Even as Elgin officials vigorously rebutted a federal report that accuses them of housing discrimination against Hispanics, talks aimed at reaching a resolution to the dispute have continued.
“Discrimination of any form is not tolerated by the city,” City Manager Joyce Parker said as Elgin officials released their 59-page response to the federal report.
Parker said she hoped that the city’s rebuttal would sway the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development into dropping the matter. But HUD officials in Washington quickly rejected that notion and said they will press the complaint.
The government insisted that Elgin’s enforcement of its housing code unfairly targeted Hispanics, who make up a substantial portion of the city’s population.
“Nothing in the city’s response today eliminates this concern,” HUD officials said in a statement. “The fact remains that Elgin has not done enough.”
HUD said it is negotiating with the city for “an agreement to provide additional measures to protect Hispanic residents of Elgin against illegal housing discrimination” before an Oct. 24 deadline.
The Elgin City Council would have another 30 days to ratify an agreement, but if the negotiations break down, HUD likely would ask the U.S. Justice Department to sue Elgin.
The government says Elgin inspectors violated the Fair Housing Act in their aggressive efforts to stop Hispanic families from living in homes more crowded than the Elgin occupancy code allows.
City officials respond that the controversial home inspections–which occur as early as 4:30 a.m.–are carried out to ensure safe housing and to preserve neighborhoods.
In August, HUD reported evidence of Elgin housing inspectors discriminating against the city’s rapidly growing Latino population. HUD said the city treated Hispanics more harshly than non-Hispanics, violating a September 1999 accord in which Elgin promised to treat Hispanics fairly.
Parker said HUD overlooked evidence that exonerates Elgin. A thick binder compiled by city officials was offered as proof that the government charges are off base.
“The city is not in violation of the conciliation agreement or the Fair Housing Act,” Parker said. “If anyone has actually been violated, the city and the community have been violated.”
The city is bracing for what could be a long and costly battle against the bias charges. Elgin quietly retained a powerful and high-priced law firm from Chicago in anticipation of a Justice Department lawsuit. Lawyers from the firm of Seyfarth Shaw accompanied city officials to meetings with HUD regulators during the last two months.
Although Elgin officials voiced surprise when HUD leveled its allegations Aug. 1, the city already had begun to search for a law firm to defend Elgin against a federal lawsuit.
In early July, Seyfarth Shaw responded to Elgin’s request for a law firm “to represent the city in a potential lawsuit brought by the federal government.”
The City Council agreed to hire the firm at a pretrial hourly rate of $260. Trial work would cost the city $285 per hour.
Jeffrey Ross, the Seyfarth Shaw lawyer working closest with Elgin, was Waukegan’s lead defense attorney against a Justice Department lawsuit filed on behalf of Hispanics. In 1997, Waukegan agreed to pay $200,000 to settle the housing discrimination case.
While preparing its response to the federal allegations, the city has worked to rehabilitate its image in the wake of the federal government report.
The latest edition of the city newsletter was published in Spanish and English and is devoted to explaining city code-enforcement procedures, promoting events such as Fiesta Salsa and publishing photos of the city’s minority outreach workers.
Holding up a copy of the newsletter at the end of the news conference, Parker said, “This really indicates the city’s commitment to diversity.”
