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-ctinsider OP t1_j2a0olv wrote

Amid revelations about Connecticut's dispersal of Superstorm Sandy disaster relief funds to wealthy homeowners a decade ago and concerns about what some advocates see as a misuse of federal aid, the state's former housing commissioner says the state simply adhered to federal guidelines for administering the program.

"Connecticut followed all of the federal regulations," said Evonne Klein, who left Connecticut's housing department in 2019 and now leads the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness. "The program that Connecticut developed was based on federal guidelines, and we did not veer off."

On Tuesday, Politico revealed in a lengthy report that a portion of the federal funds intended for low-income Connecticut homeowners affected by Hurricane Sandy were distributed instead to wealthy residents, such as a Greenwich family whose house was valued at $2.6 million. Altogether, Politico reported, owners of houses worth more than $1 million received a total of $6.4 million, about 15 percent of the $44 million in total aid from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

- Casey

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[deleted] t1_j2ad1gl wrote

[deleted]

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-ctinsider OP t1_j2ad7ti wrote

I searched the subreddit before posting but couldn’t find it. My bad on that - Casey

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[deleted] t1_j2adq4f wrote

https://www.reddit.com/r/Connecticut/comments/zyahh1/this_makes_my_brain_hurt_connecticut_used/

Here you go! Disregard the flak for reposting.

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-ctinsider OP t1_j2aete9 wrote

Ah, okay! The link I shared is a follow-up with a response from the former CT housing commissioner responsible for the relief program. This was included in our story:

In a phone interview Tuesday, Evonne Klein countered that the state prioritized low-income residents, offering aid to wealthier households only when there was money left over. She added that not everyone who lives in an expensive house is necessarily wealthy.

"Folks on the upper end of the income scale were the last to receive any kind of funding," she said. "The majority of the funding went to people in lower income brackets."

Klein said HUD audited Connecticut's dispersal of funds at the time and did not raise any concerns. She also noted that Bridgeport, which saw relatively little funding from the relief program, received more than $40 million in disaster resilience funding as part of a separate grant."

Edit: In the Politico story, Klein appears shocked about some higher income folks getting aid:

“Wow. Wow,” said Evonne Klein, who oversaw the disaster aid program as Connecticut’s housing commissioner, after E&E News told her that some of the money had gone to the owner of a $5.5 million home.

-Casey

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[deleted] t1_j2afrcs wrote

Thanks for clarifying, my response was under-informed

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