The crisis at a Durham public housing complex reflects neglect and calls for change
Durham’s shiny downtown image is being eclipsed by what looks like third-world conditions in a public housing complex a few miles from the city’s new restaurants, bars and high-end apartments.
About 270 McDougald Terrace families are staying in a dozen hotels after being evacuated from the public housing development built in 1953. They were forced to leave because of carbon monoxide leaks coming from old appliances and pipes.
The McDougald Terrace conditions — mold, roaches, mice and gas leaks — contrast not only with the wave of new construction and renovations in downtown Durham, but also with the city’s reputation as a city where the needs of the poor are recognized and addressed. Certainly that wasn’t the case with the 360-unit McDougald Terrace complex. The Durham Housing Authority has been content to ignore conditions there despite the complex’s failing federal inspections two years in a row, scoring a 31 out of a possible 100 in 2019.
The News & Observer reported Wednesday that Durham submitted a Transformation Plan to HUD in October 2014. Years later, no action has been taken. Now the city must cope with the results of that delay: media coverage of a forced evacuation, the expense of emergency repairs and appliance replacement and the daily cost of providing displaced residents with temporary shelter in hotels.
Who is to blame? Naturally, no one is taking that on. The housing authority’s CEO, Anthony Scott, took over the agency three years ago. He couldn’t explain why no action was taken on plans to renovate the complex. He told Trent Brown, “I don’t have a response for you at all. I wasn’t here in 2015 but I’ll have to look and see.”
One group that’s off the hook is Durham voters, who in November overwhelming approved a $95 million bond for affordable housing. The bond includes $59 million for the redevelopment of Durham Housing Authority properties. Amazingly, none of the money is directed toward renovating McDougald Terrace. That must be shock to those who agreed to pay more taxes to ensure that their fellow city residents have decent housing.
The next step is simple: Fix McDougald Terrace now. Find the money, make the repairs and return residents to safe homes.
In the longer term, the city must acknowledge that McDougald Terrace isn’t an isolated problem. Other Durham public housing complexes also fared poorly in HUD inspections. City officials should look again at the housing bond and direct money where the need for renovations and replacements is greatest.
The city also should review the organization and leadership of the city’s housing authority. Many other cities have managed to improve public housing; why hasn’t Durham? Where has the money for public housing gone? Why didn’t alarms go off years ago?
Finally, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development should take a stronger role in determining what went wrong with McDougald Terrace and Durham public housing generally and what can be done to correct the problems.
In the end, this crisis isn’t just about McDougald Terrace. It’s about public accountability, standards and values. And how it’s resolved will be about Durham.
Wendy Jacobs, chair of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, described the stakes at a news conference: “I want to first acknowledge that this is a terrible crisis in our community. There are many, many reasons that we have come to this moment. It involves decisions that were made locally, at the state level, the federal level. It is a very complex situation. This is a defining moment for us as a community.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 5:44 PM with the headline "The crisis at a Durham public housing complex reflects neglect and calls for change."