DHCR pursues goal to create affordable housing.

The week of June 2-8 has been designated Housing and Community Renewal Week in New York State. As the Commissioner of the State's Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), I will be visiting project sites, community-based groups, and key legislators. Throughout the week, our agency and the Governor's Office will be honoring the efforts of municipalities, community groups, and businesses to create affordable housing for all New Yorkers.

New York has long sought the development of an affordable housing market. As its lead agency for developing and implementing housing policies, DHCR has pursued this goal through its three program areas - Rent Administration, Community Development, and Housing Management.

Through its Office of Rent Administration (ORA), our agency administers rent control and rent stabilization laws and regulations governing 1.1 million apartments housing over 2.5 million people. ORA secures tenant rights against unlawful rent increases, harassment, and threats of illegal eviction. It safeguards the integrity housing stock by providing mechanisms for a reasonable return on investment for owners, and responds to inquiries by tenants and owners of regulated apartments.

Our office of Community Development (OCD) funds more than 250 not-for-profit community-based organizations to preserve and revitalize neighborhoods. Through a competitive process, OCD makes capital grant awards to for-profit and not-for-profit organizations to develop low-income housing. In concert with other state and local housing agencies, it jointly funds housing and community renewal projects. Through OCD, DHCR also provides technical help to not-for-profits and local governments to meet the needs of low-income New Yorkers.

Our Housing Management component oversees the State's affordable housing portfolio, and supervises over 300 housing developments containing more than 120,000 apartments. It administers a Section-8 program in New York City, overseas similar programs in 46 counties, and evaluates and reviews New York State's Building Code.

Under the Mitchell-Lama and limited dividend programs, the Housing Management unit supervises close to fifty cooperative housing developments. There are statutory limitations concerning admission and resale price, as these units are designed for moderate-income families. DHCR also establishes the level of carrying charges needed to maintain these developments and generally supervises their management operations.

The inauguration of a new governor brought profound change to all state agencies, including DHCR. Faced with a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit, Governor Pataki mandated cost-saving measures throughout state government, including DHCR.

While such measures were needed to improve New York's fiscal picture, I am convinced that they were needed in another sense as well. While our agency has provided, and will keep providing, a plethora of needed services, it has not been immune to the kinds of inefficiencies that have often plagued government bureaucracies.

Since my appointment as housing commissioner last year I have thus begun re-engineering our entire agency by eliminating and/or consolidating duplicated functions and departments. In the once-bloated Office of Rent Administration, I have eliminated one bureau, and integrated rent policy functions within the Office of Policy. The Pataki administration has established on Office of Regulatory Reform to review our regulations, many of which have unnecessarily burdened our customers. I am working with DHCR's sister agencies, the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and SONYMA, to better coordinate overlapping programs and reduce duplication of functions.

Across the board, moreover, government must become less of a regulator and direct-aid provider, and more of a facilitator. The new era of fiscal responsibility precludes, for instance, massive housing grant programs. Rather than government competing with the private and not-for-profit sectors, it must partner with them in a cooperative effort to further our affordable housing goal, and also our goal to provide for New Yorkers with special needs, including the homeless.

Our agency remains committed to affordable housing for the citizens of New York State. As name suggests, Housing and Community Partnership Week will highlight how we are meeting this goal by forging partnerships of progress with communities throughout our state.

Join us in making Housing and Community Partnership Week a ringing success so that it can become an annual event. For a list of events, feel free to call [phone], or [phone].