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HUDRAD briefing draws sharp public concern about tenant protections, contractor selection and employee impacts
Summary
City and HUD officials defended the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) as a financing tool to preserve and rehab San Francisco public housing, but residents, tenant advocates and union members raised wrenching concerns about outreach, racial and contractor equity, possible layoffs of Housing Authority staff, and assurances that units would not be demolished or residents displaced.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee held a sustained and often contentious hearing on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentRental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and the Mayor's Office and Housing Authority plans to use RAD and Section 18 to finance preservation and rehabilitation of public housing.
City witnesses described RAD as a federal tool that shifts a project's subsidy from Section 9 public-housing funding to a project-based assistance contract (similar to Section 8), enabling housing authorities to combine that stable revenue stream with tax-exempt bonds and low-income housing tax-credit equity. HUD Region 9 Administrator Ophelia Bascalle said RAD was created to unlock access to capital markets and to stabilize long-term funding for aging portfolios nationwide.
City estimates presented at the hearing varied by presenter but included references to leveraging roughly $180,000,000 to $500-600,000,000 through…
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