District 3 Supervisor, Simon Salinas said, “Monterey County is applying for $16 million and Salinas (City) is applying for $4 million dollars through federal grant.”
This grant application is the second to the Department of Housing and Urban Development by Monterey County.
Salinas said in a phone interview that the first application was for $2 million, through the state and he expects to hear back between now and next month.”
According to a press release, Monterey County is applying under “the NSP allocation for acquisition, rehabilitation and financing mechanisms to assist with the stabilization of neighborhoods impacted by foreclosures.”
Salinas said that Monterey County has been affected by the country’s recession just as much as any other city or county.
“Monterey County has the reputation of being one of the most expensive places to live in the country,” Salinas said. “When recession hit, it affected areas of Monterey County.”
Salinas said that he wants to be able to compete for the same grants that other large cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago apply for.
The Neighborhood Stabilization Program would turn the foreclosures throughout the cities in Monterey County into a positive, by possibly making them into low-income housing.
Salinas said, “Our goal is to purchase some of those homes so people could become home owners.”
Louis Dettorre can be reached at ldettorre@publicceo.com