Dear George,

We all want to help somebody. It makes us feel good.

And if our help makes things worse, at least we can say our intentions were noble. Then decades later, we can take pride in our good deeds and further propose the same programs that failed a generation ago and hope nobody remembers.

This is my take on Rich Collins, chairman of Charlottesville's urban renewal agency in the 1970s and current candidate for House of Delegates 57th district. I have to give Mr. Collins credit: he is bold. I wouldn't have the nerve to support programs that bring us the achievement gap.

Here is Mr. Collins bold new idea:

"A CLT [Community Land Trust] allows a non-profit or public entity to acquire land and then develop it for low and moderate income housing. A 99 year lease for the land at no cost, or low cost, allows the owner of the housing to acquire it an affordable rate. (Land prices are a major reason that housing prices are rising.) The owner of a house on CLT owned land has the attributes of ownership which we most value: security of tenure, privacy, and the ability to bequeath the lease and house to others. If the owner, however, decides to sell the house, the CLT has the right to buy it. The owner will be paid for improvements and some percentage of the increase in capital value, but the CLT, which owns the land, and has a long term interest in affordability, has the means to keep the unit affordable for another low income buyer. . The CLT concept provides a creative compromise between home ownership and affordable ownership over the long term."

Here are my concerns:

(1) How will the land be acquired? Given his background, Collins would likely support use of eminent domain to acquire the land. But he doesn't describe the process or address eminent domain fears of city residents and property owners. He leaves out this part as if to imply that the affordable housing goal is so lofty that any means necessary is justified. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in June whether it's Constitutional to use eminent domain to take land for the purpose of transferring ownership. Last session, 40 eminent domain related bills were offered in the General Assembly. I'd hate to see Charlottesville send to Richmond someone who would make it easier for your property to be taken away.

(2) Why can't a private, for-profit entity participate in a CLT? What special status must a developer possess in order to build affordable homes? Non-profits suffer from a credibility problem from the start because its profits (donations to salaries, operating expenses, surplus reinvested in the company) are exempted from the burden of taxation. Then it's a short road to believing you're exempted from all laws. If you're not specifically exempted, you can petition government and surely be exempted. You can also ask for corporate welfare in the form of grants and not even blush. In the recent city budget process, at a council meeting, someone asserted that the subsidy increases being requested by local charities (MACAA, JABA and others) were for pay raises, not to provide a new service or buy more food, for example. If charity is your source of income, you face a major conflict of interest.

(3) How can you be a homeowner and not own your home? If you have a 99 year lease, do you own anything? Can you cash out equity in your largest investment? Can you bequeath the property to anyone or does a bureaucrat have to verify that the transfer is within the rules? Can you put up the house as bond to get your child or grandchild out of jail? What other rights and privileges would you have to give up in order to take advantage of the trust?

How does a CLT connect to the achievement gap? The gap has two parts: People don't believe you can achieve so they don't give you opportunities or ever accept you as an equal. You don't believe you can achieve so you don't try to prove them wrong. After all, why should you work so hard? The slave master owns the land but lets you sharecrop as long as you profit less than the master, as long as the master has more rights than you. Well, you do have to live somewhere.

Why would Mr. Collins propose a program that does not seek to elevate low and moderate income people to full citizenship, equal rights, and equal treatment? Why should poor people not be able to profit from their investments just as their affluent neighbors do? If you want your children to grow up expecting to be denied full participation, "buy" a house in a government-owned "neighborhood." The poverty industry needs rethinking and reinventing, not retooling and repackaging.

Here's my idea. 15 minutes a day -- a house in 15 years. No matter where you work, keep a daily work journal. Keep track of your own time, duties, contacts. Verify that your pay is the correct amount. Writing a resume becomes easy as pie: just look through your journal and pick out the relevant accomplishments. Take ownership of your career by documenting it. Organize your bills, expenses, rent receipts. If you can record and document your work, you become more valuable as the documentation grows.
As your writing skills improve, begin to charge more money. (Remember: the employee sets the wage, not the
employer.)

Then one day, when you're ready, take some of this documentation to a bank and ask for a loan to buy a house. Shop around for a used house or condo. Then begin paying a mortgage just as you've been paying rent all these years. This way, if property values go up, you can benefit fully. You can sell the house anytime to anyone (owner sets the price, not the buyer) and not have to share the crops with a slave master who "helped" you 15 years ago.

Blair Hawkins (electronic mail, May 11, 2005)