Housing Issues Facing Our Village

Given the recent concerns of the residents of the former Prairie Station Apartments and, now, Westline Apartments, I have initiated a review of the problems.

As background, I was notified by a number of residents who subsequently were thrown out of their apartments as not meeting the qualifications of the screening rules for residents. One man did not qualify, however he had lived in those apartments for over 6 years paying his rent on time. Another man and wife were both dependent upon DuPage County health services for their medication and dialysis treatments. They came before the Board and were quite upset and the change of events in their lives and loss of DuPage County support. They subsequently moved to St. Charles and with the assistance of Trustee Carter reconnected for their medications through Kane County.

The story doesn’t end there. A few weeks later, I was approached by Pastor Greathouse of the Smyrna Church who is really concerned with Section 8 housing and the transition of people out of the neighborhood and their stories of abuse from Westline. He suggested that I meet with these people and hear what is happening. I agreed and I challenged the good Pastor to bring in the neighbors so we can nullify any myths and enforce any events that are not occurring. Additionally, make this evening their opportunity to be heard. What surprised me was the number of people who showed up to speak their minds on the issues.

To prepare for this meeting, I met with the Executive Director of the DuPage County Housing Authority, John Day. He outlined for me the different types of Section 8, subsidized housing that is available. One type is the better known Section 8 housing that is voucher based where individuals find their own housing in the rental market at a location of their choosing with qualified landlords. The second is multifamily Section 8 or Project Based Subsidy housing where there are no vouchers, but the subsidy stays with the unit. They have their own set of rules and regulations that meet the industry standards as approved by HUD and filed with the Illinois Housing Department Authority (IHDA). The second example is what we have in Hanover Park.

Issues that confront this Village today are:

1. Section 8 housing, over 1 million in vouchers in Cook County annually.

2. Section 8 housing in DuPage, which is balanced between all communities, however in Hanover Park we have the addition of Project Based Housing in the Westline Apartments, currently under rehab.

3. Rental Residential homes where we have numerous families sharing the same house and a general deterioration of the residence from overuse and negligent homeowners.

4. Absolutely no inspection process for the Rental Residential Units.

5. Staffing for our Code Enforcement is below what the Police Chief has declared as a level where we can be successful or maintain. Additionally, a licensing program will require additional staffing above the previous minimum authorization recommended and approved by the Village Board.

My expectation is for the Village Board to direct the staff to create a licensing program that supports the quality of life we have come to expect in Hanover Park. I expect the staff to coordinate via committee of elected officials and staff to evaluate the licensing used in Glen Dale Heights, West Chicago, and Palatine as examples of working documents. Our existing practices of staff reductions and weak Village Ordinances cannot continue as the quality of life continues to deteriorate. Officials of the DuPage Housing Authority are willing to actively support the Village in this process.

Additionally, I will be leading an initiative to meet with the homeowner associations and rental residential owners to discuss the needs of Hanover Park and the rules we are planning to implement. To that end, I will be working closely with our State and County representatives to bring this issue to closure in an effective manner as the issues cross all four Townships and into both Counties.

The elected officials of Hanover Park need to meet and discuss the plan as I’ve outlined here.