City Seeks U.S. Funds for Housing Program
Despite opposition from some residents, city officials are applying for $550,000 in federal funds to support an affordable housing program.
Officials said the money from the federal HOME funds would be used for the city’s housing assistance program, which offers no-interest loans to people who want to buy their first home in town.
“It aids our children to be able to buy a home in Fullerton,” Mayor Don Bankhead said about the program.
Some residents and the Fullerton Republican Women’s Federation had urged the City Council against applying for the funds, saying the city already fulfills its minimum requirement to provide housing for the poor.
“Not all cities apply for these funds that will provide even more government-subsidized housing,” resident Pat Shuff said. “It will attract low- and very-low-income people to this city who don’t have the income to support our local economy.”
The majority of the council disagreed and voted, with Councilmen Chris Norby and F. Richard Jones dissenting, to apply for the money.
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