Fourteen of the Nation’s Top Hospitals Show Commitment to LGBT Healthcare Equality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 30, 2011

Fourteen of the Nation’s Top Hospitals Show Commitment to LGBT Healthcare Equality

U.S. News & World Report’s top hospitals also participate in HRC Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index

WASHINGTON – Fourteen of the nation’s top 17 hospitals also participated in the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation’s 2011 Healthcare Equality Index (HEI). The hospitals, earning the top honor in the U.S. News & World Report 2012 Best Hospitals Edition, show that a commitment to quality healthcare includes LGBT healthcare equality. The complete list of the nation’s top hospitals, on newsstands today, can be viewed at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals. The 2011 HEI is online at www.hrc.org/hei.

The exclusive hospital ratings, issued annually by U.S. News and World Report, are based on data from nearly 5,000 hospitals in 16 adult specialties and 10 pediatric specialties and are widely accepted as the official national healthcare ratings.

“This year’s U.S. News & World Report’s best hospital ratings demonstrate once again that providing quality healthcare goes hand-in-hand with healthcare free of prejudice and discrimination of any kind,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “We congratulate these 14 top hospitals on this honor, and appreciate their dedication to healthcare equality for LGBT patients and families demonstrated by participating in the HEI.”

"It's not a coincidence that our medical center consistently is ranked among the nation's top hospitals by both the Healthcare Equality Index and U.S. News & World Report," said Mark Laret, CEO of UCSF Medical Center. "Providing equal treatment to all patients is central to delivering the highest quality, safest and most effective health care."

The Healthcare Equality Index is an annual survey administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The HEI 2011 reported on the voluntary participation of a record 87 survey respondents, representing 375 facilities nationwide. As facilities transition to more LGBT-friendly policies and procedures, the HEI can serve as an organizational assessment tool by assisting hospitals in modifying their policies, and can help hospitals comply with Joint Commission standards addressing non-discrimination, and new HHS regulations on visitation.

HEI 2011 participating hospitals making U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 Honor Roll include:

• Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD
• Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
• Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
• Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
• Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
• New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, New York
• UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
• Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
• Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
• Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis, MO
• University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA
• University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, Ann Arbor, MI
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
• Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Stanford, CA

View the HRC Foundation’s Healthcare Equality Index 2011 at www.hrc.org/hei. The HEI 2012 survey will be available for completion in October 2011. Interested healthcare facilities should contact hei@hrc.org for more information.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

# # #

HRC President Joe Solmonese to Depart Early 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 27, 2011

HRC President Joe Solmonese to Depart Early 2012

Board Announces Search Process, Salutes Leadership

WASHINGTON – The co-chairs of the Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors and the HRC Foundation Board today announced that HRC President Joe Solmonese has informed the boards that he will not renew his contract which expires March 31, 2012. Solmonese will remain at the helm of the organization until the completion of his contract to ensure a smooth leadership transition.

At the same time, the co-chairs announced the formation of a search committee to be co-chaired by board members Joni Madison of Hillsborough, N.C., and Dana Perlman of Los Angeles.

"Joe Solmonese is an outstanding leader," said Anne Fay who co-chairs the Foundation Board of Directors with Andy Linsky. “While we will miss his extraordinary leadership, we enter this next phase, thanks to Joe, in the best place the organization has ever been. Not only has our community secured historic victories, but our membership is larger and more active than at any time in our history, and our financial health is secure even in these difficult economic times."

"From the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', to the recent passage of marriage equality in New York, Joe has made sure that HRC is an effective and strategic force for positive change," said Tim Downing, who co-chairs the HRC Board of Directors with Rebecca Tillet. "Over the course of his tenure, he's set the tone for delivering real reform that matters in peoples' everyday lives."

"Leading HRC has been an inspiring experience and a complete privilege," said Solmonese. "I could not be more proud of our staff, our volunteer leadership and of the extraordinary progress we've made together as a community.”

Solmonese’s leadership has taken the organization from 750,000 members and supporters to more than 1,000,000. Additionally, he oversaw significant expansion of HRC’s public education and outreach programs including the launch of the Healthcare Equality index, a more robust Religion and Faith Program and wider reach and success of the Corporate Equality Index. The HRC Foundation also launched the Welcoming Schools program to address family diversity, gender stereotyping, bullying and name calling in schools, as well as the All Children All Families initiative that helps open up adoption agencies to prospective LGBT parents. The grassroots field operation also expanded – most recently mounting the largest state-level campaign in LGBT movement history resulting in the passage of marriage equality in New York.

