Write a commentThe City of Oswego hosted a Fair Housing Training at the Oswego Fire Department’s East Side Fire Station training room spearheaded by the Community Development Office.
The training provided an opportunity for local and regional collaboration conducted by CNY Fair Housing to understand recent legal and policy changes related to fair housing, and how it relates to not only the Rental Assistance Program, but to the municipalities and housing agencies as a whole. The Fair Housing training represented local and regional housing partners from eight different agencies and organizations.
The CNY Fair Housing’s Executive Director, Sally Santangelo, conducted the training on recent updates to fair housing laws including HUD’s new rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing that was released in July 2015. The training focused on the requirements of the new rule for housing agencies and municipalities including details on the process for completing an Assessment of Fair Housing, a review of local fair housing issues that public housing authorities and municipalities receiving HUD funding are required to complete every five years. The discussion also included a review of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last year on disparate impact, a legal theory under the Fair Housing Act that provides additional tools for increasing housing choice and opportunity. CNY Fair Housing is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating housing discrimination, promoting open communities and ensuring equal access to housing opportunity for all people in Central and Northern New York.
“The City of Oswego was pleased to have facilitated this training opportunity that not only benefited our city but provided the ability to bring together other regional housing partners”, said Mayor William J. Barlow. We recognized that collaboration and partnerships are the keys to building a strong community. I commend the Community Development Office for taking this initiative and being at the forefront of this important issue.”
Sally Santangelo, Executive Director of CNY Fair Housing, said “We are pleased to have had this opportunity to present information on recent fair housing developments and appreciate the efforts of the staff of the City of Oswego in organizing this training. Through education programs like this, we have a chance to work with local housing partners to achieve common goals of improving access to housing throughout our community.”
“The Community Development Office for the City of Oswego strives to be high achievers of implementing and maintaining compliance with various programs administered through the state and federal agencies. The Fair Housing training provided the local and regional housing partners to come together to better understand the recent updates and requirements for fair housing. I’d like to also thank Beverly Mulcahey, Rental Assistance Administrator, for organizing this training”, said Community Development Director, Justin Rudgick.
