The Galveston County Daily News

Galveston Housing Authority’s redevelopment plan for public housing to replace the 569 units lost to Hurricane Ike was the culmination of a lengthy process with considerable public input, and it appears to address the most serious concerns of the city’s residents and leaders.

Most of the arguments against public housing seem to question whether any of the former public-housing residents would, or even should, come back to Galveston.

I heard assertions that, if the units were rebuilt, there would be an influx of thousands of poor and indigent from elsewhere, an increase in drugs and other crimes, and that Galveston was not large enough to absorb the low-income residents who would occupy the units.

I could only listen in surprise and frustration.

Who could believe that 569 units of public housing, which would be occupied mainly by elderly and disabled residents, low-income wage earners and single-parent families, pose such a threat to the safety and well being of the general population?

Who could believe that a city of any size can be self-sustaining without a population that encompasses the entire spectrum of socio-economic strata?

Who could believe that Galveston, whose primary industries are service-based in hospitality and health care, can prosper without a lower class who work the low-paying jobs we offer?

Do people think we can fill those jobs without safe, affordable housing nearby?

Tom Schwenk, a past president of the Galveston Historical Foundation, wrote a letter “GHA empire on runaway course” (The Daily News, Oct. 20) to members of the city council.

He asked whether public housing is supposed to be a stepping stone, a hand up, a hand out or an end result.

I can answer his question — it’s all of the above.

It’s a stepping stone for those entering the workplace at the bottom and who have the ability and the opportunity to improve their fortunes without the help of others.

It’s a hand up for those who have fallen through the cracks and need a place and time to regroup.

Yes, it’s a hand out for those who lack the ability and the means to take care of themselves and those who depend on them.

And, for those reaching the end of their years, it’s an end result that allows them to live out their lives in peace with some measure of dignity.

The housing authority was established specifically to provide decent, safe and affordable housing accommodations to low-income families, handicapped, and elderly persons.

Schwenk and the opponents of the GHA redevelopment plan are holding GHA accountable for achieving goals that are the responsibility of the school district, the local college, the residents themselves and, ultimately, the community as a whole.

There may be real problems with the redevelopment plan’s details, but the issues it deals with, and the choices that it offers, are solidly within the framework of what GHA should be doing.

The real measure of the character and quality of life in a community is how it takes care of its weakest and most vulnerable.

There are some in our community who just don’t measure up.

Gary Hoffman is a resident of Galveston.