With Salisbury's Jake Day confirmed for cabinet, what’s next for housing statewide?
Former Salisbury Mayor Jake Day received unanimous confirmation from the Senate on Friday to become the state’s next Secretary of Housing and Community Development.
With a statewide housing shortage of 120,000 units, Maryland’s USA TODAY Network reporter spoke to Day after his Senate Executive Nominations hearing on Feb. 13 on what he’d like to accomplish in the new role.
“We need to focus a lot more attention on homelessness very soon,” Day said. “That’s going to be more than a one budget year, one fiscal year problem, so that’s going to be a long approach to shift resources.”
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The most recent statistics from the National Alliance to End Homelessness showed 6,360 people homeless on a given night in Maryland. The state’s rate of homelessness has been cut by about half since 2009, according to the D.C.-based nonprofit organization.
The Lower Shore counties of Somerset, Worcester, and Wicomico (where Day’s a native), had a rate higher than the state average with 310 people homeless on a given night. Those numbers were higher in rate and raw numbers than both the Mid-Shore counties and Frederick County, the state’s fourth most western jurisdiction.
Mark Sewell of the Homeless Coalition told the Washington County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly in December there were 216 people who were homeless in Washington County. He noted then the county’s emergency rental assistance program funds are running out.
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Emergency rental assistance program funds ending soon
Day called the emergency rental assistance program funds coming to an end in the spring a “medium-term” challenge for the state. The funds were part of federal relief passed in 2021.
Julie Peters, chief communications officer at the Salisbury-based program SHORE UP Inc., said the organization stopped accepting emergency rental assistance applications in the early fall, but reopened the application from Dec. 5 to 22 after learning Wicomico County had between $1 million and $2 million in funds remaining.
“In that time we received over 900 applications, which we are still attempting to process,” said Peters, in an email. “That is at least three times more than what we typically received in the past.”
Jamie Miliman, supervising attorney at Maryland Legal Aid, said more than 400 people in Wicomico County were facing eviction for failure to pay rent at the end of last month and similar numbers are expected on the docket for next week.
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In Washington County, in the state’s western part, about $3 million in emergency rental assistance program, or ERAP, funds remain.
“We are continuing to spend ERAP funding at a significant rate,” said Geordie Newman, president and CEO of the Washington County Community Action Council, which distributes the funds, in an email. “Currently we are spending between $700,000-$800,000 a month, so these funds will be fully expended by this summer.”
Newman said his organization is telling clients that the funding will not be available soon and to “plan accordingly,” noting ample employment opportunities available in the Hagerstown area.
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‘Supply is needed right now,’ Maryland’s new housing secretary says
A January housing report from the Maryland Realtors showed the price of a home has actually dropped in Washington County by about $25,000 since last year, the third largest drop in the state. Still, Newman sees a need for additional affordable housing in the area.
“There is a shortage of available housing in Hagerstown in general and especially in the low to moderate income range,” said Newman, noting he wasn’t referring to public housing that has a significant waitlist.
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The now-secretary sees a similar need nationally and statewide.
Noting a national housing shortfall, he said: “America has a problem.” The country has a shortage of about 5.5 million units, according to a report from National Association of Realtors.
“Supply is needed right now,” Day said. “We are very good at putting resources on the street and turning tax dollars into affordable housing.”
“I plan on working very hard to get those dollars out on the street,” he said.
Day, along with Serena McIlwain of the Department of Environment, Paul Wiedefeld of the Department of Transportation, Rebecca Flora of the Department of Planning, Carolyn Scruggs of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Atif Chaudhry of the Department of General Services and Rafael López of the Department of Human Services, received votes from all 43 senators present in the chamber on Friday for unanimous confirmation.
Republican Sen. Jeff Hershey, R-Upper Shore, requested that action on the nomination of secretary of Vincent Schiraldi to lead the department of juvenile services be delayed until Tuesday.
Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Jake Day wins unanimous confirmation, talks about housing goals
