This
was actually not a big surprise to the neighbors of the MACO Northcreek project
currently under construction in the Mill Creek Valley. After witnessing poor planning, corruption, and
lack of transparency for a project that negatively impacted a National Historic
Trail hiking/biking trail and a presidential library, not to mention the
Missouri Housing Development Commission’s (MHDC) plush Class
A commercial space with great 14th floor view of downtown KC, several neighbors sent
letters to both the Governor Greitens and the State Auditor Nicole Galloway
early in the year asking for them to carefully review this program that
appears to be blatantly broken. The Governor
would eventually echo those concerns calling the MHDC low-income housing tax
credit program a “failing program.” Examples
were cited where, for every dollar spent, “only 35 cents made its way directly
to the development of housing.” The
remaining 65 cents on that dollar gets divvied up between MHDC and developers
who invest further into the campaigns of city council members and state
legislators who send MHDC their secret letters of support away from the TV cameras
on City 7. This is how you get projects
like Northcreek that are literally impossible to stop, even with thousands of
signatures of dismayed neighbors and voters who don’t matter. Our local politicians are more beholden to
these developers rather than the voters who put them in office. This parallels what has been happening at the
federal level with HUD and exposed on a recent PBS Frontline series entitled “Poverty,
Politics and Profit” showing developers getting rich off the backs of the taxpayers
and the poor. And here in Independence,
we have taken this even further down into the mud when we approve projects that
negatively impact historic resources, recreational facilities, green spaces, balance of housing diversity, and even placing housing projects within FEMA flooding areas. For
Heritage House Apartments, we even wave what are supposed to be minimum standards
for fire and public safety. Our low-income
citizens, seniors, and taxpayers deserve better responsibility and
accountability.
