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Old Posted Jan 26, 2008, 7:37 PM
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HUD OKs $600M for port

Agency head 'concerned' about diversion
By RYAN LaFONTAINE
rlafontaine@sunherald.com

GULFPORT --The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approved a state plan Friday to spend $600 million in grants on the Port of Gulfport instead of housing.

Fair-housing advocates have been the loudest critics of the plan, and their concerns were backed this week by two congressional Democrats - U.S. Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif. - who urged HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson to oppose the plan.

But despite those cries, Jackson sent a letter to Gov. Haley Barbour on Friday approving the state's plan to divert the $600 million, initially earmarked for housing, to repair and expand the Port of Gulfport, the third-busiest container port along the Gulf of Mexico.

Frank and Waters sent a letter to Jackson on Thursday, citing a recent FEMA report that estimated more than 40,000 Mississippians remained displaced after the storm as of November 2007.

Opponents of the port spending say curing the state's profound housing crisis is a much more pressing need than upgrading the port.

The money is part of $5.5 billion in HUD Community Development Block Grants approved by Congress after Hurricane Katrina. The Mississippi Development Authority, which answers to Barbour, is charged with administering the grants.

The MDA disputes the claim that the money is being yanked from affordable-housing programs. Barbour has said the state's original request in 2005 for Katrina-relief funding through HUD included the port project, in addition to housing.

Barbour issued a statement Friday, saying he appreciated HUD's recognition; he said the port's restoration "has been a key component of Mississippi's comprehensive recovery plan since the fall of 2005."

The 210-acre expansion features a new shipping terminal and channel as well as three new casinos and as many as 3,000 hotel rooms.

In the letter from HUD, the federal housing secretary did express some qualms with the plan to move the money.

"I remain concerned that this expansion does indeed divert emergency federal funding from other more pressing recovery needs, most notably affordable housing," Jackson wrote to Barbour.

But Jackson said specific "congressional language" associated with the recovery grants gave him little choice but to approve the diversion.

Waters told The Associated Press on Friday she could not understand why Jackson believed he didn't have the authority to reject the plan.

"I am suspicious that Barbour receives favored treatment with this administration. He kind of gets his way," Waters said.

Jackson praised the state for reprogramming an additional $100 million this week to address the critical housing needs of low- and moderate-income households, but he urged Barbour to keep housing a priority for the Coast.

"I'm sure that you share my concern that there may still be significant unmet needs for affordable housing, and I strongly encourage you to prioritize Gulf Coast housing as you move forward," he wrote.
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