PORT TOWNSEND — Clallam Housing Authority is expected to take over administration of Jefferson County’s Section 8 affordable housing program Nov. 1, providing the same services once threatened with cutbacks.
Jefferson County commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a letter to Pam Tietz, Clallam Housing Authority executive director, voicing their support and agreeing to pay half of a $25,000 fee for Clallam administration of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program and the Washington State Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Program.
The fee will be split between Olympic Community Action Program and the county Affordable Housing Fund.
There are sufficient funds in the county Affordable Housing Fund to pay the $12,500 fee, according to Al Scalf, acting as county administrator while Philip Morley is on vacation.
Tietz said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would have to give final approval to the Jefferson-Clallam agreement.
“This way we’ll be able to keep a staff person to serve Jefferson County,” Tietz said of Michelle Bernardi, who has administered the Jefferson program for about five years in Port Townsend.
Bernardi will keep the same office hours three days a week and one day for rental inspections, Tietz said.
Officials with Bremerton Housing Authority, which now administers Jefferson County’s program, said earlier this year they would have to cut their office hours to one day a week because that agency was finding the volume of Jefferson County vouchers was too low and Bremerton was losing money as a result.
Jefferson County has 146 vouchers for affordable housing, while Clallam County has 399 vouchers.
“We’re hoping it’s a seamless transition,” Tietz said Monday after the Jefferson County commissioners took action.
County Commissioner David Sullivan, D-Cape George, said the county was grateful to the Clallam County commissioners for their support of the new agreement.
“They feel they can help out,” Sullivan said.
The Housing Authority of Jefferson County was established in 1970 to offer safe, decent, affordable housing to low-income residents of the county.
The agency, along with Bremerton, operates the Housing Choice Voucher Program though Jefferson County, assisting families that qualify for vouchers that pay about one-third of their monthly income for rent to a private landlord, and the remainder is paid by the Housing Authority.
The assistance helps ensure a decent quality of life for low-income families, allowing them to pay for other basics, such as food and utilities.
To develop more cost-efficient operations, Jefferson County Housing Authority and the Bremerton Housing Authority developed an agreement in 2004 to have BHA provide management services to Jefferson County.
Bremerton Housing Authority received more than $42,000 for its programs in 2008 and more than $37,000 for the program it manages for Jefferson County.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
