Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

Harrisburg Mayor Vetoes Housing Bill that Disbursed Money to Nonprofits

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Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse

Mayor Eric Papenfuse today vetoed a bill that dramatically altered his spending priorities in the annual allocation of federal housing funds.

In a statement, Papenfuse said he vetoed the recently passed Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) bill because City Council made major changes to his proposal without any public comment on those changes.

“My primary objection is the lack of public process in debating the substantial amendments that were passed by Harrisburg City Council on July 5,” he said. “There was no public comment on any of these specific changes, many of which drastically altered the funding amounts requested by the sub-recipients.”

City Council is on summer break until late August, meaning that a special session would have to be called to try to override Papenfuse’s veto.

On July 5, council selected seven nonprofit groups to receive federal housing funds, bucking the wishes of the mayor.

Papenfuse had proposed that the city retain all $1.9 million in CDBG funds for its own use. However, council unanimously decided to carve out $295,000 and distribute it to a handful of service organizations, as it has in past years. 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 addition to his objections over public input, Papenfuse specifically objected to the allocation to the Ferguson Group, which, he stated, “is clearly not an eligible sub-recipient and had not even applied for such funding.” Thirdly, he said that several recipients, including the African American Chamber of Commerce, never appeared before council to promote or defend their applications.

Most of the money distributed to the groups came from $165,000 that Papenfuse had earmarked to restart a school resource officer program for the Harrisburg school district. Council, citing a lack of buy-in from the district, killed the proposal in favor of funding the nonprofits. Smaller amounts were taken from grant administration, housing rehabilitation and emergency demolition.

The city reserved 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. At press time, no response had been announced.

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