Elkhorn looks at Keystone lawsuit, cringes

Omaha annexed the Keystone area in the 1960's. It has been a rocky marriage ever since. Just today, a bitter controversy that saw the Omaha Housing Authority trying to push low-income housing (we used to call them 'projects') into an unwilling neighborhood was voted on by a divided City Council. KPTM Channel 42 News has the story here.

Section 8 housing in Omaha is a fiasco due to their mismanagement and 'ram it down your throat' tactics. The Keystone folks aren't just a bunch of selfish rich snobs shouting NIMBY. They have legitimate concerns. Mayor Fahey has tried to act as a go-between, but he is ineffective bacause he believes in the fraud that is Public Housing. The solid patches on this map are Section 8 locations.



Western Douglas County, (that part of the county not already Omaha) has its own Housing Authority, the DCHA which has less than 1,00 families living in Section 8 housing. The people of Elkhorn, the Douglas County town that has staved off annexation by Omaha for a while, this is an indication of things to come.

Elkhornians must add the prospect of the OHA suing to put 'projects' in their back yards to the already long list of good reasons, (e.g. slow police and rescue response times, lousy trash hauling service, snow removal delays, onerous taxes, rules and regulations, etc.) for not becoming part of the Istanbul of Eastern Nebraska.

Update from WOWT News, OHA prevails over property owners:

After a nearly three-year battle, a controversial housing project is once again moving forward. The Omaha City Council has approved construction of a group of low-income homes in the Keystone neighborhood. It's a victory for the Omaha Housing Authority but a disappointing loss for many of the Keystone residents.

I always knew the individual was helpless as against the state, now it seems neighborhood associations are as well.