by Pamela Sosne Konde and Sherry Appel

Local elected officials from several Kansas and Missouri cities recently urged federal representatives to preserve the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, retain it within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and make no cuts in funding.

Speaking at a public hearing held by the Strengthening America?s Communities Initiative (SACI) Advisory Commission in Kansas City, Mo., the municipal officials warned that changes proposed by the Bush Administration to the CDBG program would do irreparable harm to one of the most important federal programs for municipalities.

The SACI Advisory Commission is meeting to develop a set of recommendations for the Secretary of Commerce that would implement the President?s initiative to eliminate the CDBG program, which was included in his FY06 proposed budget.

Essentially, it would combine 18 different programs, including CDBG, eliminate them and create a new program in the Commerce Department, then reduce overall funding by almost $2 billion.

The local elected officials included NLC Board Members Terry M. Riley, council member from Kansas City, Mo., and Ruth Hopkins, council member from Prairie Village, Kan. Other participants included Diane Linver, council member from Lenexa, Kan., and an active NLC Human Development Policy and Advocacy Steering Committee member, and Liberty, Mo., Council Member Coni J. Hadden, president of the Missouri Municipal League, and Florence Erickson, CDBG coordinator for Overland Park, Kan..

?CDBG is about true community development,? Riley said. ?The program generates economic development but also allows us to improve housing and provide support for families and senior citizens, while saving neighborhoods. It can transform communities, and the lives of the people who live in them.?

In addition to the local officials, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), former mayor of Kansas City, also spoke passionately in support of CDBG.  

?As a former mayor, I have seen first-hand the importance of Community Development Block Grants in America's cities, including my home town of Kansas City. The wholesale gutting of one of the most valuable and effective resources for local governments is unacceptable and must be stopped before it ever starts,? said Cleaver. ?It is imperative that local and federal officials of both parties form a wall of opposition so strong that this attack on CDBG will be put to rest.?

Linver told the members of the advisory panel that during the past decade, Lenexa has leveraged $980,000 in CDBG funds with more than $2.3 million in local funding.  ?Combined, these funds were used to revitalize our Old Town area. Streets and streetlights were replaced and new sidewalks and storm water systems were constructed. As a result, other homeowners in the area began to spruce up their homes and the whole area was revitalized. The CDBG funds became the catalyst for saving an entire neighborhood.?

She said that cities would be hard pressed to find another program as effective and supportive as CDBG. She told the commission to ?come into our communities and really see what?s happening. This is one of the best things ever done at the federal level.?

?Our mantra is, ?no cuts, no move.? We can always improve it ? but let?s not destroy it,? said Linver.

Hopkins noted that her city supports the work of several non-profit organizations, including the YMCA, through CDBG funds.

?The SACI program appears to be only for economic development. The Community Development Block Grant program is much broader in scope,? she said.

Prairie Village has used CDBG to improve access for those with disabilities, including retrofitting existing sidewalks with ramps, providing wider doors at public buildings, and making improvements to the city?s swimming pools and park play equipment.

?Twenty percent of our residents are 65 or older,? Hopkins said. ?Many of these residents live on modest fixed incomes and are doing everything they can to stay in their homes. CDBG funds make it possible for many to accomplish this.?

Riley said that in 2004, Kansas City used $100,000 of CDBG funds to add 18 units of public housing in the Guinotte Manor Housing Development. Funds have also been used to support early childhood development and housing for HIV/AIDS patients, and as leverage for private funds for a variety of projects.

?Removing the CDBG program from HUD will leave a fragmented system that no longer has the experienced backing of an agency whose focus has historically been on reaching out to communities,? Riley said. ?A switch to the Department of Commerce will likely impede progress and, ultimately, devastate both rural and urban development across the country. Therefore, I support the initiative to retain CDBG funds with HUD for the same, if not greater, amount of funding.?

Hadden discussed the effectiveness of the CDBG program throughout Missouri.

Erickson addressed the flexibility of CDBG.

?Each community is allowed to define what it truly needs,? she said. ?In our first-tier suburb, we use the funds to improve and maintain infrastructure in established neighborhoods. That helps young families and seniors stay in our town.?

Saving CDBG is a top legislative priority for NLC.

Since January, NLC has worked closely with a number of other local government-related organizations to stop the SACI proposal. In March, both the Senate and House appeared to reject this proposal, instead keeping CDBG at the current funding level within HUD as part of the adopted FY06 budget.

Specific funding, however, must still be approved in the upcoming appropriations process.

For more information on NLC?s activities in support of CDBG, go to www.nlc.org.