MILWAUKEE — For the second time in one week, most seats in Milwaukee's public housing boardroom were filled with residents and community members who oppose having an out-of-state agency take over Section 8 housing vouchers.
"The service that we have right now is not great, but to have somebody out of state doing it bothers me because I'd rather have somebody here, hands-on," said Section 8 participant Betty Newton.
Friday's meeting began with a presentation on why the committee chose Florida company CVR Associates Inc. as the front-runner to operate Milwaukee's voucher program.
The committee said CVR has the most experience in rehabilitating voucher programs and scored the highest compared to the other six companies that applied—including Milwaukee County's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Watch: HACM delays vote on outsourcing Section 8 program again amid public pressure
Grassroots organization Common Ground drafted a letter to Mayor Cavalier Johnson stating their belief that the job should stay in the county.
It read, in part:
"The high-quality, local, not-for-profit, publicly accountable Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services would be a significantly better choice."
Although a vote on awarding the five-year contract to the Florida company was expected Friday, the board instead decided to move forward with negotiations without officially awarding CVR the contract.
That decision caused everyone opposed in the room to get up and walk out.
Following the meeting, TMJ4 asked HACM Director Willie Hines for his response to resident concerns regarding CVR Associates as the outsourcing choice.
"This is the solution," said Hines. "We've identified the problems—now let's get to the solution. That's what these actions today do. And we're looking forward to working with them."
Shortly after the meeting, those in opposition brought their letter of concerns directly to the mayor's office for a response.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the mayor said:
“The mayor supports HACM in moving forward with the Housing Choice Voucher program contract, as required by HUD. We also continue to urge the Common Council to hear and support the mayor’s nominees to the HACM Board of Commissioners, who were announced in June.”
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