 As the Executive Director of the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) and on behalf of the seven appointed members of the Commission, I am pleased to welcome you to HOC’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) website.
President Obama signed the ARRA in February 2009 with one goal in mind: to help stimulate our economy by putting more people to work. The Housing Opportunities Commission, which is Montgomery County’s housing authority, is both fortunate and pleased to help implement the President’s plan.
This website is our way to let you know how we are carrying out our ARRA-related plans.
ARRA provides substantial funding to rehabilitate and renovate public housing properties in Montgomery County. Many of the 1,547 apartments and homes in our public housing portfolio are more than 20 – and often 30 – years old.
Public housing provides decent, affordable housing to lower-income families living throughout Montgomery County. These properties can continue to provide stable homes for people for many years to come, but renovating and maintaining them as they age is a necessary and ongoing responsibility for HOC.
With the passage of the President’s economic stimulus legislation, housing authorities across the nation have been granted new funding to immediately undertake the construction and maintenance work needed for their properties. ARRA asks that we give priority to capital projects that are ready to go and for which we can award contracts within 120 days from the date the funds are made available to us.
HOC qualified to receive $3,103,902 to use on maintenance and renovation projects that are – to use the President’s language – “shovel ready.” This simply means that HOC already has plans for the work and has taken the initial steps – such as identifying the scope of work. This money enables HOC to complete capital projects that are already included in our 5-year capital fund plan, which is submitted to HUD each year. The Plan describes the funding amounts for for each type of modernization activity at our Public Housing properties.
Public Disclosure and ARRA
“So why create a website?” you might ask.
There are several reasons why HOC has posted information on how it plans to use the federal money it receives under ARRA.
First: HOC wants to make sure the public is informed of any business opportunities that may arise. We have a link to the building and repair projects that we have put out to bid. Included in that information is the status of each bid, along with disclosure of the winning bids when they are chosen. Since we are not directly offering jobs to individuals, but rather awarding contracts to private businesses, we can only estimate the number of people who will receive work as a result of our building activities. We will make those figures available when we can.
Second: As a public housing authority, HOC has a long tradition of transparency in our operations. We routinely post information on our website about our plans, our budget and our Commission activities. We post minutes to each Commission meeting on our website and regularly inform the public about new activities we are undertaking through public meetings, press releases and newsletters Resident Connections and The Proprietor.
Keeping the public informed about the way we make use of ARRA funds carries on an established tradition of public disclosure. We also feel that our website about ARRA funding is in keeping with the “spirit of openness” desired by the Obama administration.
Third: We are proud to participate in the ARRA program. Only U.S. public housing authorities in good standing with HUD have the right to use the stimulus funding. HOC wants to assure you that the subsidized housing we offer families in Montgomery County is well maintained and cared for.
We hope that you will visit our page often. HOC is exploring other ways to use ARRA-related funds and we will update this site to keep you informed. If you, or anyone you know, would like to find out more information about HOC’s use of ARRA funds, please send HOC an email at: arra@hocmc.org. |