When Solmonese began at HRC in 2005, the organization was fighting the Federal Marriage Amendment and now marriage equality is a reality in six states and the District of Columbia with more within sight. Under Solmonese’s leadership we saw the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and numerous administrative changes from gender identity non-discrimination policies for federal workers to reversing the HIV travel ban to ensuring that equal visitation in federally funded hospitals.

"HRC has never been stronger and after nearly seven years, this is the right moment for me to move on," said Solmonese. “As I explore new professional possibilities, I plan on continuing to pour my heart and soul into improving the lives of members of our community – from battling proposed marriage amendments to creating more equitable workplaces to ensuring the President Obama is reelected for a second term.”

The four volunteer board co-chairs will work with the search committee co-chairs in selecting the full committee as well as securing an executive search firm to assist the organization.

"From the beginning, we asked Joe to give us six months of transition when he decided to leave and he's done that," said Tillet. "We have every confidence that we will find and engage a new leader within that timeframe."

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

# # #

Below is the article from The Advocate

Their story is here

Joe Solmonese Leaving HRC in 2012

By Lucas Grindley and Winston Gieseke

The co-chairs of the Human Rights Campaign Board of Directors and the HRC Foundation Board announced Saturday that HRC President Joe Solmonese will not renew his contract with the organization but will remain at the helm until the end of March 2012.

In a statement, Foundation Board co-chair Anne Fay praised Solmonese’s work and said, “While we will miss his extraordinary leadership, we enter this next phase, thanks to Joe, in the best place the organization has ever been. Not only has our community secured historic victories, but our membership is larger and more active than at any time in our history, and our financial health is secure, even in these difficult economic times."

Since being appointed president of Human Rights Campaign in 2005, Solmonese has been a strategic force in LGBT rights advocacy, not only in legislatures, but in the workplace, in schools, religious congregations, and media outlets, steering the organization through two extraordinarily successful election cycles. He is also credited with growing the organization from 750,000 members and supporters to more than 1,000,000.

In 2005 Solmonese launched HRC’s Religion and Faith Program, which provides innovative resources for LGBT and faith-based allies who strive to end the use of religion as a weapon of oppression. He also oversaw HRC’s Family Project, which helped foster protections for LGBT people, their partners, and their children in the community, at work, in schools, and in health care. In addition, he has counseled corporate leaders across the country to help them achieve smart and fair business practices that positively impact millions of LGBT employees.

Under Solmonese’s leadership, HRC also saw the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” and numerous administrative changes, including the reversal of the HIV travel ban.

"HRC has never been stronger, and after nearly seven years, this is the right moment for me to move on," Solmonese said Saturday. “As I explore new professional possibilities, I plan on continuing to pour my heart and soul into improving the lives of members of our community — from battling proposed marriage amendments to creating more equitable workplaces to ensuring the President Obama is reelected for a second term.”

Prior to being appointed president of HRC, the Massachusetts native acted as Chief Executive Officer of EMILY’s List, where he developed the Political Opportunity Program (POP), which trained progressive, pro-choice female candidates to wage and win campaigns for state and local offices. A longtime political activist, Solmonese has also worked for former Gov. Michael Dukakis and U.S. rep Barney Frank, and in June he was honored with the Hubert Humphrey award for his work on civil rights.

Richard Socarides, president of Equality Matters, credits Solmonese for presiding over HRC “during the greatest pro-gay advances in our history” and building a “giant organization,” but told Advocate.com that “the challenges for a new leader are clear: HRC remains insular, not open to new approaches or ideas. They are so tied to the established order in Washington that they sometimes seem mostly focused on not rocking the boat. Hopefully that can change.”

Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend reports that the transition at the top signals "the beginning of a larger staff shake-up in the HRC," just as the pivotal 2012 election is ramping up. Although HRC has already endorsed President Obama in his reelection effort, the group has played at the forefront of criticism of the records of Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, two antigay Republican candidates for president.

It also has organizers on the ground in North Carolina and formed a political action committee in Minnesota — two states where marriage bans could be on the ballot in 2012. In Maine, and perhaps Oregon, gay rights activists could put marriage equality on the ballot. And in Maryland, the state's governor has pledged to fight for passage of a marriage equality bill in the same way that Andrew Cuomo of New York led to success, notably calling all of the gay rights organizations together into a coordinated effort.

