NEW ORLEANS – According to the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance (GNOHA) the City of New Orleans committed to creating 7,500 housing opportunities in five years to address the housing needs laid out in the HousingNOLA Plan, and the Mayor pledged $17 million annually to meet those goals.
GNOHA reps said the City is “off target,” and the organization asked the City to revise its plan to meet these goals and to partner with the City Council in appropriating the resources necessary to get back on track.
Because of these efforts, the following housing departments, which were initially not invited to present to City Council, are now going to be heard as a part of the budget process on Monday, Oct. 2, GNOHA reps said.
These departments and their budgets are crucial to meeting the organization's 2017 housing goals, they said:
• Mayor's Office of Community Development
• Code Enforcement
• New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA)
Enterprise Community Partners commissioned a poll, with funding from HousingNOLA, the Power Coalition and the Greater New Orleans Foundation, which was supported in part by the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The poll surveyed 500 likely voters in Orleans Parish to gauge perceptions and attitudes concerning housing issues in New Orleans, and found:
• Likely voters ranked affordable housing as the second most important issue they would like to see New Orleans' Mayor and City Council address, behind Public Safety/ Crime and ahead of other issues such as Flood Control, Jobs and Economy and Infrastructure. Overall, 59 percent of respondents noted Public Safety/ Crime as one of the top three issues while 46 percent noted Affordable Housing in the top three.
• 93 percent of likely voters agree or strongly agree that access to affordable housing is important for the local economy.
• 78 percent of likely voters favor or strongly favor having the city require that new market-rate housing in New Orleans set aside some units as affordable for low to moderate wage earners.
• 74 percent of likely voters favor or strongly favor having the city increase funding for the production and preservation of affordable housing.
GNOHA reps said New Orleans has reached the point where its affordable housing problem is unavoidable, and typical wage-earners can no longer afford rent and homeownership is out of the question.
GNOHA is advising residents to call their councilperson and the Mayor's office and ask them to #PutHousingFirst and add funding to these crucial housing departments.
Mayor's Office
Mitch Landrieu (504) 658-4900
At-Large Councilmembers
Jason Williams (504) 658-1070
Stacy Head (504) 658-1060
District A
Susan Guidry (504) 658-1010
District B
LaToya Cantrell (504) 658-1020
District C
Nadine Ramsey (504) 658-1030
District D
Jared Brossett (504) 658-1040
District E
James Gray ll (504) 658-1050
