MPHA’s 2021 MTW Annual Plan/Report: More privatization without public input Stop this illegitimate process
The 2021 MPHA MTW Annual Plan is a report Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) has to send to HUD annually for approval. It explains their operations and plans. In previous years, MPHA held community meetings for the public to explain the report, answer questions, and to collect comments and input.
This year, MPHA decided to skip the public meetings and go straight to a public hearing on Zoom https://zoom.us/j/99846552063 on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, where the MPHA Board of Commissioners will vote to approve 2021 MTW Annual Plan/Report. Therefore, MPHA blocked the opportunity for public housing residents and the general public to understand this report and ask questions before the vote.
We are asking our allies and residents of Minneapolis to contact your elected officials and MPHA to pause, hold community meetings and extend the comments period. We are also asking you to attend MPHA’s public hearing on zoom and demand that MPHA reschedule a public hearing, hold community meetings, and extend the comment period till October 31, 2020.
MPHA has not been transparent about this plan, which proposes significant changes that would impact thousands of public housing residents, and has not provided adequate time for residents or the public to ask questions. MPHA is rushing this process, but residents and the public need time to read the plan and ask questions. Public Housing residents and the public have a right to ask questions about such an important document.
● MPHA’s offices are still closed to the public due to COVID-19, yet they want us to respond to another round of privatization attempts that includes 23 high rises and Glendale Townhomes in a rushed annual report that will be the blueprint for next years’ privatization schemes once approved by HUD.
● MPHA can hold community meetings in the parks and via zoom so public housing residents, community members and neighborhood organizations can ask questions before a public hearing or comments are submitted.
● Many residents do not have access to wifi or computers in order to read this report.
● MPHA knows there are language barriers and many residents don’t understand this report, as dozens of languages are spoken in public housing.
● Even English speakers cannot understand this 81-page report, which is full of industry jargon and requires consulting other HUD and MPHA documents to fully understand.
● In this plan/report, MPHA wants to form a regional partnership and use 450 vouchers for public housing in the suburbs (pg.25). This is taking resources away from Minneapolis during a housing crisis through gentrification schemes.
● MPHA says that they have no plans for extensive rehab at the high-rises where they want to use RAD to privatize (pg. 10), but RAD is supposed to be a program for housing in need of repairs. They need to clarify this, which is why we need MPHA to provide community meetings and extend the comment period for 60 days.
● Contact your elected officials and MPHA to stop this illegitimate process; see below contact sheet, links to the MTW report, and public hearing via zoom.