Housing authority whittling down vouchers

Southeast Missourian

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Sikeston City Council's allegation that too much Section 8 housing and unenforced rules governing it were hurting the city instantly angered those who oversee the program.

The statements came in a letter to the community published last fall and signed by the entire council. It called for a reduction of Section 8 vouchers, a federal program that subsidizes rent for poor or elderly people.

Sikeston's generosity had produced "negative consequences" by attracting some who were "lazy, disruptive or worse," it read, while surrounding communities that didn't offer so much benefited.

The Sikeston Housing Authority's chairman and executive director said Josh Bill, the letter's author and mayor at the time, never told them it was coming or discussed which Section 8 houses were the problem.

But Bill insisted last week the letter wasn't an attack, merely an attempt to point out problems and steps toward solving them. He reiterated that Sikeston's percentage of Section 8 rental units is unusually high compared to neighboring cities.

Either way, the Sikeston and Scott County housing authorities are working to reduce the Section 8 program by 50 vouchers through attrition -- as people get off the program, the vouchers may not be reissued. The two agencies together have 550 vouchers with 440 being used inside the Sikeston city limits, so most of the 50 likely will come out of Sikeston.

Even so, the percentage of Section 8 housing units in the city would outpace Cape Girardeau and Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Bobby Henry, executive director of both housing authorities, said the reduction has nothing to do with the letter. The waiting list is down to only 120 people because the economy was good over the past few years.

Disheartening letter

Henry and Lee Bowman Jr., the Sikeston Housing Authority's chairman, said the letter was disheartening.

"There are some pretty common misunderstandings, and there have been for years," Bowman said.

To clarify: Applicants are selected based on income and number of dependents. Felons convicted in the last five years don't qualify, and sex offenders are ruled out immediately.

Unlike with typical rental housing, there are regular inspections for cleanliness in Section 8 properties. Renters on the program must comply with regulations or be kicked out. If any member of a family in a Section 8 home is convicted of drug or violent activity, the family is evicted.

Some of the housing is dismal. At one Mary Street home in Sikeston, a sheet hangs haphazardly onto a dangling curtain rod in the window. The lawn is bare in some places, overgrown in others. The entire place needs a coat of paint.

But it isn't the worst house on the block. There would be no way for neighbors to pick it out if they didn't know the address.

Patricia Willis is the Section 8 coordinator. She remembers inspecting one rental home and finding clothes and junk stacked against walls. A litter of puppies whimpered under towels in a filthy bathroom -- the homeowner didn't realize the dog had given birth until Willis pointed it out.

Clean up or clear out, she told the renter.

Two weeks ago, she inspected a very different home. Debra McClinton, 42, lives with her two sons and is on disability because of an injured hip. Her home is immaculate, her yard mowed and flower beds blooming. She proudly displays framed pictures of her children and explains how she decorated on a budget.

"I love nice stuff," McClinton said. "But some people don't care."

Willis said she and her coworkers constantly look for signs of illegal activity in the homes they oversee, although she admits they can't catch all offenders without the neighbors' help. Big, mean dogs residents won't chain for inspections is one sign, she said. Coming and going at all hours of the night is another.

When she receives reports, she turns them over to the Sikeston Department of Public Safety for investigating.

Firsthand experience

Willis knows the value of housing assistance. She grew up at 354 Magnolia, in the housing authority's West End projects. She went on to get a computer degree at a Memphis business college and today works side by side with the man who did maintenance on her apartment when she was a child.

"My mother said, 'If you work hard enough, you can do anything,'" Willis said.

She said she was hurt by the letter's characterization of housing assistance recipients and didn't understand the council's outlook. Instead of seeing Section 8 as a negative, she said, they should see it as the city trying to help everyone possible.

That's apparently how Sikeston's leaders considered the program at one time. In the 1970s, they grabbed up as many vouchers as possible, even more than they could use. Years later, housing authority received the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's approval to give 125 unused vouchers to the East Missouri Action Agency, which covers nine Southeast Missouri counties including Cape Girardeau.

None have been added since the '70s, Bowman said.

Bill Tucker, who oversees Section 8 for the East Missouri Action Agency, said Sikeston's program is a model.

"Folks would be surprised if they drove around in the community and learned which families were benefiting from Section 8 housing," he said. "There are a few who cause all the problems."

hhall@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 121