Thursday, June 14, 2007
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt-Kinder-Hubbard Call for Legislation to Remove Elected Officials from Housing Commission
JEFFERSON CITY–Gov. Matt Blunt, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and Democrat State Representative Rodney Hubbard today called for legislation to remove elected officials from the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC).
In a letter to MHDC Chairman Richard Baalmann, Governor Blunt encouraged commission members to support his call to change the housing agency makeup to remove any appearance that politics have an impact on MHDC's decisions.
"Removing elected officials from the commission will help burnish MHDC's reputation as one of the best run housing commissions in the country, allow the board to focus on its mission of providing affordable housing to Missourians, and remove any appearance that politics may play a part in MHDC's decisions," Gov. Blunt wrote.
"I fully support Governor Blunt's call for legislation to remove elected officials from the Missouri Housing Development Commission," said Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder. "This necessary change will help remove the perception that politics may play a role in the decisions of the Commission."
"As a member of the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Panel that made the recommendation to remove elected officials from the Missouri Housing Commission, I support Governor Blunt's call for this legislation and will work with my Democratic and Republican colleagues in the House to ensure its passage," said Rodney Hubbard, Missouri State Representative District 56. It is important that elected officials are removed for the Commission to remove the appearance that politics is what drives the important decisions of the Commission."
After conducting the first full government review of the state's housing agency, Blunt's bipartisan Blue Ribbon Panel recommended that elected officials should not serve as officers of the Commission. The recommendation was due to "…the perceived influence, real or not, that politics could play in the decision making." In today's letter, Blunt asked the commission to go one step further and go on record in support of legislation to remove all elected officials from the commission.
Currently, the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and treasurer serve on the MHDC. The remaining six members are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The Missouri Housing Development Commission makes investments in rental housing developments, preservation of affordable rental housing, home mortgages, home improvement loans, grants to neighborhood housing groups and other housing programs. MHDC functions as a bank, providing financing directly to borrowers or through a network of private lending institutions.