City of Monroe, LA

Earlier today in Baton Rouge, State Representative Katrina Jackson and Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo met with Governor John Bel Edwards to discuss the important need for Disaster Recovery Dollars to assist Monroe, Ouachita Parish and northeast Louisiana residents.  They were joined in this meeting by Keith Cunningham, Executive Director of the Louisiana Housing Corporation and Buddy Spillers, Chairman of the Board of the Louisiana Housing Corporation.

Mayor Jamie Mayo says “Governor Edwards is very receptive to doing all that he can to help the entire state recover from the devastating floods of March and August 2016.  Our discussion today was specifically about housing and Community Development Block Grant funds for Monroe and northeast Louisiana.  At this point, the distribution formula is not in place to determine the dollar amount of assistance Monroe will receive.  In addition to the hazard mitigation projects previously discussed, we also made the Governor fully aware of the impact the flood has had on area housing.”

Mayor Mayo and Representative Jackson also shared with Governor Edwards a housing proposal from the Monroe Housing Authority.  In the proposal, the MHA is requesting $75 million dollars in Disaster CDBG funds and 300 additional housing choice vouchers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  The state of Louisiana must spend at least 70% of the CDBG funds it receives on low to moderate income housing.  Some of the Monroe neighborhoods that suffered significant flood damage have a high concentration of low to moderate income families.