HUD employees say the agency has decimated the Office of Fair Housing, reducing staff by 70 percent, and forced a gag order that prevents them from effectively enforcing fair housing and civil rights laws.
In documents sent to Senator Elizabeth Warren, staff from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) say the agency is failing to enforce fair housing and civil rights laws.
“The whistleblowers allege in documents they sent to Warren that HUD leadership told Office of Fair Housing staff that fair housing is “not a priority” of the Trump administration, which has reduced the office’s workforce nearly 70% since January,” explains Ryan Kushner in Smart Cities Dive.
The OFH has been under a gag order that prohibits them from communicating with other government agencies and parties in civil rights complains, hampering their work. The whistleblowers also allege that HUD has “inappropriately” closed or stopped around 115 housing discrimination cases.
“Earlier this month, HUD implemented last-minute criteria for $75 million in housing grants that favored applicants that aligned with the administration’s political priorities, including local cooperation with immigration enforcement, and disfavored applicants in communities that have inclusive policies for transgender people.” Those criteria are suspended due to a lawsuit.
FULL STORY: Whistleblowers accuse HUD of ‘systematically undermining’ fair housing laws
HUD Plans to Revive Fair Housing Rule
The department is proposing an updated version of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which requires local governments to take action to end residential segregation.
Amid Turmoil, HUD Relaxes Fair Housing Enforcement
The department's activities, or lack thereof, under the Trump administration have caused housing advocates a lot of consternation. Under Ben Carson, is HUD abandoning its fair housing mission?
Oregon cities are excluding a key tool that could help their housing goals: maps
An effort to use geospatial analysis to understand how housing and access to opportunity are distributed in Oregon cities has largely stalled.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association