September 30, 2009
HANO is sued over public records request
By Katy Reckdahl, The Times-Picayune
A housing advocacy group sued the Housing Authority of New Orleans on Tuesday in Orleans Parish Civil District Court, claiming it failed to provide public records it requested in July.
The group STAND with Dignity, a project of the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice, said withholding the records left its members unable to provide community oversight of the agency.
Among the named plaintiffs are three STAND members who say they need affordable housing and want to participate in HANO’s decisions about its Section 8 program but haven’t been able to do so, and a landlord who wishes to rent to Section 8 voucher holders.
In July, a few hundred members of STAND surrounded HANO’s offices and demanded that the agency reopen its Section 8 waiting list and distribute more than 3,000 unused rental-assistance vouchers. Before the protest, the group filed a request asking HANO for 15 records, including the agency’s budgets, total number of vouchers allocated and in use, and several other agreements, assessments and plans for providing housing to low-income people.
Louisiana’s public records law requires a response to any public-records request within three days and sets civil and criminal penalties for government officials who fail to comply.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development and HANO declined to comment on the suit, which has been set for a preliminary hearing before Judge Lloyd Medley on Oct. 12.
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Katy Reckdahl can be reached at kreckdahl@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3396.
