City Council

I ( IlIE CITY OF OIO./U{OMA CITY Counc ]. 1 ' oFrrcE or I Eem N o T}IE MIINICIPAL COI]NSELOR Augu s t TO; Mayor and Council DAIE: July 30, L97L FROU: Walter M. Powel-l RE Speclal electi.on Acting Municipal Counselor on publlc housing You have asked how a special elecE i.on on the subject of public housing would affecE the 5 rL54 uni6s of low-income housing presently auEhorized by the Cityts CooperaEion AgreeroenE with The Oklahoma City Housi.ng AuthoriEy (OCHA) and how it would affect the Urban Renewal AuEhoriEyrs Cooperation Agreement with the Oklahoma City Housing Authority. PertinenE parts of Title 63 of the Oklahoma statutes are as folLows: Section 1054. Definitions x t'(i) tHousing projecEf or'projectt means any work or undertaking or conttguous or noncon- tlguous slies: (1) to demollsll, clear, or remove bulldings uG 3 l91l from any slum area; or \ (2) Eo provide or assist i[r providing (by any BY THE CITY COUNCIL suitable method, incLuding buE not l-imited Eo: rentall sale of individual uniEs in single or -€e/* cry.LERK multifamily strucEures undetr convenEional, coll- domtnium, oE cooperative sal-es contract; Lease- purchase agreemenE; loans; ot subsidizing of renEals or charges) decenE, safe and saniEary urban or rural drvellings, apartments, or oEher living accommodaEions for persons of low in- come; or (3) to accomplish a comblnption of the fore- going. Such work or undertpking may include buildings, land, equipmenE, facilities, and other real Dr personal properEy fpr necessary, con- venieni, oE desirable appurLenancesl sEreeEs, sewers, water service, util iEies, parks, site preparation, and landscapingi and facilities for adminisEraEive, communi Ey, health, E€cr€- aEionai, we1-fare, or other purposes. The term thousing projecL' or t project t also rnay be ttapplied Eo the plannlng of the bulLdlngs and improve- ments, the acquisition of property or any interest therein, Ehe demolition of exisEing strucEures, the construction, reconsEructlon, rehabilitation, alEer- atlon or repair of Ehe improvements and all other work in connection therewitF; and Ehe Lerm shaIl include aLl other real and fersonal- property and all tanglble or intangible hssets held or used in connection with Ehe housing project.tt Section 1055 tt * * * If Ehe governing bpdy declares a need for housing exisEs, as set forth in (1) and (2) of Ehls paragraph, said governing body shalI issue noEice of such need and the number ,of housing unlEs pro- posed in a ner.rspaper having I a general circulaEion in the area in which the need is cerEified. Such noEice shall seE forth Ehe facEs that said decLar- ati-on of need is finaL, if hot proEested within 1 thirEy (30) days from date lof said noEice by Ehe meEhod provided in the prext succeeding para- graph. "Provided, however, Ehat ifJ a petition slgned by not less than five percenE (5%) of Ehe 1egaL registered voters of Ehe ci,ty or counEy af fecEed, as the case may be, is subnfliEEed to Ehe goverrring body within thirty (30) d"ylrs of Ehe adoption of said resoluEion Ehen sal,ld resolution shal-I be ineffecEive until appr d by a majority of those voEing on Ehe questi n aE a special or generaL elecEionl * :k *. Section L056. PeEitions a elections to discontinue the construcEi of additional pu.b ic housing projects. "(") Upon Ehe filing of a peEltion by five per cent (57") of the quali ied voEers of Ehe city or county, as Ehe cas may be, asserting there is need for Limiting an authoriEy Eo iEs existing operaEions and px JhibiEing such authoriEy from engaging in addiEional projecEs or addiElons to exiiting ptojectsr or upon I ttiEs own moEion, the governi![e body of thaE clEy or counEyr 8s Ehe case may be, sha1l call an election of Ehe qualified voters res]Lding in the area of the authoriEy for the purpose o{t deciding whether or not Ehe authoriEy shall be ]Lirnlted to iEs existing operaElons and prohibited fliom engaging in addi- tional projects or additloniI to exisEing projecEs. t'(b) The dare for such election shal-L be set by the governing body by resoluEion; provided, thaE such election shall be heLd nbc less Ehan elght weeks nor more than Ewelve rreeks after Ehe date such petiEion is filed. If a protest to such petition is filed Ehe burderr of proving Ehe insufficiency of such peEit{on shaIl be upon the protesEanEs. The heari4rg on such proEesE shaLl be held and the prote$t decided by the governing body within four rheeks after Ehe filing thereof. At sueh el$cEion Ehe questlon before Ehe voters shaLL be: ttshalL the PubLic Hous lng Authority of be limi tea to its existing operations and sha1l it be prohibited from engaging in additional projects and prohibited from making addiEions to exlsting projecEs? tf ]TES NO I'tre question shall- be dec d by a majoriEy of Ehose voEing Ehereon, t'(") The auehority sha11 Limlted Eo iEs exisEing operati-ons and pr ibited from engaging in additional projects or a ditions to exisEing projects upon cerEificaEion that a majority of tt those voting Ehereon have v, Eed in the aff irmacive. According Eo the staEuters efinition of Ehe word ttprojecErl in SecEion 1054, supra, the term t'project" can mean: 3 ttAny * * * Undertaklng * * :lc Eo provLde or assist in providing * * * living