Cisneros Urges Grass Roots Change in Govt.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Henry G. Cisneros told a crowd of about 250 yesterday that community change can only come about through a marriage of government and grass roots initiatives.

Speaking on the 30th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy '40, Cisneros told the assembled audience "[Kennedy's] legacy was not a legacy of despair."

Cisneros said Kennedy's life and death instead taught us "that people do make a difference."

The belief that individuals can make a difference is inherent, Cisneros said, in his goals for HUD.

"This notion that we as individuals can change things is an article of faith at the Department of Housing and urban Development, and it is a hallmark of President Clinton's administration," he said.

He cited the pieces of his HUD strategy which are already in place as examples of the government's focus on the individual: the expansion of the earned-income tax credit, an extension of low income housing credits, the establishment of the national service program, the expansion of Head Start, a strengthened Community Reinvestment Act and expanded job-training initiatives.

The Clinton administration will have the "greatest record of legislative accomplishment in the first year of presidency in 40 years," Cisneros said, pointing out the Administration's proposals for welfare reform, national health care reform and community development banks.

He said the banks will provide targeted andtechnical assistance for jobs and housing ineconomically distressed communities.

But Cisneros said government alone cannoteffect change. "Government cannot actually solvethese [urban] communities' many problems," hesaid. "The people in communities must do it."

"[People] don't effect change by themselves.They do it when they are drawn by common interestsand common ends. They do it in community,"Cisneros said.

In an attempt to blend community needs withHUD's resources, Cisneros said he has givenpriority to five initiatives: a"continuum-of-care" approach to homelessness,helping people move from lives of transiency andemergency shelter to permanent housing, workingwith public housing residents to help them gaincontrol over their communities and takingaggressive action to crack down on crime in publicand HUD-assisted housing.

"We must demolish the barriers ofdiscrimination that have trapped people in pocketsof poverty," said Cisneros. "People who are lockedinto difficult situations by forces they cannotcontrol cannot empower themselves."

Cisneros criticized past political leadershipwhich "saw fit to exploit the disappointment[following Kennedy's assassination] as a pathwayto our nation's highest public offices."

This alienation, said Cisneros has "left usnearly bereft of the ability and will to cometogether to use the great lever that can begovernment--which belongs to all of us--to effectchange.

He said the banks will provide targeted andtechnical assistance for jobs and housing ineconomically distressed communities.

But Cisneros said government alone cannoteffect change. "Government cannot actually solvethese [urban] communities' many problems," hesaid. "The people in communities must do it."

"[People] don't effect change by themselves.They do it when they are drawn by common interestsand common ends. They do it in community,"Cisneros said.

In an attempt to blend community needs withHUD's resources, Cisneros said he has givenpriority to five initiatives: a"continuum-of-care" approach to homelessness,helping people move from lives of transiency andemergency shelter to permanent housing, workingwith public housing residents to help them gaincontrol over their communities and takingaggressive action to crack down on crime in publicand HUD-assisted housing.

"We must demolish the barriers ofdiscrimination that have trapped people in pocketsof poverty," said Cisneros. "People who are lockedinto difficult situations by forces they cannotcontrol cannot empower themselves."

Cisneros criticized past political leadershipwhich "saw fit to exploit the disappointment[following Kennedy's assassination] as a pathwayto our nation's highest public offices."

This alienation, said Cisneros has "left usnearly bereft of the ability and will to cometogether to use the great lever that can begovernment--which belongs to all of us--to effectchange.