Aug 29, 2006

HUD, media victims of hoax housing promise

By MICHELLE MILHOLLON
Capitol News Bureau
Published: Aug 29, 2006

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Hoaxers posing as federal officials told the news media Monday that billions would be spent to reopen public housing in New Orleans.

The hoax went so far as to have U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson apologize for failing to provide affordable housing in the hurricane-damaged city.

According to the statement, $3.8 billion would be spent on renovations and “opportunity-creation contracts.”

HUD denounced the hoax, saying it is redeveloping public housing into better, safer neighborhoods.

Less than 50 percent of the public housing units occupied before the storm have reopened for tenants, HUD has said.

HUD, which manages public housing in New Orleans, wants to demolish housing projects that were heavily damaged and shift to mixed-income developments.

Those plans have created bitterness within the community.

Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, called it a sin that so much public housing remains closed.

“The best way to fight crime is to have people in the city,” he told the Press Club of Baton Rouge.

In a statement, HUD publicly scolded the hoaxers.

“It is terribly sad that someone would perpetuate such a cruel hoax and play on the fears and anxieties of families who are desperate to return to their homes,” HUD said in the statement.

HUD officials said they are not certain who is behind the hoax.

“We have very little information since it didn’t come from us,” said Brian Sullivan, a spokesman for the federal agency.

Media outlets identified the hoaxers as Yes Men, an organization that specializes in impersonating movers and shakers.

Usually, the group’s assertions are satirical, such as urging George W. Bush supporters to sign a pledge promising to send their children to war. For that prank, Yes Men set up a Web site, http://www.gwbush.com, and called itself “Yes, Bush Can!”

The New Orleans spoof included a news conference in which the hoaxers claimed to work for HUD and a Web site that mimics the Housing Authority of New Orleans’ Web site.

On the fake Web site, there is a speech, supposedly delivered by Jackson, in which he appears to fall on the sword.

“For the past year, as various interests have battled it out for this city, we at HUD have often ended up on the wrong side of that battle, forgetting our charter and making decisions that cheat both contractors and ourselves of the chance to make a big difference,” Jackson is quoted as saying in the bogus statement.

Story originally published in The Advocate