families. "One hundred twenty million
dollars in four years is not reasonable or doable," Merdon said.
Ulman said no to the specifics but yes to the goals. Among County
Council candidates, three Democrats - Mary Kay Sigaty of District 4, Jen
Terrasa of District 3 and Don Dunn of District 5 - agreed to all the
group's requests. Dunn did not attend the meeting. Tony Salazar, a
Republican running in District 1, had the most "no" answers - four out of
six. He did agree to support convening a summit on youth issues and
meeting with PATH three times per year.
Copyright � 2006, The Baltimore Sun