State Rep. Drew Darby May Have Killed San Angelo's Proposed Low Income Housing Projects

State Representative Drew Darby entered San Angelo's low income housing debate by not doing a thing, literally.

The battle to kill Outlook on Valleyview and Maplewood Park may have been won for those who opposed said Kathryn Saar of the Texas Department of Community and Housing Affairs.

“San Angelo did not receive a letter of support from Representative Drew Darby for either project, lowering the number of points gained for both projects,” Saar said. “The other proposed project in Region 12, Midland, did receive a letter of support. However, San Angelo’s projects are yet to be reviewed.”

The controversial debate spawned in San Angelo reached Darby's staff in Austin making an impact on the state representative’s office, when an overwhelming wave of those in opposition to the low-income housing projects flooded their phone lines.  

“We actually heard from quite a few constituents regarding both projects—in opposition of both. There’s never been that outpouring of opposition to a project before,” Jason Modglin, Chief of Staff for Rep. Drew Darby, said.  “There’s never been that many calls regarding a housing project, especially two housing projects happening at the same time. It was an overwhelming negative from the people that contacted us.”

But opposition to the project was present from the onset.

When discussions entered council chambers, Councilman Rodney Fleming, whose district includes Outlook on Valleyview was in the hot seat with his constituents. There was a strong opposition from the neighborhood of Southland, particularly those from the Southridge Home Owners Association whose homes were adjacent to the proposed Outlook on Valleyview location. The homeowners showed up in large numbers to voice their opposition. Fleming, on the other hand, was in favor of the project, as he voiced at a town hall meeting, shaming those whose attitudes towards it were negative, and declaring some racist.

“The phone calls I got yesterday, frankly, were very disheartening," Fleming said at a city council meeting on Feb. 3. "When I was listening to the prayer that the minister gave before this meeting, one of the things he said was to honor and glorify our God. And the phone calls I got yesterday were downright racist. People were calling and saying, 'I want that place on the north side where they belong.' I explained to them that you cannot do that, you cannot force low income people to all be together, that’s not even the American way, we want this to all be for everybody.”

A petition against the Outlook on Valleyview project was started on Feb.19, entitled “Deny Housing Tax Credits for 2900 Valleyview Blvd San Angelo, TX”. The goal on that petition was 1,000 signatures; despite what was displayed at town hall meetings, the petition only garnered 184 signatures, 18 percent of its goal.  

Despite the dire prospects of having not received support from the state representative, the battle is not lost for supporters of both of the low-income housing projects.  The San Angelo City Council has already approved letters of support for both projects, making the prospects somewhat competitive for both.

Ultimately, it comes down to the TDCHA board decision in July as to who will be awarded the 9 percent Housing Tax Credit.

Regardless of the drama and mudslinging, Bob Salas, the city’s Director of Community Development, explained that even if San Angelo is passed up for this year’s 9 percent HTC, there is always next year.

“The same developers rarely return, but if they do they will probably choose a different area of town to target for their project,” he said.

 Salas added that San Angelo is always looking for ways to improve its neighborhoods and he is a firm believer that new housing developments are a great way to do that.

“We have a neighborhood revitalization plan in place; when developers come to see me I try to steer them into those areas,” he said. “We are trying to revitalize some of these neighborhoods, and new developments like this are a shot in the arm for our revitalization plan and our program.”

The plight of affordable housing is far from over for San Angelo. The city is growing and changing and future plans are being made to ensure a livable future for her residents.

“I am going to council in a couple of months to outline a low income housing tax credit approval process,” Salas enlightened. “We don’t have a distinct process of approving [housing projects] and how we rank these projects as they come in. I will go to council soon to seek approval from council on how they want to rank and support these and rate these developments. That will help a little bit in that when people come to San Angelo and want to get tax credit support from council or from Drew Darby they will have a process to follow.”

For a detailed history of these happenings, click here.