Previous HRC leaders include Vic Basile, who went on to become counsel to the Obama administration's gay director of personnel management; Tim McFeeley, who later served as political director for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Elizabeth Birch, who founded consulting firm Birch & Company in 2004 and in 2007 was named one of 65 LGBT leaders on a national steering committee for the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton; and Cheryl Jacques, who continues the fight for equality as a diversity consultant for major corporations and non-profit organizations.

The HRC said the formation of a search committee would be co-chaired by board members Joni Madison of Hillsborough, N.C., and Dana Perlman of Los Angeles.

The story from Metro Weekly

The link is here

HRC Announces Solmonese's Departure in 2012, Start of "Search Process" for Successor

Posted by Chris Geidner |
August 27, 2011 4:30 PM | Permalink

The Human Rights Campaign this afternoon announced that its president, Joe Solmonese, will be stepping down from his role at the end of his current contract, which ends March 31, 2012. The news was announced following a report Friday evening, Aug. 26, by Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend that Solmonese would be leaving HRC after more than six years at the helm -- news which was confirmed hours later by Metro Weekly.

HRC vice president of communications Fred Sainz tells Metro Weekly, "By giving seven months notice, Joe has ensured that the board can conduct a thorough and complete search process while he remains at the helm of the organization."

Although Spaulding reported that "a replacement executive director has been identified," Metro Weekly reported earlier that four sources familiar with the situation describe that portion of the report as inaccurate -- with one saying the process is just beginning and will not be rapid.

As to that, Sainz says -- and today's announcement shows -- that there is no replacement yet selected. Sainz, though, goes further, telling Metro Weekly, "There will not be a need for an interim head [because of the lead time Solmonese has given the board], nor has -- given that there is a full search process -- a permanent replacement been identified."

According to today's news release, the co-chairs of HRC's board of directors and the HRC Foundation's board of directors "announced the formation of a search committee to be co-chaired by board members Joni Madison of Hillsborough, N.C., and Dana Perlman of Los Angeles." Madison and Perlman are members of the HRC board of directors.

Madison is the chief operating officer at McKinney, an independent advertising agency based in Durham, North Carolina. According to her firm biography, she oversees creative services, human resources, information technology and office services. According to OpenSecrets.org, Madison is not a significant campaign donor although she donated $2,300 to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary in 2008 and $2,300 to Kay Hagan (D) in the North Carolina U.S. Senate election in 2008.

Perlman, an attorney who graduated from USC School of Law, is a member of the National Finance Committee of the Obama for America campaign and a co-chair of the LGBT Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee, in addition to his HRC leadership position, according to his law firm biography. According to OpenSecrets.org, Perlman contributed to more than 20 candidates in the past three election cycles (including the current one) -- all Democrats and primarily Senate candidates. In May, Perlman contributed $2,500 to the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama -- whose re-election HRC already has endorsed. Perlman also contributed $2,300 to Obama's 2008 campaign.

Madison and Perlman, along with HRC board of director co-chairs Timothy Downing and Rebecca Tillet and HRC Foundation board of director co-chairs Anne Fay and Andy Linsky, will be the key players in the search for Solmonese's successor.

Sainz noted, "It is the beginning of the process," adding that the six would be responsible for determining the process for moving forward -- with the selection of the search committee members and the decision to hire an executive search firm as their first order of business.

In the release announcing the news, Solmonese says, "HRC has never been stronger and after nearly seven years, this is the right moment for me to move on. As I explore new professional possibilities, I plan on continuing to pour my heart and soul into improving the lives of members of our community -- from battling proposed marriage amendments to creating more equitable workplaces to ensuring the President Obama is reelected for a second term."

Multiple sources familiar with the situation tell Metro Weekly that the decision came as a surprise to board members. The board was only formally told the news today in a conference call that originally had been scheduled for Aug. 29. Spaulding had reported that an announcement about Solmonese's departure was to be made public on Aug. 30.

Asked about the role that Cathy Woolard -- a consultant who has worked with HRC and advises the group currently on a number of projects, including its Workplace Project -- will play in the transition, Sainz said, "She's a consultant to HRC. There is no nexus between her and this search process."

