(Photos by: Baylee Mozjesik)
The Board of Aldermen’s decision to do away with Riverside Place remains a sore subject for residents, as the growing city struggles to cope with the lack of affordable housing.
The “Ideas On Tap: What Happened to Affordable Housing?” forum was hosted by Proud Larry’s and sponsored through the Mississippi Humanities Council. Panelists each spoke on different aspects of housing and later took questions from the crowd.
Although the Board of Aldermen has assured residents they will not be evicted until they find housing, it did not renew the city’s contract to operate the last public housing complex in the city. The city owns the complex, which was built in the 1980s, and is responsible for its upkeep.
Instead, the decision was made to issue residents housing vouchers, which supplement rent payments for low-income families. The contract ended Feb. 27 this year.
Thirty families have been able to locate housing with the vouchers, but there are still 60 families living in the complex that have not found another residence.
“I thought … it would be easy to use the (housing vouchers),” said Doretha Harris, a resident of Riverside. “I was wrong. It is so difficult to find a place because people do not want to rent to people with a (housing voucher).”
Judy Daniel, director of planning for the City of Oxford was a member of the panel and answered questions on future housing projects in Oxford.
Ward III Alderman Janice Antonow was the only board member from the city in the audience.
Antonow defended the city’s decision to relocate Riverside residents. She said the building was in bad shape, but the board wanted to give residents the opportunity to live in better conditions.
“It just really floored me when I heard that people were opposed to that,” Antonow said. “There’s housing available. We’re going to find it …. Give (the Board of Aldermen) a chance to do our jobs.”
Antonio said based on the number of people who attended, affordable housing is an obvious problem that causes concern for a large portion of the community.
“It’s an ongoing issue,” Antonow said.
Desiree Hensley, director of the Low-Income Housing Clinic, said there could be a better solution.
“In my mind, those 100 units are like gold,” Hensley said. “The city owns them now. The city doesn’t have to buy them … There are pots of money out there that the city can access to redevelop those units and make it a nice community.”
Hensley said that if the city would refurbish Riverside’s physical structure, the low-income neighborhood could be saved.
Hensley said the city could even use the housing vouchers at Riverside after it is renovated or rebuilt. She said the city could even raise the rent on the complex, and the vouchers would still cover the costs of living.
“The existence of shelter is a powerful thing,” Hensley said.
Ole Miss sociology professor JT Thomas was also on the panel. Adam Flaherty, a student in JT Thomas’ class about affordable housing, said he noticed many of the same themes from class in the discussions.
Flaherty said better city planning beforehand would have helped the city and residents to avoid the issues surrounding Riverside.
Flaherty also said he thinks that in order for Oxford to be a community for everyone – not just the privileged upper class – the affordable housing situation needs to improve.
Alonzo Hilliard, a three-year member of the Interfaith Compassion Ministry, a collaborative effort among local churches to provide basic needs assistance to individuals in Lafayette County who face crisis, said he thought the event went really well.
In the Interfaith Compassion Ministry, Hilliard’s main focus was homelessness.
Hilliard said the panel and discussion at Proud Larry’s is making the community aware that so much work needs to be done.
“The reason I’m here is to try to help the city myself,” Hilliard said. “To learn what I can do to help.”
District 1 Supervisor Kevin Frye, who moderated the event, said if residents want affordable housing needs to be addressed, residents need to voice their concerns at public meetings.
“It’s our obligation,” Frye said.
