Maybe it was the sales pitch by Baltimore County officials, or perhaps housing office administrator Lois Cramer's calm command of the facts. But Section 8 federally subsidized housing seems to have passed County Council muster.
The good feelings toward a federal program marked a change for this council. Since the November election put five new faces on the seven-member council, federal money once routinely accepted in procedural votes has had opposition.
Last month, for example, three of the new members opposed accepting nearly $1 million in federal housing subsidies to help AIDS victims threatened with homelessness. The council approved the money by a one-vote margin.
Councilman T. Bryan McIntire, a Republican who represents the north county, consistently has questioned the morality of voting for federal money for programs the county would not initiate.
The blunt Section 8 sales pitch that ap
pears to have swayed the council was delivered at a briefing last Tuesday by County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger III's administration liaison, Patrick Roddy.
Baltimore County has long opposed public housing and has no housing projects. Low-income residents have depended on the federal Section 8 program, which provides subsidies to renters of private apartments and homes.
Mr. Roddy said more than 3,200 units of Section 8 housing now in the county will remain there "regardless of who administers" the program. "We would rather have control of something that is inevitable in Baltimore County, than not," he said. The point that should be understood, he said, is that Section 8 housing is not going away.
Without local participation, the programs would be run by federal, state or private workers, county officials explained. About 9,600 families are on the county's Section 8 waiting list.
Ms. Cramer said people with hardships get preference in what otherwise could be a wait of two to three years.
6* She explained the federally funded pro
grams she administers, answered questions and addressed a complaint about one beneficiary of the Section 8 program raised by Democratic Councilman Louis L. DePazzo, a former delegate whose councilmanic primary campaign last year centered on his opposition to a federal housing program known as Moving to Opportunity.
He complained about a mother in subsidized housing who locks her children outside while she entertains men, adding, "A situation like that I don't want in my neighborhood."
Ms. Cramer said her office had stopped paying the woman's rent, had moved to terminate the lease because of the poor condition of the apartment and had called child protective services to investigate treatment of the youngsters. The woman also owes the county Section 8 office $500 and cannot be certified for another unit until she pays.
"I'm pleased to hear that, Lois; I'm delighted," Mr. DePazzo said. "That's why we need orphanages. Parents are irresponsible."
Mr. DePazzo said afterward that he was pleased by the thorough briefing. "We have to keep an open mind," he said.