Regarding the Solmonese's accomplishments, Fay said in the release, "Joe Solmonese is an outstanding leader. While we will miss his extraordinary leadership, we enter this next phase, thanks to Joe, in the best place the organization has ever been. Not only has our community secured historic victories, but our membership is larger and more active than at any time in our history, and our financial health is secure even in these difficult economic times."

Downing added, "From the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', to the recent passage of marriage equality in New York, Joe has made sure that HRC is an effective and strategic force for positive change. Over the course of his tenure, he's set the tone for delivering real reform that matters in peoples' everyday lives."

Although the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009 and the passage of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act in 2010 will serve as highlights of his time leading the organization, Solmonese also was leading the group during one of the most divisive moments of its history -- its support in 2007 for a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act that was not inclusive of gender identity.

New York Times: New Numbers, and Geography, for Gay Couples

In Columbus the ratio 13.87 same-sex couples for every 1,000 households.
See below

The story is here

New Numbers, and Geography, for Gay Couples

By SABRINA TAVERNISE

Published: August 25, 2011

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — So much for San Francisco.

The list of top cities for same-sex couples as a portion of the population does not include that traditional gay mecca, according to new census data. In fact, the city, which ranked third in 1990 and 11th in 2000, plummeted to No. 28 in 2010. And West Hollywood, once No. 1, has dropped out of the top five.

The Census Bureau data, finalized this week and analyzed by Gary Gates, a demographer at the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, gives the clearest picture to date of same-sex couples in America. In absolute numbers, they jumped by half in the past decade, to 901,997.

Most surprising is how far same-sex couples have dispersed, moving from traditional enclaves and safe havens into farther-flung areas of the country.

Consider, for example, the upstarts on the list: Pleasant Ridge, Mich., a suburb of Detroit; New Hope, Pa.; and this beach town in southern Delaware. All three have been popular destinations for gay people locally but had never ranked in the top 10.

The No. 1-ranked town is Provincetown, Mass., at the tip of Cape Cod.

The reordering reflects a growing influence of baby boomers, who became adults in the 1960s and 1970s, when the social stigma was starting to ease, and are more willing than previous generations to stand up and be counted, Mr. Gates said.

Now that generation, arguably the first in history with such a large contingent that is out, is beginning to retire, and its life transition is showing up in the data, with older cities as the new popular choices.

“As the baby boomer generation ages into retirement,” Mr. Gates said, “we see its impact really strongly in the geography.”

The pattern was in evidence in Rehoboth Beach, a family resort town of 1,300, which was fourth on the list of same-sex couples per capita and did not figure in the top 10 rankings in 1990 or 2000.

“The change was pretty dramatic,” said Rick McReynolds, 58, a resident. “It used to be all these boys,” but now, he said, the gay population in town is older and has less of a singles scene.

But people who used to party here, like Bob Moore, a retired communications professor from Pennsylvania, have since returned with their partners to live. Mr. Moore, who came out in his 40s, after two children and a divorce, said he and his partner were looking for a place that was gay friendly, but not an exclusive enclave.

“We liked the fact that it was gay without being the Castro” neighborhood of San Francisco, said Mr. Moore, 59, who was sitting with his partner, Steve Ortleib, in Rigby’s Bar and Grill on Tuesday night.

He said they had visited four top retirement destinations for same-sex couples — two in California and two in Florida — before settling on Rehoboth.

In interviews in San Francisco on Tuesday, several gay people said the city attracted people who did not always want to become part of a couple. The census does not ask about sexual orientation.

“You settle down in small towns because there is not much to choose from,” said Nick Meinzer, 41, a hairstylist who works on Castro Street. “In urban areas we wait longer to settle down. I’ve been single for two years. They’re not counting those of us who are single.”

Of the top cities like Pleasant Ridge, Mr. Meinzer said: “I’ve never even heard of those places. You’d think if they were so great you’d have heard of them.”

Dennis Ziebell, 61, the owner of Orphan Andy’s, a Castro neighborhood diner he opened 35 years ago, said he did not believe the count was accurate. “Take another survey, that’s all I can say,” he said. “I’ve been in a relationship for 36 years and nobody from the census asked me about it.”

Last year was the third time the Census Bureau counted same-sex couples. The count included people of the same sex in the same household who said they were spouses or unmarried partners (spouses were not included in 1990). Mr. Gates calculated how many same-sex couples there were for every 1,000 households within towns and cities across the country.

