THE EMPEROR

There once was a fairytale, invented and retold throughout the years - authored by Hans Christian Anderson. It was called: 'The Emperors New Clothes'.   Basically, it was a story of how this vain, rich and powerful Emperor was duped into believing that a new suit was being specially made for him of the finest threads, and woven using the rarest fabrics.... Except, there was no suit. The Emperor was told by the sneaky Weavers that only a person of astounding stupidity would not see it's beauty and style... So, after taking most of the Emperors money and 'finishing' the suit - (which of course the Emperor couldn't see, because it didn't exist);  He paraded through the town - naked. Why did he do this? Because he was too proud and foolish to admit that he had been duped. You might say the moral of the story is: Be careful when you go along with the status quo, because the end result is that you could end up looking stupid yourself.   People just look dumb when they blindly adapt to their peer group, especially when it's obvious to themselves (and everyone else), that the group is WRONG.

At the end of the story, while all the towns-people are giggling and snickering behind the Emperors back (because no one had the guts to state the truth), finally - a little boy innocently shouts out: "Hey ! The Emperor is NAKED !"

At the risk of sounding vain myself - I AM that little boy.  I'm saying that it's totally inappropriate for a government agency (HUD) to attempt to police itself, and that no one wins as a result.

As it stands, when residents try to appeal to their local HUD Field Office about their PHA (Public Housing Authority), the local Field Office defers to the PHA. Try going over the Field Office to the Regional Field Office.   But, they defer to the local Field Office (who, then - in turn blindly defer to the PHA).   Starting to see a pattern here?!  It's the government legal equivalent of mumbo-jumbo, clickety-clack....

Which might not be a problem, if we weren't talking about people's lives. Childrens stability, and parents' peace of mind.   As long as no one accepts responsibility, and local PHA's are allowed to operate like rogue agencies;  Innocent citizens such as myself will suffer. There's gotta be a better way....
Everybody is looking at everybody, and everybody ends up looking STUPID.   Meanwhile, the problems still aren't solved, and residents are still dissatisfied.  This type of 'responsive' non-response will no longer be tolerated in this current, political environment.