Duluth City Council Approves Resolution for HAC Funding

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In a unanimous vote of approval Tuesday, the Duluth City Council passed a resolution to allocate $40,000 to help re-launch the Housing Access Center.

It’s a non-profit that will help mediate conflicts between tenants and landlords before they end up in court in a costly way.

The Duluth Housing Access Center closed in 2009 when federal funding for the project dried up.

A press conference was held at Duluth City Hall Tuesday to give supporters a chance to speak out in favor of funding the facility.

One of those speakers was Duluth councilor Barb Russ who believes the city would be making a wise investment by backing the HAC.

“For the past year I’ve worked with all these various organizations to see what the city could do to reopen that Housing Access Center. It really does provide a very important service,” said Russ.

Nearly 40 percent of housing in Duluth is renter occupied.

Because of this, conflicts with landlords lead to nearly 500 legal actions in the city each year.

The HAC would seek to reduce the number of conflicts through education and mediation.

“A revitalized Housing Access Center will provide education, information, and problem solving assistance to improve tenant and landlord relations-and keep evictions from happening,” said Sarah Priest, chair of the Affordable Housing Coalition.

Rental tenant Gary Fuerstenberg also spoke out in favor of the city funding the HAC.

Fuerstenberg explained how the previous facility had helped him solve a dispute with a landlord.

“I asked the Housing Access Center to mediate the problem. The Housing Access Center mediated a solution that was both equitable to the landlord and myself and thus deescalated a fight that was going to happen in court,” said Fuestenberg.

The city’s contribution of $40,000 in funding would be added to a donation of $25,000 the HAC will receive from St. Louis County and $20,000 from the Federal Housing Authority.

The rest of the Housing Access Center’s $100,000 budget will be raised from non-governmental donations.

The City Council also announced Tuesday an additional $20,000 of support from the Housing Redevelopment Authority.