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Gale Cincotta, “Mother Of Community Reinvestment Act,” Passes Away

Gale Cincotta, a fierce neighborhood activist and co-founder of National People’s Action (NPA), passed away August 15th. She was 72.

NPA was founded at a national conference of neighborhood leaders called by Cincotta and organizer Shel Trapp in 1972. “Gale set the tone of the meetings,” recalled Lew Finfer, now of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization. “She motioned some leaders to stand in front of the exit door until one federal official gave them a clear commitment.”

Cincotta’s leadership led to the passage of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) in 1975 and the Community Reinvestment Act in 1977. Senator William Proxmire (D-WI) said that HMDA “would never have become a law but for the research and local organizing activity undertaken by NPA.”

More recently, Cincotta and the NPA negotiated for the development and implementation of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Credit Watch and the Homebuyers Protection Plan in 1999, and worked with national insurance companies to get them to invest in low- and moderate-income communities. Cincotta founded the Illinois Coalition against Predatory Home Loans, which pressed the City of Chicago to pass the country’s first anti-predatory lending ordinance and led the state of Illinois to follow suit.

“She was both a pioneer and a passionate advocate who made significant contributions to the community development field,” said Local Initiatives Support Corporation President and CEO Michael Rubinger. “She helped to define neighborhood-based activism across the country.”

“The poet Thomas McGrath has a poem with a line that reads, ‘Blessed be the fighters,’” said Finfer. “Well then, ‘Blessed be Gale,’ for she was a tremendous fighter, and she inspired others to fight too.”

Cincotta is survived by five sons, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

John DiIulio, director of the new White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, resigned from the position August 17th, citing health reasons. DiIulio originally committed to serving only six months, hoping that the administration’s faith-based initiative would be enacted by Congress during that time. Instead, the initiative encountered difficulties and is being rewritten by Senate Democrats. A watered-down version of Bush’s proposal cleared the House. Along the way, DiIulio, a registered Democrat, sparred with religious conservatives and Bush political advisers.

Donald Whitehead is the new executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). Whitehead, a former executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless, is the first African-American and first formerly homeless person to head the coalition staff. He previously served as a program supervisor at Goodwill Industries in Cincinnati and as NCH board chair.

David M. Scheck is the new executive director for the New Jersey Community Loan Fund. Scheck is the former director of finance at the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, and has also worked as community development lender with PNC Bank.

Jim Drake, a leader with the Industrial Areas Foundation, passed away on September 3rd. Drake worked with the IAF to develop Nehemiah housing in the South Bronx and Boston. He also worked with Cesar Chavez at the founding of the United Farm Workers Union.
Organizations & Initiatives The Seattle City Council has approved a plan to require developers who want to build bigger than city zoning currently allows to contribute to a new city housing fund at a rate of $22 for every square foot of development above various zoning thresholds. Of that, $18.75 would go to housing, and $3.25 would go to child-care projects. (Seattle Times, 7/24/01)

Illinois Governor George Ryan has signed the $26 million Illinois Affordable Housing Tax Credit (SB 1135). The tax credit will allow corporations and individuals to receive a $.50 credit toward their state income tax for every $1 in cash, land, or property donated for affordable housing creation, and leverages $13 million in foregone state revenue and $13 million in private funding. It may be used to preserve project-based Section 8 units. Kevin Jackson or Joyce Probst, Chicago Rehab Network, 312-663-3937.

Freddie Mac and McDonald’s have announced a partnership to create computer technology centers in 25 McDonald’s restaurants in the southeastern United States. The centers will offer “quick-click” access to comprehensive internet-based homeownership and credit management information, and community-based organizations will offer on-site classes in computer basics, homeownership, and money management. Freddie Mac, 703-903-3933.

Nearly $28 million for tenant participation activities is available to public housing authorities (PHAs) that receive operating subsidies from HUD. PHAs receiving subsidies are now required to use $25 per occupied unit per year for such activities, thanks to an interim rule published in March. The rule also makes it clear that the money cannot be used for resident services such as day-care programs, self-sufficiency programs, or safety and security initiatives. (Housing Law Bulletin, Volume 31, 4/01)

The Housing Trust of Santa Clara County in California has raised $20.2 million from public and private sources to fund programs ranging from homeless shelters to support for first-time home-buyers. The trust raised the money in two years without imposing new taxes or fees – a departure from the nation’s other 140 housing trusts, which rely solely on government funds and collect revenue at a much slower rate. The money will assist 5,000 families in a county where eight out of 10 families cannot afford to purchase a home. The Trust is a joint effort of Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, the Community Foundation of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County, and the county Collaborative for Housing and Homelessness. (San Jose Mercury News, 7/31/01)

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