Julian Castro, Secretary of HUD, tours Selma Public Housing
Some city leaders are using the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March to highlight some very real issues going on in Selma today. The secretary of the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, known as HUD, was in Selma today to tour the city’s public housing. Congresswoman Terri Sewell led the tour through three public housing units in the city of Selma. One of those units was built in 2010 and the two others were built in 1952. She wanted to show the differences between older and newer public housing. Julian Castro, the Secretary of the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, was in Selma Friday afternoon to tour the city’s public housing units to the delight of city leaders, including Selma Mayor George Evans. “Certainly having been a mayor himself in San Antonio, Texas, he understands all the dynamics of what we go through,” Evans said. It was a time to show the secretary what Selma’s public housing needs are. “The reality is that the federal government is no longer building brand new public housing,” says Congresswoman Sewell. “They’re just not. So we have to find ways where we can not only renovate, but we can also totally build.” Sewell says more resources are needed to bring older public housing units up to date. Castro says a lack of finances for public housing is a trend throughout the country. “We have right now a back log of about 26 million dollars of needed repairs in public housing and every year, we lose about 10 thousand public housing units to disrepair.” But Castro says there is some good news with a newer program called the Rental Assistance Demonstration, where private money goes to renovate public housing units. 185 thousand units nationwide have been given the green light for renovations. “So when you’re able to renovate housing and make it more energy efficient, improve it, you’re talking about lifting the quality of life,” he says. Secretary Castro talked about the importance of making public housing more energy efficient. He says he is leaving Selma with his thinking cap on.
