The Battalion
Thursday, January 17,1991
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Housing for poor scarce
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Affor
dable housing is so scarce in San An
tonio that significant numbers of
renters who are poor can be consid
ered near homeless or at risk of
homelessness, a study said Wednes
day.
The chairman of the House Bank
ing Committee, which has jurisdic
tion over housing ^ssues, said the
study is more evidence of a national
housing crisis that wiij^ lead even
tually to social disturbances.
Using government data, the Cen
ter on Budget and Policy Priorities
said its study found housing costs in
the San Antonio area are out of the
affordable range for most poor
households.
Many households spend very
large proportions of their limited in
comes for housing, and a substantial
number of the impoverished in San
Antonio occupy poor quality hous
ing, said the report by the non-profit
research organization.
Substandard and overcrowded
housing is much more prevalent in
San Antonio than in the nation as a
whole, the study said, and govern
ment assistance to provide decent
Attorney pleas
guilty, receives
7-year sentence
HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston
attorney has been sentenced to seven
years probation after pleading guilty
to theft in connection with more
than $200,000 he oversaw for an
adolescent alcohol and drug abuse
center.
Thomas Nation, 51, pleaded
guilty earlier this month to six
counts of theft.
In addition to the probation, Na
tion also was ordered to pay a $2,000
fine, serve 300 hours of community
service, pay $205,000 in restitution,
submit to urine tests and attend
counseling for a gambling problem.
Nation was accused of misappro
priating the funds while a principal
for the Bissonnet Treatment Center
Ltd., which owns Five Oaks Resi
dential Treatment Center for trou
bled adolescents.
Under the plea bargain arrange
ment, state prosecutors agreed not
seek an indictment against Nation
for his connection to the WIN prop
erty troubles.
and affordable housing reaches only
a small fraction of those in need.
Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, a San
Antonio Democrat and chairman of
the House Banking Committee, said
the study is more proof that the de
mand for affordable housing is far
outpacing the supply.
“There is a very, very serious
housing crisis in this country ... that
sooner or later will be reflected in so
cial disturbances,” said Gonzalez,
who is also chairman of the Banking
Committee’s subcommittee on hous
ing.
“For poor households in the San
Antonio area, affordable housing
has become something of a rare
privilege,” said Edward Lazere, co
author of the report. “High housing
costs have left poor renters and
homeowners with little income for
other basic needs. After paying the
rent or mortgage and utility bills,
there is simply not enough money
left over for such necessities as food,
clothing and medical care.”
The lack of affordable housing is
especially significant for the San An
tonio area, one of the poorest metro
politan areas in the country, the cen
ter said. Should the national
recession hit San Antonio, Lazere
said, the housing crisis will likely get
worse.
“If the economy deteriorates fur
ther, layoffs will curtail family in
comes while housing costs remain
relatively constant,” he said. “As a
result, competition for affordable
low-income housing will become
even more intense.”
According to the study, 76 per
cent of poor renters and 58 percent
of poor homeowners in Bexar, Gua
dalupe and Comal counties spent
more than 30 percent of their in
come on housing costs — rent and
utilities.
Housing costs are considered af
fordable by the Department of
Housing and Urban Development if
they consume no more than 30 per
cent of household income.
pe
cent of households spent at least naif
their income on housing in 1986 and
31 percent spent at least 70 percent
on housing.
Conviction overturned
in speech interruption
AUSTIN (AP) — The Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals has re
versed the conviction of a man who
interrupted a speech by the Rev.
Jesse Jackson to a Dallas audience.
The man, Gardell Anthony More-
head, had been convicted of a Class
B misdemeanor of disrupting a law
ful meeting. He was sentenced to
probation and fined $250.
On a 6-2 vote, the court Wednes
day returned the case to the trial
court for possible further action
based on the court’s ruling.
According to court records, More-
head was in the audience on Aug. 6,
1985, when Jackson spoke to a na
tional convention of a sorority at the
Dallas Convention Center. Jackson
showed a film and began his speech.
“There was no question-and-an-
swer period, and the audience of ap
proximately 6,500 persons was not
expected to participate except by lis
tening,” the court ruling said.
About halfway through the
speech, the court said, Morehead
rose from his seat, began walking to
ward the podium and shouted at
Jackson. He was taken from the au
ditorium by two police officers.
Morehead appealed, arguing that
the state law under which he was ar
rested — prohibiting disruption of a
lawful meeting or gathering — was
too broad under free speech guar
antees of the U.S. Constitution.
“The evident purpose of (the stat
ute) is to protect the freedom of per
sons at meetings to speak and to lis
ten ... We have no doubt that the
state has a legitimate, even compel
ling, interest m ensuring that some
individuals’ unruly assertion of their
rights of free expression does not
imperil other citizens’ First Amend
ment freedoms,” said the majority
opinion written by Judge Charles
Campbell.
“Still, in the pursuit of this inter
est, the government may not forbid
expressive conduct that is merely
provocative,” he wrote.
or challenging and that does not cur
tail the exercise of others’ rights,” he
Wrote.