New York is too big to figure prominently in top city rankings for same-sex couples per capita (it was 67th in 2010, Mr. Gates said), but it does rank by county, alongside more the more traditional locations. Manhattan is No. 5, after San Francisco County, Hampshire County, Mass., Monroe County, Fla., and Multnomah County, Ore.

he city ranking is a barometer of the changing demographics among the population of same sex couples, which has grown more diffuse throughout the country over the past 20 years.

In interviews here this week, several couples said that social attitudes had softened over time and that living farther afield was now easier to do. Mr. Gates compared the phenomenon to immigrants who no longer sought the safety of an enclave.

Steve Elkins, who runs a nonprofit community center called Camp Rehoboth, which acts as a liaison with the gay community, said cultural training classes for the summer police force would be met by stony stares in the early days. More recently, when he asked the police officers if they knew a gay person, two people in the class raised their hands to say they were gay.

“It’s a generational change in thoughts and attitudes,” he said. Rehoboth, he likes to say, used to be an island of tolerance in a sea of homophobia, and now is an island of tolerance in a sea of outlet malls.

Further evidence, Mr. Elkins said, was the quick passage of a civil unions bill that is set to take effect in Delaware on Jan. 1.

A decade is a long time in the gay community, and couples who were part of the pre-boomer generation said it had been all but impossible for them to come out. Michael Davis, 69, a retired intelligence officer who moved to Rehoboth in 2004, grew up in a small town in Wyoming in the 1950s, where homosexuality, in his words, did not exist.

“When I was growing up, gay was a mood you were in,” he said, sitting at dinner with his partner, George Hooper, 64, a retired federal employee. For years he told people he was renting a room to Mr. Hooper. He could be fired for coming out in his job.

These days he lives openly, socializing with other gay couples and enjoying retired life on the beach.

“To go from complete homophobia to this,” he said gesturing around him to the largely gay clientele at Rigby’s.

Mr. Hooper smiled impishly and said, “He’s come a long way, baby.”

Census2010Snapshot OH

Business First: Food trucks congregating at Columbus Commons on Friday from 4-10pm

The story is here

File photo by Janet Adams

Brian Reed’s Mojo TaGo taco truck will appear at the festival in Columbus Commons.

Food trucks congregating at Columbus Commons on Friday

Business First

Date: Thursday, August 25, 2011, 11:06am EDT

Related:

Retailing & Restaurants

Hungry Columbusites curious about the mobile eats movement will have a prime opportunity to sample the city’s selections Friday.

The Columbus Food Truck & Cart Festival will be held at Columbus Commons from 4-10 p.m., offering more than 20 local food trucks and carts spanning cuisines, live music and local vendors.

“It’s going to be a cool event,” said organizer Mike Gallicchio. “It should be a good little party.”

Gallicchio, who pulled the event together with Chas Kaplan, said he saw similar events in food truck havens like Los Angeles and Miami and figured it was time for a large-scale gathering in Columbus.

Admission is free and a portion of sales will go toward the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. There also will be beer. The tentative list of trucks and carts:

• Families Mobile Kitchen

• Leslie Crepes

• 3 Babes and a Baker

• Munch Box

• Earth Crust

• Yellow Boy Polish Boys

• Short North Bagel Deli

• Cheesy Truck

• Veggilicious

• Spinellis Deli

• Paddy Wagon

• Rad Dog

• Patty Cake

• Jeni’s Ice Cream

• Mojo TaGo

• Dave’s Dogs & More

• Mikey’s Late Nite Slice

• The Pickled Swine

• Lotsa Lobsta

• Juniors Tacos

New York Times: U.S. May Back Refinance Plan for Mortgages

The story is here

U.S. May Back Refinance Plan for Mortgages

By SHAILA DEWAN and LOUISE STORY

Published: August 24, 2011

The Obama administration is considering further actions to strengthen the housing market, but the bar is high: plans must help a broad swath of homeowners, stimulate the economy and cost next to nothing.

One proposal would allow millions of homeowners with government-backed mortgages to refinance them at today’s lower interest rates, about 4 percent, according to two people briefed on the administration’s discussions who asked not to be identified because they were not allowed to talk about the information.

A wave of refinancing could be a strong stimulus to the economy, because it would lower consumers’ mortgage bills right away and allow them to spend elsewhere. But such a sweeping change could face opposition from the regulator who oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and from investors in government-backed mortgage bonds.

