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CLOSING ARGUMENT JANUARY 4, 2021 ¦ 47

EDITORIAL BOARD

and Urban Development finally the municipality. Suburban law-
removed housing subsidies from makers shut them down, raising
three North Hartford buildings, fears of urban takeover. Finally,
Barbour Gardens, Clay Gardens in August 2020, the Open Com-
and Infill. The buildings had Connecticut legislators munities Alliance filed an ad-
rats, cockroaches, missing toi- have shut down expanded ministrative complaint against

lets, collapsed ceilings and base- reach for urban housing the state, arguing that the rule
ments flooded with backed-up authorities. That needs to perpetuates segregation in viola-
sewage. Gunfire was so frequent tion of the Fair Housing Act. In
that parents didn’t let their chil- change. November, several former Clay

dren play outside. Mold was so Arsenal, Barbour Gardens and
bad that every family had a child Infill residents, along with the
with asthma. Center for Leadership and Jus-
Federal law requires families tice, sued HUD and the Hart-
receiving vouchers to get “mobility counseling,” ford Housing Authority for not providing north
assistance finding housing in communities with Hartford tenants with meaningful housing choice.
low crime and good schools if they want it. In- (Although Hartford Housing is named in the
stead of providing that assistance, HUD assigned complaint because it was the appointed voucher-
the Hartford Housing Authority—limited by stat- administrator, the state’s discriminatory jurisdic-
ute to operating in Hartford—to relocate the fami- tion rules bind its hands as well.)
lies and rushed them into buildings in the same Connecticut doesn’t have to wait for judicial
neighborhood. and administrative complaints to be decided. It
For the last three years, legislators have pro- can, and should, finally amend 8-39(a) to allow
posed bills to change the law and allow municipal housing authorities to provide funds outside their
housing authorities to act within 15 miles outside municipalities and stop subsidizing segregation.¦

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