Vouching for #OurNA: This item should make local Democrats feel even better about Gahan's public housing putsch.

More "encouragement" below for New Albany's most vulnerable -- but first, the Green Mouse has learned that the newly stuffed housing board has met ...

... and there'll be a new in-house voucher system to take the place of Section 8.

Meanwhile, Ben Carson's in charge; perhaps Carson and the mayor can do brunch and discuss their many similarities of viewpoint.

Tracking the Shadow of Public Housing Budget Cuts, by Kriston Capps (CityLab)

Anticipating billions in cuts to HUD's budget, public-housing authorities that allocate Section 8 housing vouchers are already starting to hold back.

In his first televised appearance as secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson did not address the looming $6.2 billion in cuts to housing assistance for vulnerable American families. Blame it on the friendly format: Armstrong Williams, Carson’s longtime friend and former aide, and comedian Steve Harvey lobbed him softballs.

Housing authorities aren’t banking on the limited assurances that Carson has otherwise offered. For example, he has said that the infrastructure bill on the horizon will make up for imminent budget cuts at HUD. Bracing instead for austerity, some public-housing authorities are making difficult decisions about their future financial plans.

As the Trump administration’s planned spending cuts come into greater relief, those authorities may lean into anxiety. Even before Congress takes up the question of cutting housing aid, belt-tightening by public-housing authorities could make Housing Choice Voucher program (or Section 8) vouchers harder to find.

“We see this regularly with the threat of budget cuts,” says Deborah Thrope, supervising attorney for the National Housing Law Project. “We’re in an interesting situation, because the budget hasn’t been cut yet, so we don’t know what is going to happen on a federal level. But housing authorities, in preparation for potential cuts, will often start cutting down their spending.”

Caesar prepares to Flick his Bic: "Section 8 housing doesn’t impact property values in high-income neighborhoods."

It's never a good idea to give Team Gahan the benefit of the doubt, but accepting that the usual functionaries will be vigorously touting Section 8 vouchers as the magic cure for the rampant homelessness to follow the realization of their cherished drive to demolish public housing (I know, I know -- they call themselves "Democrats"), this study is something they might be able to deploy when resettling economic refugees in Silver Hills.

Except that ranking "Democrat" and future mayoral hopeful Tiberius Severus Octavian Elagabalus Septimius Augustus Claudius Hadrian Caesar-- Protector of Fitting and Proper Scribnerian Values, Deliverer of all Downtown Datedness, Master of the Ex-Mercantile, and Guardian of the Gates -- isn't going to let that happen, is he?

Study: Section 8 housing doesn’t impact property values in high-income neighborhoods, by Caitlin Bowling (Insider Louisville)

Despite common thought, Section 8 housing does not negatively impact property values in well-off neighborhoods, according to a study by Paul Dries, a University of Louisville doctoral graduate.

People draw correlations between Section 8 housing, crime and a decline in property values. However, Dries said, that isn’t true.

Dries analyzed data from 178 census tracts in Louisville and found that property values declined in areas in which a high concentration of Section 8 housing already exists such as Newburg, West Louisville and southwest Louisville, but the introduction of Section 8 housing into higher-income neighborhoods in the East End had no effect, his study found ...