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Cook County Commissioners appointed five people from the county’s five districts to serve on the first ever Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) board.
The decision was made at the commissioner’s October 12 meeting.
HRA’s are formed to undertake or assist in developing affordable housing projects.
The county board voted to form an HRA at its August 24 meeting to address the ongoing shortage of worker housing in the county. An earlier HRA had been formed by the City of Grand Marais but had never been developed.
The five new HRA members are District 1: Lawrence Doe; District 2: Chris Skildum; District 3: Mary Somnis; District 4: Chris O’Brien and District 5: Bill Gabler.
HRA board members will serve five-year terms, but some may serve longer based on how high they ranked in the selection process. The higher their ranking, the longer that member can serve.
Sixteen people applied to serve on the HRA. Cook County Administrator James Joerke said many applicants were highly qualified, having backgrounds in housing, development and community planning.
Now that the board has been formed the process to hire an administrator will begin. Grant writing and seeking funds for community housing will be part of the new administrator’s duties.
The 2022 budget for the HRA is $125,000. The HRA will have levy authority, much the way the Cook County Hospital Board and EDA has, but the county board will approve the entities annual budget.
Duluth has an HRA that manages Cook County’s Housing Choice Vouchers (also known as Section 8 vouchers). Applicants must meet income guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The HRA in Virginia Minnesota was formed in 1949. Over that time the board VHRA has developed two hundred seventy-four units of public housing for families, elderly and disabled. According to the Virginia HRA website, the VHRA owns and manages the units and provides housing to one thousand four hundred people.
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