New CHA chief to ‘think outside the box’ in transforming public housing
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com September 22, 2011 3:40PM
Mayor Rahm Emanuel named Charles Woodyard (left) as the new head of the Chicago Housing Authority. Rahm said that he wants to ensure that the goals of the CHA are carried forward. | Al Podgorski~Chicago Sun-Times
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Updated: November 10, 2011 5:18PM
The public housing chief in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday made the giant leap to Chicago with a promise to “think outside the box” and provide more support services for displaced CHA residents.
Charles Woodyard, 53, will need creative and unconventional thinking to succeed in his new, $216,000-a-year job as head of the Chicago Housing Authority.
The $1.6 billion Plan for Transformation that tore down CHA high-rises and replaced them with mixed income communities has fallen five years behind schedule because of the collapse of the real estate market.
“Given the bare reality of this real estate market, … we will be outside of the box thinkers on this. We will use our current assets to see how we can turn those into savings, into real housing opportunities for low-income families,” Woodyard told a news conference at a mixed-income complex built in the shadows of Cabrini Green.
“I will spend the next several months working with the staff and the board and the private sector to figure out a way to accomplish the Plan for Transformation.”
Woodyard was asked what he meant by thinking “outside the box.” Before he could answer, Emanuel stepped to the microphone in front of him.
The mayor said the MacArthur Foundation has agreed to host a weekend meeting where CHA and federal housing officials will literally be drafting “Stage Two” of a Plan for Transformation drafted in dramatically different circumstances.
“While there’s been a lot of work done, we have to now take an assessment of where we are, what we’ve accomplished, what has not been accomplished and what are the best tools to see through this mission of changing public housing,” said Emanuel, who served as vice-chairman of the CHA board when the Plan for Transformation was conceived.
“The plan was developed with the premise of a market in one place and now, it’s in a different place. You can see that in the foreclosure crisis. How do you fulfill the mission of the first plan given the change in the housing market? ... We have to leverage resources … in a more efficient, smarter way.”
Displaced CHA residents dumped into communities that lack the social services to support them have been blamed for a spike in violent crime in neighborhoods once dominated by the black middle-class.
On Thursday, Woodyard acknowledged as much, when he said, “They need supportive services.”
Veronica Marshall, a resident of Parkside of Old Town, underscored that view when she complained that her neighborhood built to replace Cabrini Green is mixed-income in name only.
“We’ve been divided. Homeowners complain about CHA residents. CHA residents complain about homeowners. We all live in the same community. Why can’t we just be as one? ... The condo association will call a meeting. CHA residents are not invited to those meetings. Why not?” Marshall said.
If it’s truly a mixed-income community, Marshall said, “You don’t separate it, whether I pay zero rent or I bought mine.”
Ald. Walter Burnett (27th), who grew up at Cabrini Green, agreed that Woodyard will have his hands full trying to help CHA and middle-income residents “live in harmony.”
“It’s not just about bricks and mortar. It’s about cultural differences and bridging those gaps,” he said.
Woodyard, 53, replaces Lewis Jordan, who was forced out in June amid questions about his use of a CHA credit card to pay for costly meals at upscale restaurants.
Shortly after Jordan stepped down, the CHA shelved Jordan’s controversial proposal to require all adults who currently live in or apply for Chicago public housing to be tested for drugs, including senior citizens.
On Thursday, Woodyard refused to say where he stands on the issue of drug testing.
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