Harrisburg City Council
Harrisburg City Council tonight overrode a mayoral veto, thereby permitting seven nonprofit groups to receive federal housing funds.
Council voted unanimously to override Mayor Eric Papenfuse’s first-ever veto, returning from summer recess to cast their votes.
Last week, Papenfuse vetoed the annual bill that distributes federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, saying that council selected nonprofit groups to receive funding without sufficient public input.
“There was no public comment on any of these specific changes, many of which drastically altered the funding amounts requested by the sub-recipients,” he said.
However, council President Wanda Williams tonight disputed Papenfuse’s version of events.
“In 11 years that I have been in this position, it has been the practice and responsibility for council to discuss and enact any changes they feel are in the best interests of the residents regarding CDBG funding,” she said, in a prepared statement. “All discussions were held in public settings, which involved public comments.”
PennLive’s Christine Vendel has reported that, despite two public meetings on CDBG funding, council members reached consensus on final recipients and allocations “through email and private conversations.”
Originally, Papenfuse proposed that the city retain all $1.9 million in CDBG funds for its own needs. However, council unanimously decided to carve out $295,000 and distribute it to a handful of service organizations.
In the end, the following groups received funds:
- Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Harrisburg Area, $80,000
- Heinz-Menaker Senior Center, $40,000
- African American Chamber of Commerce, $30,000
- East Shore YMCA, $30,000
- MidPenn Legal Services, $30,000
- Fair Housing Council, $25,000
- Christian Recovery Aftercare Ministries, $25,000
MidPenn Legal Services was the only group that received all the money it requested, while others received considerably less. Council also awarded $35,000 to the Ferguson Group, which helps nonprofits with grant writing.
In vetoing the bill, Papenfuse specifically cited the Ferguson Group, saying that it was not eligible to receive CDBG funds. Following tonight’s meeting, he reiterated this position.
“We still won’t be able to fund the Ferguson Group,” he said. “They’re not an eligible sub-recipient.”
Before the override vote, several residents spoke to defend their requests for CDBG money. Members of the Latino Hispanic American Community Center, for instance, went to the microphone to urge council members to reconsider their request. Though the group has been funded in past years, it was denied funding this year.
Melvin Johnson, chairman of the Fair Housing Council of the Capital Region, appealed for additional money, saying that this year’s grant represented just 6 percent of his budget. Meanwhile, the demands on his organization continue to grow, he said, including finding new homes for residents displaced by the recent condemnation of the McFarland apartment building following the collapse of a retaining wall near the Mulberry Street Bridge.
Afterwards, Williams apologized to the room, stating that debt obligations prevented council from being able to fund more groups and at higher levels. In the end, council passed the veto override without proposing any changes to the bill.
The city needed to reserve the single-largest amount of CDBG money—$641,113—to repay a federal loan it backed for the once-bankrupt Capitol View Commerce Center, as well as for other federal community development loans dating back about 15 years.
The Papenfuse administration has sent a letter to Julian Castro, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, asking for relief from the remaining balance of the Capitol View Commerce Center loan, as the developer, David Dodd, defaulted on the loan and was later convicted on federal fraud charges. No response has yet been announced.
