Pubdate: Thu, 27 Dec 2007
Source: Herald News (West Paterson, NJ)
Copyright: 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.northjersey.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2911
Author: Meredith Mandell

HOUSING AGENCY TOUGH ON DRUGS

PASSAIC - In the last 12 months, the city's Housing  Authority has
put 30 families on an eviction list and  more than 150 people on a
"no-trespass" list as part of  a tougher stance against drugs and
crime on its  premises.

And while some are lauding the program, others say it  does nothing
more than uproot families or tear them  apart.

"I try to tell him don't go out there and get into  trouble, but I
can't control what he does," said  Margaret Jackson, whose son, Calvin
Stegal, 19, has  numerous arrests for drugs and one arrest for beating
  up another tenant, according to Jose Colon, the  authority's security
director. Jackson sobbed when she  learned she has been put on the
authority's eviction  list.

"I got nowhere to go," she said.

Bill Snyder, the authority's executive director, says  the action
reflects the authority's more rigid  enforcement of the federal "one
strike" policy. The  rule gives public housing authorities the right
to  evict a resident if any member of their household or a  guest is
caught using illegal drugs or is involved in  drug-related criminal
activity on or near the premises  -- even if the resident was unaware
of the activity.

The rule has stirred controversy across the country,  including in
Philadelphia, New York City and Chicago.  In 2002, the U.S. Supreme
Court unanimously upheld the  rule in HUD v. Rucker. The suit was
brought by four  California residents who were evicted.

Bryan Zises, a spokesman for the Chicago Housing  Authority, told the
New York Times that the exclusions  helped the agency provide a safe
environment for  residents.

"At the end of the day, we're landlords, and we need to  be as good a
landlord as we can for the people who live  there," Zises said in an
Oct. 1 New York Times article.

Snyder's efforts are part of a larger project to get  the authority
back on its feet after a federal audit  last year found the agency
improperly handled $2.4  million in funding. Now that the finances are
in better  order -- with a surplus of $40,000 recorded at the end  of
November -- Snyder said that his mission is to focus  on some of the
quality-of-life issues that plague the  authority's properties.

Residents have mixed feelings about his "tough love"
approach.

Resident Leader Katie Johnson said she has noticed  fewer drug dealers
in the park behind her home on Sixth  Street. She attributes the
change to Snyder's  aggressiveness.

"He processes stuff faster and the policemen are doing  more raids and
the lawyers are working faster," Johnson  said, adding that, along
with the one strike policy,  the installation of cameras in hallways
and the  authority's new contract for services with the county
Sheriff's Department, has helped matters.

Mary Williams says she believes the policy is  disruptive. She said
she was forced to forsake her  19-year-old son, Mark Williams earlier
this year when  he nearly got her evicted from her Vreeland Village
apartment. Mark had been arrested several times on drug  possession
charges.

In May, the housing authority sent Mary Williams, a  resident of
public housing since 1994, an eviction  notice just about the same
time she was laid off from  her job. As part of a mediation agreement
in housing  court, Williams agreed to bar her son from coming to  her
home in exchange for being able to stay on the  premises. Mark is in
the Passaic County Jail awaiting  his next court date.

"If I accepted my son, then I would have been  homeless," she said.
"That (policy) pushes him into the  street. He's really immature. Now,
he's going to be  worse with no support, no foundation."

Williams, a single mother, said that her son had been  unruly and
depressed for several years. Williams said  she blames herself for not
having paid enough attention  to him, having worked many 10-hour days
at her job.  Williams tried to enroll Mark in a drug rehab program,
but her insurance refused to pay for the treatment, she  said.

Williams said she understands the reasons for the  policy and values
the housing authority's efforts to  keep the apartments safe. "I want
to be able to walk  peacefully, too," she said. "I don't want to have
to  worry that some guy is going to be breaking into my  house."

Jackson, whose son Calvin caused her to be listed for  eviction, said
that her son is bipolar and harbors a  lot of anger. She said his
father has not been a part  of their lives.

"He needs to be evaluated and counseled -- someone to  talk
to."

Once on the eviction list, the matter is referred to a  mediator and
most cases are resolved to the tenants'  benefit, Snyder said. In some
cases, when the mediator  cannot resolve matters the case is referred
to a judge,  he said. Those put on the "no trespass" list are
forbidden to set foot on any Housing Authority  property.

Jackson said she is worried about the future because  she has three
grandchildren living with her, a  4-year-old, and twin 1-year-olds.
Jackson said she too  is bipolar and receives a $600-a-month Social
Security  disability check. Jackson said if she is evicted, she  and
her grandchildren will be out on the street.

Advocates say that kicking out those with trouble does  not resolve
some of the complicated issues they face:  drug abuse, poverty and, in
many cases, untreated  mental illness.

"The one strike policy is easy to apply, but actually  dealing with
the psychological needs, evaluating  households, and determining who
is the victim of drugs  and who is profiting from drugs, that, they
always  don't do," said John Bart, a an attorney for Northeast  New
Jersey Legal Services.

He also said the policy unfairly deems tenants guilty  by
association.

"I don't think innocent heads of households should lose  their public
housing because of acts by other people  that they are not aware of or
in control," he said.

Bart said, often in his one strike cases, his clients  have various
disabilities that could impair their  ability to understand the rules,
read or understand  notices.

He will argue in court to prevent an eviction that the  Housing
Authority did not give his clients the extra  accommodation it is
required to provide under the  Americans with Disabilities Act.

Snyder, the director of the city Housing Authority,  said he feels
sympathetic toward residents and their  problems. But, he added, over
the past several years,  with national cutbacks for housing
authorities,  officials have tighter resident services budgets and
the focus has been placed on programs for younger  children.

"I'd loved to be the mental health agency, the social  agency," Snyder
said. "But we are a housing authority.  We don't have the financial
wherewithal to provide the  services that every resident needs or
claims to need."
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