Organizational Ethic
Stephen Gray
ETH/316
October 26, 2015
Tammy Walker
The organization I have investigated is my own. I work for a local housing authority. In my thirty year working life, spent mostly on banking and finance, this has been, by far, the most ethical field I have worked in. I do believe this is due, in part, because we are not profit driven.
Because of the nature of our work, however, others may not have the same ethical view of my industry.
The largest share of our revenue comes from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD. Some agencies, such as mine, also have a significant portfolio of market rate housing that provides significant cash reserves. These reserves can be used to purchase or build affordable housing units.
The ethical questions come into play in three aspects of this industry:
1) A lot of Conservatives do not believe that the United States, operating through HUD, has the moral responsibility to provide housing to able bodied citizens and recent immigrants.
2) Some voucher holders, in spite of auditing practices and due diligence of the agency, cheat.
3) In an effort to maximize numbers of affordable units, agencies have sold or traded prime properties to developers for perhaps less than prime properties
Social pressures affect agencies by making them more cognizant of the dynamics working around them. When my agency builds new housing, we go overboard when it comes to building “green”. Our most recent project, Kirkland Avenue Townhomes is an example of extreme green. We wanted the carbon footprint of this project to be negligible. There were less expensive methods we could have chosen, but being extra green helped us politically.
Additionally, the manner in which these unites were manufactured took into consideration the impact of our neighbors. We could rationalize our actions to ourselves because we were providing low income, extremely energy efficient housing units. Had we done this the traditional way, the impact to the area residents would have been tremendous. We recognized the situation we were putting our neighbors in and made the judgement on how to proceed. Deciding to do what was right, having the units built in a climate controlled factory in Idaho and put together like Lego’s in a fraction of the time as ordinary stick built, was huge for the neighborhood.
Our voucher holders as well as subsidized housing residents, provide ethical challenges to us on a daily basis. Frequently, one of our residents wants to add a homeless friend or relative to their household. We rarely grant such request because we have the fiduciary responsibility of the taxpayers to responsibly use the funding provided us. It does create a moral and ethical dilemma for us. How does one live with telling a mother she cannot add her homeless daughter and grandchild to her household and get them out of their car?
Our morals and ethics are challenged every time we take a voucher from a mother for breaking the rules. This week, someone will be physically removed from one of our properties and may not have anywhere to go.
We are currently involved in the process of “relocating” one hundred plus families that have called the Renton Highlands their home for a long time. The euphemistic term “relocating”, is nice speak for “move them.” These were WW2 housing units and were functionally obsolescent, but it was home to a lot of folks.
To help with financing of the replacement housing, parts of the multi acre parcel was sold to developers. They in turn, will be building mixed use buildings with market rate housing. Some of our replacement housing will be located outside the Highlands.
When working of a government agency, fortunately or unfortunately, legal wins, even though the ethical option would be the moral option. Medicinal marijuana for folks in the final season of life may make it just a little more bearable, but doing so will currently cost you your housing in a federally subsidized housing unit.
References Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues, Ninth edition, Vincent Ryan Ruggiero 