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Mt. Lebanon residents boo low-income home purchase
Tuesday, April 20, 1999 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A board room full of boos and hisses greeted officials last night at a public meeting on the proposed purchase of six low-income homes in Mt. Lebanon.
More than 75 people packed chambers for the two-hour meeting, which featured members of the Allegheny County Housing Authority, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Sanders Task Force and Mt. Lebanon commissioners.
The homes are being purchased to relocate black public housing residents as part of a court settlement from a 1988 class action lawsuit claiming discrimination and segregation in pubic housing. That settlement required that 100 homes be purchased in mostly white neighborhoods which meet several criteria, including proximity to seven-day bus lines.
Residents were mostly against either the possibility of having low-income homes in the municipality or the process by which the Sanders Task Force selects homes.
"In four months, these houses are going to be in shambles," said resident Steven Engel. "You're going to eat your house."
Mt. Lebanon commissioners expressed concerns about the plan, despite having adopted a position of a willingness to comply with the decree.
"If you're opposed to this plan, you're considered prejudiced," said Commissioner Mike Crossey. "And I don't think that's right."
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