Wilmington City Council may consider overriding a veto from Mayor John Carney over an affordable housing trust.
Council passed an ordinance establishing the trust and an oversight board earlier this month. Carney called the efforts duplicative of Council’s Housing subcommittee in a written statement.
“Although I share Council’s commitment to expanding affordable housing opportunities, this ordinance does not create a functional or effective mechanism for doing so,” Carney wrote.
The trust would focus on constructing, purchasing and maintaining permanently affordable homes, prioritizing rental and homeownership units, along with homeless shelters and supportive housing units.
Carney said the board and trust overlap with already-established practices, including Council’s Housing subcommittee and Affordable Housing Fund, which will see $13 million go to developers to construct affordable housing in the city.
Ordinance sponsor Shané Darby argued in a statement the Housing Subcommittee will disband within a year, while her proposed board would be permanent.
“By passing the Affordable Housing Trust, City Council is addressing a real need in Wilmington— affordable housing,” Darby said. “Our current budget is a start to that, but we need a fund that creates long-term affordable units and that directly addresses homelessness. Mayor Carney’s veto just undid that. I believe that Council has a responsibility to override that decision.”
Carney also said the trust lacks a funding mechanism. Deputy Chief of Staff Daniel Walker added his office is always willing to work with Council to provide assistance as they develop new policies.
“It's unfortunate that this one was put forth without a clearly thought out funding mechanism, and it does not address the urgency, which is putting more housing units into production that are affordable for Wilmington and people looking to relocate into Wilmington,” Walker said.
Councilmember Coby Owens said he thinks he would vote to override the mayor’s veto.
“You want to create a program, create a framework before you put the funding into it,” Owens said. “And that's what this does, right? It gives us an opportunity to say, ‘okay, this is the framework that we agreed upon as a city.’ And then we can start having negotiations for the upcoming budget cycle.”
Owens added he believes long-term investment is necessary to address housing affordability in Wilmington. He thinks the trust would act as a flexible means to address the issue and accelerate solutions.
