Champaign City Council Votes 6-3 Against Section 8

Champaign City Council held a study session Tuesday night, Oct 9, 2007 on whether to repeal the Human Rights protections for Section 8 recipients. The original anti-discrimination ordinance was forwarded by Giraldo Rosales, who was voted off of city council in 2006. A pro-business, pro-development majority now sits on the city council. After cancelling any further talks about a police review board and cutting township assistance to the poorest of the poor, the city council is now set to legalize discrimination against Section 8 recipients.

Mark Aber of the Human Relations Board made a presentation that was generally in support of the Section 8 protections. He said that only 3-4 percent of Section 8 recipients break their leases and reported that they are “very reluctant” to do so because they will lose their assistance. Executive Director of the Housing Authority, Ed Bland, said that there are 1,358 Section 8 recipients in Champaign County, bringing in $8 million of federal funds. There is no shortage of landlords willing to rent to Section 8 recipients. For many, this means a monthly federal check that comes straight from the government, never passing through the tenant’s hands. Still, before the ordinance there were complaints of discrimination, many from African Americans.

After the so-called “study session,” the Mayor took a poll on the Section 8 repeal. The city council voted 6-3 to repeal. Ken Pirok, Tom Bruno, Vic McIntosh, Deb Feinen, Karen Foster, and Mayor Schweighart all voted on the side of landlords and against the poor. The majority vote was led by Ken Pirok, himself a landlord, who spoke like a member of the working class:

“I’m a landlord in this town. I’m a landlord that accepts Section 8 voluntarily. I’m a landlord who has actually had Section 8 tenants – and has filled out the paper work. And I know a LOT of landlords. There’s a common misperception that landlords are a bunch of rich fat cats, when the actually reality is these landlords around town, they are hardworking blue-collar people. They are like to be the kind of person that you shake their hand and they have paint under their fingernails. Those are the people who are landlords in this town. And there are a lot of landlords in this town who, if they miss a few payments from their tenant, they have problems paying their own bills. So I just have a problem requiring landlords to accept Section 8.”

Gina Jackson, Marci Dodds, and Michael La Due voted for the Section 8 protections.

Like the discussion over the Citizen Police Review Board in July, the majority on the Champaign city council showed the public that no matter how convincing their arguments to stop discrimination and protect the poor, they will do whatever the hell they want to. Developers get millions in tax abatements, while the poor are thrown out onto the streets to fend for themselves.

There will be a final vote next week, October 16 at 7 p.m.