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Meeting highlights ow-cost housing Array of officials plans agenda for legislative elections By Jean Hopfensperger $~r Tribune $~ffWr[~¢r More than 500 Minnesotans flocked to the first Minnesota Housing Convention .on Wednesday, an event designed to bring new blood into the af- fordable-housing movement and to set policy priorities for next year's political races. The convention attracted a rare mix of housing advocates. business leaders and state gov- ernment officials. Using elec- tronic polling technology, they voted on ideas to tackle the af- fordable-housing shortage. Those solutions will be- come part of a housing agenda promoted in Minnesota com- munities and in the 2002 legis- lative races, organizers said. "This is the first time in Minnesota that I've seen this' kind of gathering," said con- vention cochairman George Latimer, a former St. Paul may- or who has been active in housing issues for years. "For the first time we are getting an alignment between business interests and social justice con- cerns,'' he said. t/Among the proposed solu- ons were: ~ A stopgap safety net. Provide im~nediate relief to Minnesotans who are home- less or on the verge of becom- ing homeless until longer~term housing solutions are imple- mented. That could mean more funding for homeless shelters or limiting housing ap- plication fees. which now mn from $35 to more than $100. ~ [nclusionary housing. Require housing developers to set aside a certain portion of their housing units for low-in- come people in exchange for zoning breaks or other regula- tory relief. CONVENTION continues on B7 IVENTIONfromB1 il- I -Ol Consensus among officials was for action, not more talking ~- Focus on the neediest. Ear- mark scarce housing programs for the neediest families. ~- Community incentives. Offer financial incentives to encourage local and regional planning around housing. The least popular idea was the creation of a study commission. The consensus seemed to be that it's .time for action, not more talk- ing. The event was sponsored by HousingMinnesota a campaign started two years ago to drum up support for housing initiatives in communities and the halls of gov- ernment. About 80 organizations collaborate with the campaign, ranging from religious to labor to social service groups. Latimer's cochairwoman was Karen Himle, an executive of the St. Paul Companies, who told the crowd that affordable housing is fi- nally on the public radar screen. "In the past, you'd mention lng in a business meeting and. .... ),'d say, 'That's up to the churches,'" she' said. "When the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce created a housing committee, it was a sign things had changed." Ronald Ankeny, a partner in An- keny Kell Architects of St. Paul, was among about 60 business people By the numbers: who had registered for the conven .................................................. lion. This was his first attendance Housing trends at a housing conference. Few architects are working in the area, he said, because there's 'so little money in it. But architects have a lot to contribute because they're experts on housing and construction issues, he said. "I come away from here with a better understanding of the need to deal with the issue," Ankeny said. "But I think we need a broad range of ideas to solve the problem. It can't be just state governmenti" William McGaughey, a Minne- apolis landlord, said he came to the convention out of curiosity. He is a member of a landlords' rights group, and wanted to make sure people understood their point of view. McGaughey was promoting a more open process for housing in- spection and condemnation. Many landlords think they are being un- justly targeted by some city offi- cials, he said, and that discourages Some data from 1990 to 1999: l.- Median rentalhousehold income in the Twin Cities area: up 9 percent } Average rent in the Twin Cities area: up 34 percent · - Twin Cities rental housing vacancy rate: 1.6 percent ),- Statewide median household income: up 50 percent } Statewide median home sales price: up 61 percent can I take back?" she said. ?md Bob Gustafson, president of the TwinWest Chamber of Com- merce, representing eight Henne- pin County suburbs, said he came to the conference because housing is important to his members. The chamber, in fact, just created a fo- cus group on affordable housing, he said. Thanks to some new polling technology, the delegates' votes were broken down by age, geo- graphic region and profession. Del- egates from the business commu- nity tended to favor less govern- 'mint intervention and more mar- Source: Offige of the Legislative Auditor,ket approaches to housing. Confer- Family HousingFund ence organizers will analyze the dif- .................. ............................... ferences in voting patterns among the groups. "We're going to look hard at how son to condemn a property, fine," the business community felt on McGaughey said. "Let's talk about these issues, how the faith commu- it. We'd at least know what we're nity felt about these issues ... so dealing with." we have the broadest public part/c- Meanwhile, Tracey lones of ipation in our work," said Chuck Minneapolis, a member of Volun- Slocum, a consultant to Housing- teers in Service to America, another Minnesota. investment in housing. He wants relative newcomer to housing is-. the name of the government offi- sues, came to the convention to cial who recommends a condem- learn about resources for the low- -.nation or inspection to be public income families she works with. record. "I wanted to know, what's going "If a city official has a good rea- on? Who can I turn to? What hope -- ]ean Hopfensperger is at hopfen@startribune, corn.