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2A NEWS/Xlit Ctailotte $oat Thursday, May 20, 2004 Caucus chair focuses ou polidcs Continued from page 1A eral shocks in recent years. Last year, a struggle between Collins and Charles Williams for the vacant chairman’s position cre ated a leader ship vacuum that McCain’s election finally resolved, Obiorah credited McCain McCain, who didn’t seek re- election, with providing sta bility at a critical time. “Most of the disarray has come from disagreements on personalities and individu als,” Obiorah said. “We agree on the mission. We want to work on the electoral process.” Another major blow was delivered last month by the state Board of Elections, which fined the BPC for repeated violations of state campaign contribution laws. The board found the BPC diverted money from its gen eral fund for pohtical purpos es and accepted excess con tributions from a PAC. It also accepted more than $20,000 from N.C, Rep, Pete Cunningham, which exceeds the $,000 limit per election cycle. Obiorah said BPC officials will undergo training ses sions on election law as part of the state’s judgment. Although the caucus lost its general fund account for two Voting emphasized in ‘04 years and its abihfy to raise money fi'om past contribu tors such as churches for community programs, its course as a political action committee was left intact. “I think it will allow us to focus more on the political,” Obiorah said. “We have all the leeway we want to do all the pohtical activity we want in this city. We can be pohti cal ah the time.” Obiorah serves with sever al local organizations, including vice president of the Charlotte Business League and Charlotte- MecklenbmgABC board. Essy\)/ills Salon S{ Spa Llair Care/Pesign • NaiL Care • Liassage facial iikin Care • &i7dyWrap C^ift Certificate • C>peciaLty C>hap 4915 Ivlenree IZaad • CharLette, fIC Ph: 7P4566.4664 fax 704.566.4727 $65. 00 • Manicure • Pedicure • Massage • Offer good with this coupon. Expires 7/02/04 Continued from page 1A she looks. “We sometimes vote for people because they have on a nice suit. We have to evolve as to how we give people our vote,” he said. Collins said part of the NAACP and the other orga nizations plan is to tell the community what issues are effecting African Americans the most so that they whl be able to question candidates before heading to the polls this July. “We want people in office that wiU insrire affordable health care. On a county level we want to look at how funds are distributed to schools, especially center city schools,” he said. Other issues hke HIV and AIDS are also important in the black community, Collins said and candidates should address these issues before Fewer low- and moderate-income American families buying homes Continued from page 1A before 1980. “Larger homes tend to be more expensive, and any new supply created tends to be geared toward higher- income people,” said Barbara Lipman, the center’s research director. The report said 68 percent of all U.S. households were owned in 2001, up from 65.2 percent in 1978. However, the homeovmership rate for families with children was 68.4 per cent in 2001, down from 70.5 percent 23 years earlier. The rate for working families with children was 56.6 per cent, down from 62.5 percent. “Working families” meant those in which members work the equivalent of a full-time job and earn between the full-time minimum wage of $10,712 a year and up to 120 percent of an area’s median income. Since the study only dealt with data up to 2001, it was impossible to connect how the rise in mortgage rates this year would affect homeownership, said economist David Crowe of the National Association of Home Builders. “In and of itself that would make it more difficult for people of modest means tb get into homeownership,” Crowe said. “We’re hoping from a macro sense that an improving econo my should counter the increase in interest rates, at least for the next year or so.” Mortgage rates were in the high teens in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but have generally declined since then. Last year, rates hit their lowest level in nearly four decades, but they have inched back up over the last two months. Homeownership rates for working families in 2001 were up somewhat since 1991, but stiff lower than 1978, suggesting that rising housing costs and a lack of affordable stock may be more important factors, Lipman said. The median sales price of a new home in 1978 was $55,700, about four times the $14,258 median income of a working family with kids, according to census data cited by the group. The median new home in 2001 cost $175,000 - five times the median income of $35,000. Homeownership rates among families with kids may be affected in part by the increase of more single-parent families today than two decades ago, researchers said. Single-parent homes generally have lower incomes than two-parent homes. However, homeovmership rates also declined for those working famffies with Idds in which two or more people worked, the study found. The most recent government data available shows the national homeownership rate at an all-time high of 68.6 per cent for the first three months of 2004. President Bush has credited the surge to both low interest rates and the tax cuts he pushed through Congress in 2001 and 2003. The Center for Housing Pohcy is the nonprofit research affiliate of the National Housing Conference coalition. Comad Egan, the conference president, praised other Bush propos als, including a homeownership tax credit and an initiative that proposes to let first-time home buyers take out govern ment-insured loans without making a down payment. But he said government must do more to encourage con struction of more affordable housing through zoning regula tions. More businesses could offer programs to help employ ees buy their homes, and both public and private groups could offer more homeownership and credit counseling to prepare families for buying homes, Egan said. Cities also have enacted more regulatory barriers that make it tougher for builders to build more affordable homes, Crowe said. The report was funded by the Chicago Dwellings Association, a nonprofit developer of low- and moderate- income homes. Homeownership rates by region for working famffies with children between 1978 and 2001, according to an analysis of data from the government’s American Housing Survey by the Center for Housing Policy. “Working families” are defined as households earning less than 120 percent of the local median income but more than the full-time equivalent of the mini mum wage ($10,712). On the Net- Center for Homing Policy: WH-H-.nhc.org/chp.hpn blacks support them. Another part of the voter education process, Collins said, is stressing the Impor tance of early voting. Through the early voting process, people can go to the board of elections or other sites, such as pubhc libraries to vote before the July 20 primary election. Martha Crawford, Dr. Irving Williams, Gloria Williams Irving Williams. 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