Gulf Coast housing advocates filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the federal government’s decision to allow Mississippi to divert $600 million in Hurricane Katrina recovery funds to expand the Port of Gulfport.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., by the Mississippi State Conference NAACP, the Gulf Coast Fair Housing Center and several Katrina victims, said the killer storm that swept the Gulf Coast in 2005 “had a disproportionate impact on Mississippi’s affordable housing.” It also said Gov. Haley Barbour has not done enough to replace damaged low-income rental property or public housing units.
The suit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development is trying to stop Barbour’s plan to use about $600 million in Community Development Block Grants to expand and improve the Port of Gulfport. It said HUD improperly allowed Mississippi to divert recovery money to the port project.
HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.
Magnolia Tribune
