Comment on Bruce J. Katz and Margery Austin Turner's "Who should run the housing voucher program? A reform proposal": Why public housing authorities remain the best solution for running the housing voucher program

Katz and Turner propose that the Section 8 program be administered regional ly at the metropolitan level by a single organization awarded the contract through a competitive bidding process. We disagree. Local public housing au thorities have been successful in providing family housing choice and movin g families from the worst neighborhoods through the Section 8 program. The factors that inhibit mixed-income communities and family mobility, resultin g in concentration of poverty, are beyond the control of these authorities and will be affected little by a change in administration. Moreover, the ad ditional cost of these changes would decrease the number of families served and at the same time increase bureaucracy. We welcome the discussion the proposal has caused. Misperceptions exist abo ut the program, even among those close to it. True, effective program refor m can be engendered only by an honest dialogue among housing advocates, adm inistrators, and consumers, both tenants and owners.