Cal State professor says housing plan can help IE

This reporter spoke with Cal State San Bernardino professor Jim Mulvihill today regarding the federal government's plan to spend nearly $4 billion nationwide to help local officials rehabilitate foreclosed homes.

The federal plan would send $8.4 million to San Bernardino to allow the Economic Development Agency to purchase foreclosed homes. The homes could then be fixed-up and sold to new buyers. The theory behind the plan is that government action can prevent the houses from becoming empty pockets of blight.

The money won't be enough to allow San Bernardino officials to buy all, or even 10 percent of the homes that home been foreclosed in the time between Aug. 2007 and Aug. 2008. However, Mulvihill said the cash infusion could help the EDA make a dent in the problem.

In Mulvihill's view, the plan isn't perfect. The feds require that 25 percent of program funds be used to house people earning less than 50 percent of their area's median income. Mulvihill said that in San Bernardino, that would mean people making less than $25,000 per year who could have trouble paying for the repair and maintenence costs that go along with home ownership, even if the government can help them buy a house.

Mulvihill studies urban planning in for the Geography and Environmental Studies Department at Cal State. He also challenged Wendy McCammack for the 7th Ward Council seat in the 2006 election.