Iowa City accused of housing discrimination

The City Council postponed a planned discussion on affordable housing Monday night after the city was accused of housing discrimination.

Mayor Matt Hayek said the city late last week received a large document accusing it of housing discrimination from the Housing Fellowship, a non-profit agency in Iowa City that provides housing to low-income people.

City Attorney Eleanor Dilkes said she hoped to have more information for the council in July. She said that, under the threat of litigation, she recommended council members don't discuss the allegations.

Dilkes provided a copy of the document to the news media. In it is a letter to the Housing Fellowship from Harry Kelly, its Washington, D.C.-based attorney, saying the organization would rather negotiate an agreement and not sue.

Maryann Dennis, executive director of the Housing Fellowship, declined comment. In a letter to Dilkes, Charles Eastham, president of the Housing Fellowship's board of directors, wrote, “Recent decisions by the Council have impeded our ability to continue to work toward our goals and the provision of safe, decent affordable housing.”

Kelly's letter indicates the dispute centers on a divided City Council's decision earlier this year to not approve a Housing Fellowship plan for 2500 Muscatine Ave., on the east side of Iowa City. The project called for six two-bedroom units to be funded with federal money distributed by the city.

The majority of council members said that they thought there was already too much subsidized housing on that side of town and that such a concentration had a negative effect on nearby schools.

Kelly wrote that the city's policies discriminate against minorities and families with children.

Affordable housing has been a controversial topic in Iowa City in recent years.

Some people have tried to link subsidized housing to crime. Other people say that is not true and that housing assistance helps provide housing stability to families.

Monday night's discussion was to focus on where housing that receives funding from the federal Community Development Block Grant and HOME programs should be located.

Though the council has said it wants to scatter affordable housing throughout town, a slim majority of council members have said they oppose requiring developers to include some affordable homes in new developments.