Poor Areas Ignored, Group Says : HUD Asked to Intervene in Dole of Grant Money

A group of citizens angered by the San Diego City Council’s method of allocating federal block grant money has asked the Department of Housing and Urban Development to intervene.

The members of the newly organized group, called the Citizens Commission on CDBG (Community Development Block Grant), contend that, when the council voted on the 1989 distribution of the federal money last month, the poorest districts were nearly left out in the cold.

The group mailed a letter Monday to officials at HUD--the agency that oversees the block grant program--asking them to investigate the shortcomings of San Diego’s CDBG plan.

The letter, addressed to Program Manager Aaron Lambert at HUD’s Los Angeles office, said the allocation plan approved by the council “was only the latest and most blatant example of inequitable distribution of these federal funds.” The plan called for “funding of projects in more moderate-income neighborhoods at the expense of a long-standing, unfulfilled commitment to the community of San Ysidro, one of our most ignored neighborhoods,” the letter said.

Formed After Meeting

Attorney Denise Moreno Ducheny, chairwoman of the citizens’ commission, said the group was formed shortly after the Nov. 29 council meeting, at which 8th District Councilman Bob Filner vociferously objected to the five-member council majority taking away more than $1.7 million of the federal money that had been recommended for projects in his district, which includes San Ysidro.

“It was so flagrant, the way they took the money from San Ysidro and reallocated it to wealthier areas,” said Ducheny, a resident of Logan Heights.

All the projects that received block grant money were entitled to it under federal guidelines, but Ducheny and the other commission members contend that the money has been slowly and progressively siphoned from the neediest areas over the years.

“We’ve started to take a much harder look at this CDBG project,” she said. “We’ve accumulated hard data and what we see is a decline in the amount of money going to the areas that have the greatest need.

“Instead, we’re seeing money going to places with a pocket of poverty within a relatively affluent area,” she said. At the meeting, the council was faced with dividing $12.5 million in CDBG money among agencies and programs that had asked for a total of $50.8 million. Among the disbursements approved were $535,000 for the Ocean Beach Merchants Assn., $450,000 for improvements of Robb Field in Point Loma and $500,000 for acquisition of a park at 39th Street and Adams Avenue in Normal Heights.

“I think some of the problem stems back to their own budget priorities,” Ducheny said. “Why can’t the merchants’ association get some of that TOT money that’s being spent on the Faberge eggs,” she said, in reference to the council’s recent decision to allocate $3 million in hotel room tax money to finance the upcoming Russian arts festival.

“CDBG money is very special--it’s the only federal revenue that comes in here for low-income areas, and really should be used for revitalization of the most needy areas,” Ducheny said.

Used for Downtown Projects

According to statistics gathered by the citizens’ group, as much as 44% of the CDBG money was being allocated to District 8 until 1981, but that was being used mainly for redevelopment projects downtown and on the waterfront.

This year, however, the council allocated only 10% of the 1989 block-grant money to District 8, Ducheny said. In comparison, District 2, which includes Point Loma and Mission Hills, received 8% of the 1989 grant.

The group is also concerned about the way in which the council took the disbursement vote. The city manager’s recommendations for allocating the money were circulated before the meeting, and the public could comment at the hearing.

Then, after the close of public testimony, a different proposal was introduced by City Councilwoman Gloria McColl, whose District 3 includes the mid-cities area. McColl’s plan was approved by the council majority, without public comment.

“There’s something clearly wrong with the process, the way the public is being excluded,” Ducheny said.

Whether HUD will intervene in the city’s choice of allocations for the grant money is uncertain. Aaron Lambert, to whom the letter was sent, was not in the office Wednesday. Program manager Peter Severynem said his office has not received the letter, but declined further comment about the issue, instead referring questions to HUD’s public information office.

HUD Public Information Officer Scott Reed was on vacation and not available for comment.

May Take Complaints to Court

Ducheny said that, if HUD does not take action, the group will consider going before the City Council to formally ask it to reconsider its vote. The group may resort to litigation in federal court.

A spokesman for Filner, who is on vacation, said that, although the councilman is not formally involved in the citizens group, “it’s fair to say he would be supportive of their goals.”

Allen Jones, Filner’s executive assistant, said the council believes it is important that the funds be allocated on the basis of “need, rather than based on the ability to put together votes on the council.”

Jones said Filner has also written HUD officials requesting a review of the funding package approved by the council.

“He thinks there were some irregularities in the approval which warrant HUD’s review and intervention,” particularly the way in which the package was voted on without public comment, Jones said. “It was probably not illegal, but at the very least it was very peculiar,” he said.

“It’s up to HUD to define whether that was inconsistent with their guidelines, which call for public participation,” Jones said.

Jones said he believes it is within HUD’S authority to intervene, but that depends on whether federal officials believe the allocation process should remain entirely at the discretion of local governments.

Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego) has also become involved in the debate, and has sent a letter to HUD officials requesting a review of the council’s action.

Fourth District Councilman Wes Pratt, whose territory includes Southeast San Diego, said he understands the citizens commission’s concern and frustration with the allocation process. But, contrary to the commission’s claims, he believes his district has fared no worse than the others.

“I think over the years there has been a decrease overall” in allocating CDBG funding,” Pratt said. “But the fact of the matter is we’re still receiving a proportionate amount.”

Pratt said he approved of the city manager’s original recommendations for disbursement of the 1989 CDBG money and did not support the alternate plan that was approved.

“I think the city manager’s approach was sound, but unfortunately that sort of got manipulated during those hearings,” Pratt said.

“It may not be the best of all worlds, but unfortunately those are decisions that are pretty much left to local governments,” he said.

Pratt said he believes the funding problems experienced in his district are attributable to an overall shortage of public money.

“We just don’t have enough money to deal with the problems we have to deal with, and the CDBG is just one indication of that,” he said. “There is the inadequacy of funding at both the federal and state level, so it’s all part of a major public-financing crisis that we’re all a part of.”