It is no secret that I am a big fan of Dan Carmody. And with good reason. His leadership as president of the Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation (RIEGC) and its sister organization, the Development Association of Rock Island (DARI), over the past decade has resurrected Rock Island's downtown and surrounding neighborhoods, placing Rock Island on top for successful, innovative community revitalization, which includes the historic residential Broadway District just south of the renowned downtown entertainment District. Carmody's strategies have been so successful that communities across the nation seek his counsel for their own restorations. It is about time that the other Quad Cities recognize this valuable resource in their own backyard and learn from tried-and-true experience.

Moline gets the prize for being the first to take advantage of Carmody's expertise and his organization's development ingenuity and models for revitalization. But to enjoy the fruits of such efforts, Moline must also learn from the City of Rock Island, namely Mayor Mark Schwiebert and the Rock Island city staff, because they are an essential part of the equation. Without the city's enthusiastic support and willingness to get out of the box, all such development models would fail. Carmody's facilitation of public/private-sector partnerships has been the other key component to implementing development projects that have legs. It takes creativity, innovativeness, and a little (maybe a lot) of rebellion of the status quo to create the kind of positive change that defines Rock Island's remarkable success in reinventing itself.

That said, it is somewhat disconcerting to see the about-face on RIEGC's part regarding development policy where assisted housing is concerned. As part of its desire to "dream bigger," it is RIEGC's intention to develop scattered-site Section 8 housing within the residential Broadway District after years of concentrated effort to eliminate such non-owner-occupied housing to spur private investment and renovation of the beautiful old homes and properties that distinguish this neighborhood.

Section 8 housing is a federal program designed to financially assist participants in securing rental housing. Taxpayers subsidize the rents for low-income families who cannot afford market rates. The problem with such programming is that it tends to discourage participants from increasing their income. To be eligible for Section 8 assistance, participants must meet certain income requirements. As a result, they usually can't afford to maintain the properties they occupy, nor is there incentive to do so when they do not own the homes and will eventually move because they leave the program for various other reasons. Meanwhile, should participants increase their income, they risk any rental assistance because they no longer meet the income requirement to remain in the program.

Science demonstrates that a substantial percentage of properties that are not owner-occupied are not maintained as well as those that are. Absentee landlords often neglect rental properties precisely because of the transitional nature of occupancy, especially with housing that qualifies for Section 8 assistance. Perhaps it is because the profit margins are lower due to a higher turnover rate of occupants, which increases the cost of maintenance, putting pressure on the fixed revenues that characterize the program. It is often difficult to recoup the accelerated wear and tear and/or damages from higher occupancy turnovers. In addition, it can be cost-prohibitive to enforce rules and policies that don't adequately protect either the occupant or the landlord/owner. As a result, residents tend to object to these housing programs in their neighborhood because they fear their property values will be negatively impacted. Rental properties can be a destabilizing factor in a neighborhood, especially in one that is in the process of trying to overcome these very same issues.

The Broadway District historically has had a disproportionate amount of rental properties via conversion of many of the older homes from single-family residences to multi-family apartments. The renovation taking place throughout the Broadway District is reflected in a reversal of use back to single-family homes. The investment on the part of these property owners is substantial, and nobody knows this better than Carmody. The ultimate goal is that by renovating these properties, owners' investments will increase in value. The city benefits with increased property taxes due to the increases in values. So why would RIEGC risk all the momentum to this end that has occurred?

The Rock Island Housing Authority, which provides an important and meaningful service to the community, cannot guarantee that the participants in this new housing development will actually purchase the homes within five years, let alone be living in them. There is no commitment on either party's part to support this projection of home ownership in five years. It is a rent-to-own concept with no teeth, much like John Lewis' Cobblestone Terrace project in Davenport. The only difference appears to be the time frame. Cobblestone is a ludicrous 15-year rent-to-own program, which more than likely better reflects the developer's depreciation schedule than it does a viable ownership schedule.

While the development project only calls for two units in the Broadway District, the bigger concern is the departure from a development philosophy in Rock Island that provided Broadway property owners with a sense of common purpose, security, and confidence in their investment in Rock Island. RIEGC's endorsement and participation in this housing project undermines that confidence.

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