By Charles Bryson, Director of the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency
Charles Bryson, II, a native St. Louisan, has a passion for community service and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for all people. His extensive career in community service includes working as a Case Manager with the Associated Catholic Charities Christopher Place Men’s Shelter, the Salvation Army Hospitality House, and for the Lutheran Family and Children Services Good Samaritan Center. He has held various leadership roles as well, serving as the Director of the Urban League Head Start Program in Springfield and the Executive Director of the Harrison Youth Center in Peoria.
Prior to his current position with Mayor Francis G. Slay, Charles was the St. Louis Area Representative for the Missouri Housing Development Commission. He then worked as the Neighborhood Development Executive and Senior Policy Advisor to Mayor Slay before becoming the Director of the Department of Public Safety of the City of St. Louis. Mr. Bryson now serves as Director of the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency, and has two beautiful daughters, Bailey and Sydney.
Sometime in the very near future, U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro is expected to sign the much anticipated Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. This rule, merely by its definition, will be a game changer with regard to fair and affordable housing.
The definition contained in the rule states that Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing “means taking proactive steps beyond simply combating discrimination to foster more inclusive communities and access to community assets for all persons protected by the Fair Housing Act.” The rule, once signed, would require participants to work on fixing issues that have led to discrimination and segregation and that deny people opportunity.
There you have it. HUD is tired of empty promises and wants action. HUD has determined that the current system, including the Analysis of Impediments, is ineffective, and it must take stronger steps. So, what can municipalities do to Affirmatively Further Fair Housing?
One of the most important ways is to disperse Low Income Housing Tax Credit and Section 8 properties throughout the community. HUD will now require municipalities to review where the aforementioned housing stock is located, and use both the Assessment of Fair Housing and the Consolidated Plan to detail what municipalities will do to rectify the issue. That includes working proactively with developers, private partners, and the banking community to disperse affordable housing throughout the community.
Mayor Francis Slay has proactively worked to disperse affordable housing in the City of St. Louis by placing the 51 unit affordable housing Southtowne Apartment complex was on Spring Avenue, in the heart of the South Side.
The AFFH ruling also means municipalities have to work harder to reduce the “NIMBY” (Not In My Back Yard) feeling that pervades certain neighborhoods. I recently saw emails suggesting that a neighborhood did not want a low-income housing development in their area. They gave the same arguments that have been part of this discussion for years: the development is not “right” for our neighborhood; it will decrease our property values, it will bring too much traffic and crime.
While people are entitled to their opinions, municipalities must strongly meet those opinions with facts about fair and affordable housing; what benefits there are to both individuals and neighborhoods.
Frankly, the dispersal of housing will likely anger a number of people. Some will say HUD is trying to break up concentrations of African-Americans or Latinos, diluting their voting power. Others will say that because low-income earners live closer to downtown areas, the AFFH ruling is designed to give whites (or people with money) the downtown areas back and move blacks out to the suburbs.
HUD will counter with concerns about the need to locate housing near employment, education, and transportation while not concentrating poverty, and through government practice, segregating people by race and income.
At the end of the day, the AFFH rule is about creating opportunity for all persons, regardless of their race, income, familial status, or any other protected class. It’s about stopping the segregation and isolation that exists. It is about putting housing near jobs, near transportation, near education, and near recreation. Finally, it’s about forcing municipalities to use federal resources to make a difference in the lives of all individuals and families.
Articles in “From the Field” represent the opinions of the author only and do not represent the view of the Community Builders Network or Metro St. Louis or the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