acconmodaElons for persons of low income * * *r tt On October 22, 1958, Ehe Ci ty CounclL and the Oklahoma CtEy Housing AuEhoriEy amended their Co QperaEion AgreemenE to auEhotLze 2r000 additional unlEs for Low-ren f housing. Said amendment was accompanied by a Council ResoluEio {r finAfng thaE Ehere was a need for Ehese addiEional units and app foving an application by Ehe Housing Authority to the appropria te federal agency for a prelim- i.nary Loan of $800r000 ln connecEi on wiEh Ehe 21000 units. Subsequentl-yr oD April 2, L969, Ehe Housing Authority execuEed a Preliminary Loan ConEraet whereby the federal govern- menE agreed Eo make loans Eotallng $8001000 for preliminary surveys and planning of Ehe 2r000 addiEional units. The Cooperation Agreement wtth Ehe CiEy and Ehe Preliminary Loan AgreemenE with Ehe federal government are trundertakings " by Ehe Oklahoma CiEy Housing Authority I'to assisE in providing living accommodations for persons of low l.ncome" in Ehe amount of 21000 additional housing uniEs. By sEatutory definitlon Ehefe Agreements or ttundertakingstt for 2r000 addiEionaL units are an existing "projecErtr are part of the trexisting operaEions" of the 0klahoma Clty Houslng AuthoriEy and would not be affecEed by the election procedure provided in SecEion 1056 of the sEatute. They could have been affecEed if Ehe eleetion had been petitioned for wlthin 30 days after the Councilrs acEi.on, ds provided in Section 1055, buE EhaE is noE the question now being considered. In the U. S. Supreme Court's recent review of California's experience wiEh public housing, iE noEed a 1950 California case which held Ehat decisions by 1ocal auEhoriEies were t'execuEiverr and t'adminisEraEiver" noE ttlegislativertt and the referendum pro- visions in Ehe Scate Constitution did not appIy. James v. Caltierra, 28 L Ed 2d 678, citing Housing AucfioriEy v. Superior Court, 35 Ca1 557-558 2d 550, (1950). I I This seems to be whaE Ehe O{ctatroma Legislature intended , because SecEion 1055, supra, was a{rended in 1969 to make it clear that a ci-tyts ttdeclaratlon of needNis f-inattt unless protested, not by referendum, buE by anoEher meEhpd of peEiEion and elecEion specified in SecEion 1055. 4 . The staEed finallty of Counoll actlon ts a further indlcation that the legtslature did not inEend for Ehe CounciL's action to be repealed in Ehe future like legislaCive acEs are someEimes rePealed by the inciatlve process Since thls seems to be the leglsl-aEurers LntenE, then thelr expression ttlimited Eo its existing operaEions and prohibited from engaging in additional projecEstr could not be interpreted in a way that rnight effectively repeal the Qouncil's previous determlnaEion thaE 2r000 addlEional units of LowJrent housing were needed. Courts have consisEently refused to permi.E any aEtempt by a City to cancel an existing coopeIaEion agreeEent with a housing authoriEy. The califor.nia supreme CourE explained iE in #Housins AuEhorily v. Cigy of_Los Angeles, P .2d 515, 524, as follows: il t is asstrmed that the re 1S ion of rior action ma ct o riateL be acco ished a mun]"c]. sLaEive bod where ri so t ird ersons have noE in ened. The a plication of chis recognized principle is to tEers of municlpal concern. McConoughey v. Ja kson, L01 CaL. 265, 35 P. 863. Here Ehe state w is controlllng in a matter of state concern. Thereby the ciEy is authorized Eo contract in respect to the granLed powers, buE iE is also bound Eo compliance there- with aceordingly. ttln bri.ef , the city's acts dnd contracts are binding in accord with the $tatutory PurPose and objective; and no provision is indicated which permi.Es Ehe ciEyrs aEternpEed cancell-ation, abandonmenc and abrogatlon Pf iEs conEracEs. As noEed, the exEent Eo whifh projects begun wiEh the use of federal funds might be can- eeLed or modified is covered by the provisions of Ehe law as to amendmenEs, modifications or supersedure of existing contracts for federal loans and contributioni, node of which is here involved. If it be desirabfe to include provisions for cancellati-on by city acEion, as disElng uished from v/ithho ldins of city approval prior Eo initiation Ehe subjecE 5 ls one Eo be addressed Eo the respecttve federal and staEe legislative bodies for approprlaEe perrnLssible enactmenEs whic would ProLect the iigt tr of a1I inEeresEed parEies.tt Under Ehe Oklahbma law preVlously discussed, an electlon may be cal-Led which would in effecit prohibit the auchorizaEion of any additional projecEs, but it wqfuld noE affecE the 5,154 units which the CiEy Council has previot{Isly authorized and such an electLon would not affect any exi{rting cooperation agreemenE between Ehe Oklahore CIEY Housing AuEhorlty and the Urban Renewal AuthoriEy. While limiting the OCIIA to its presently authorLzed number of units, such an eLecEion would noE neeessarily require the OCIIA Eo complete EhaE number of uniEs. ConsEruction on PresenEly Pro- posed sites w111 require approval from the U. S. DePartment of Houslng and Urban DevelopmenE and wil-1 depend upon the ouEcome of any pend ing or fuEure litigatio n regarding the location of proj ects . Respectfully submltced, Walter M. Pgt're 11 Acting Municipal- Counselor WMP: TBMc : emc cc: NIMLO OAI"IA ABA 6