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PIONEER PRESS • WWW.TWINCITIES.COM LOCAL NEWS N CITIES n4t`4`'`'... e '9' TARES Bonofm®u : or SINE E T E Mayor school lied • IT yto B St.Paul Mayor I Pioneer Pr king Public affairs at a glance urged state lawm: • day not to cut f rism charter schools an he would ask fc TWIN CITIES change to let the c a public school for gee president group Affordable housing faulted welly and lg toured St .Paul's ses Sept. 11 Cesar Chavez cha Legislator doubts agency's suggestions the severity of the problem in a Monday with U.S. TTHIA BOYD way that would lead to signifi- Secretary Rod Pf leer Press would fly because of state's budget woes cant movement." visiting several The recommendations were around the count e BY MARA H.GOTTFRIED lotion: meant to be pragmatic and to light the new fed( Pioneer Press • Including a mix of home cover g points the Legislature tion law signed r e%.`,0,:; ownership and rental units that would be inclined to approve President Bush. Private builders need to do are unsubsidized. For instance, this year said Kit Hadley,hous- Charters are 'f i —1';',."8 more to help solve the afford- in a for-sale housing develop- mg agency commissioner. financed schools - able housing crisis in the state, went, at least 20 percent of the "Cities and developers are organized by pa it ir the Minnesota Housing Finance units would have to sell for no pretty polarized and our con- teachers and run 1 g Agency told the Legislature in a more than the median cost of a cern for more lower price hous- of traditional disti 's report released Monday. home in the community.The bill ing is so compelling that we tion.First started ir. 's Hugh Q. But builders say this won't would call for cities to offer need to Parmer y try to take some steps years ago, the cha . tackle the real issue of afford- developers reasonable regulato- forward this year," she said. concept has spread a ability ry accommodations, including "We don't want to over-promise country. Cesar Cha ifficial of the U.S. "We always said the biggest increased density and smaller that this is some kind of silver in the fall with abc it International thing the industry could do is lots. bullet.We're just trying to move dents, nearly all it and newly make housing affordable to • Changing the way cities forward." Latino. !sident of Min- more groups of people," said pay for road projects necessary Sen. Richard Cohen, DFL-St. red American Michael Noonan, developers' for development. Paul, who has authored other nmittee. council chair of the Builders •Shifting the burden of proof legislation dealing with afford- w.-, >rist acts of Sept. Association of the Twin Cities. to cities to explain why they able housing, said the recom- that,he said. "They're (the housing agency) acted as they did if disputes mendations are a start,but they ° ;ly, in my view, silent on this issue, and the arise with developers. don't go far enough. y we'll finally do land-supply issue and we ■Requiring cities to consider "The recommendations , " terrorism is to believe that's a real failure in the costs of local ordinances on would tend to let cities off the a stake in stabili- the report." housing. hook a little bit and more so f said Monday."It's The 2001 Legislature asked Representatives of many than I might have hoped," he ; a are desperate the housing agency to examine parties involved in the advisory said. "They put more emphasis ',. in training camps affordable housing laws and group, though, say the report on what the private developer , .:' 1." ordinances throughout the doesn't offer enough real solu- can do rather than what the city ' ,.0 onprofit,interna- country. An advisory group of tions for the affordable housing should do." nanitarian aid legislators, builders, city repre- crisis. Considering the emphasis i,was founded in sentatives and affordable hous- "I was not surprised that we this year on the budget, Cohen ing advocates met in the fall and were not able to come to a con- said there might be less focus a e Clinton admin- winter to_develop policy objet- sensus," said Jay Schmitt, co- on policy issues, leaving doubt " " "' armer led U.S. tives,identifying"production of director of Isaiah, an organiza- for him about whether the n relief opera- privately developed, unsubsi- tion representing religious affordable housing recommen- U.S. Secretary of I I to�in Koso- dized affordable housing"as the congregations in the metro area dations would pass. gartners David Sam ie 11 in_Hon- most important. and St.Cloud. Nina Cerda during Nicaragua, and On Monday the housing "The builders and the cities, Mara H. Gottfried can be reached charter school in St Ethiopia and agency recommended several while they have legitimate con- at mgottfried @pioneerpress.com points to be considered for legis- terns, are not grappling with or(651)228-5262. upports a 25-year aid partnership ST• overnment and STATE CAPITOL onprofit charita- Teachers ap] tions and praises PrODOSd laws foeus on kids'wtl fi rP nronosecl