Letter - Why sue the Douglas County HRA?

To the editor:

I’m writing this in regard to the recent Echo Press article, “Two tenants sue the county to keep rent lower.” This article and whole situation really bothers me. Why on earth did they sue Douglas County Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA)? I just don’t understand what their motivation was. The increase was only $62 per month!

It makes me sad that they couldn’t just be grateful for being on the program. They are already getting reduced rent to begin with. Some get hundreds of dollars a month paid by HRA already and now they want more. Many people try so hard to get on this program, people who truly need it more than some, and they are put on a very long waiting list because the funding just isn’t available.

The small increase was going to help the budget so much so that HRA could help more families. People seem to want to get greedy and start expecting more people to help in their situations. I have a suggestion for all who thought the increase was too high – “get off your butt and get a job or pick up a few more hours at your current job.” I’m not at all pointing fingers at anyone but I know for a fact that about 20 to 30 percent of people on the program don’t report every dollar that they make monthly. Also, I’m more than sure that a very high percentage abuse the program.

This program was developed to help people get on their feet during rough times – not for people to live off of like a leech and get greedy. More people in the community need to stop looking for the next free handout and worry more about getting their lives stable so that they aren’t on welfare programs the rest of their lives.

Jessica Skogberg

Alexandria, MN

Tags: opinion, letter, skogberg