Administration officials said on Wednesday that they were weighing a range of proposals, including changes to its previous refinancing programs to increase the number of homeowners taking part. They are also working on a home rental program that would try to shore up housing prices by preventing hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes from flooding the market. That program is further along — the administration requested ideas for execution from the private sector earlier this month.

But refinancing could have far greater breadth, saving homeowners, by one estimate, $85 billion a year. Despite record low interest rates, many homeowners have been unable to refinance their loans either because they owe more than their houses are now worth or because their credit is tarnished.

Exactly how a refinancing plan might work is still under discussion. It is unclear, for example, whether people who are delinquent on their mortgages would be eligible or whether lenders would administer it. Federal officials have consistently overestimated the number of households that would be helped by their various housing assistance programs.

A working group of housing experts across several federal agencies could recommend one or both proposals, or come up with new ones. Or it might decide to do nothing.

Investors may suspect a plan is in the works. Fannie and Freddie mortgage bonds had been trading well above their face value because so few people were refinancing, keeping returns on the bonds high. But those bond prices dropped sharply this week.

Administration discussions about housing proposals have taken on added urgency this summer because the housing market is continuing to deteriorate. On Wednesday, the government said that prices of homes with government-backed mortgages fell 5.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the biggest decline since 2009. More than one in five homeowners with mortgages owe more than their homes are worth. Some analysts are now predicting waves of foreclosures and a continuing slide in home prices.

There is not much time to help the market before the 2012 election, and given Congressional resistance to other types of stimulus, housing may be the only economic fix in reach. Federal programs to assist homeowners have been regarded as ineffective so far, and they are complex.

“We are looking at trying to encourage more participation in all of the programs, including those that help with refinancing,” said Phyllis Caldwell, who oversees housing policy at the Treasury Department.

Some economists say that with housing prices and interest rates at affordable levels, only fear is keeping consumers out of the market. Frank E. Nothaft, the chief economist at Freddie Mac, said the federal action could instill confidence.

“It almost seems to me you want to have some type of announcement or policy, program or something from the federal government that provides that clear signal that we are here supporting the housing market and this is indeed a good time to really consider buying,” Mr. Nothaft said.

The refinancing idea has been around since at least 2008, but proponents say the recent drop in interest rates to below 4 percent may breathe new life into the plan.

“This is the best stimulus out there because it doesn’t increase the deficit, it accomplishes monetary policy, and it reduces defaults in housing,” said Christopher J. Mayer, an economist at the Columbia Business School. “So I think this is low-hanging fruit.” Mr. Mayer and a colleague, Glenn Hubbard, who was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush, proposed an early version of the plan.

The idea is appealing because it would not necessarily require Congressional action. It also would not tap any of the $45.6 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Funds that was set aside to help struggling homeowners. Only $22.9 billion of that pool has been spent or pledged so far, and fewer than 1.7 million loans have been modified under federal programs. But Andrea Risotto, a Treasury spokeswoman, said whatever was left would be used to reduce the federal deficit.

A mass refinancing plan would spread the benefits of the Federal Reserve’s most important economic policy response, low interest rates, to more people. As of July, an estimated $2.4 trillion in mortgages backed by Fannie and Freddie carried interest rates of 4.5 percent or higher.

The two prevailing ideas, lowering rates on mortgages and converting houses owned by government entities like Freddie and Fannie into rentals and other uses, have somewhat different pockets of support. Investment firms would like to participate in the rental program, especially if the government lends them money to participate. For the most part, banks prefer the refinancing plan. There are many high-ranking proponents of the refinancing plan. Joseph Tracy, a senior adviser to the chairman of the New York Federal Reserve, has circulated a presentation in support of the plan. And Richard B. Berner, who recently joined the Treasury Department as counselor to Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, argued in favor of a blanket refinancing in his previous job as chief United States economist for Morgan Stanley. The proponents say the plan carries little risk because the mortgages are already guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They also say it makes those loans less likely to go into default and ultimately foreclosure.

But the plan has some drawbacks. Some officials fear that promoting mass refinancings today could spook investors and make borrowing more expensive, for both homeowners and the federal government, in the future.

The government has already encouraged some refinancing through the Federal Housing Administration and through Fannie and Freddie, but participation is limited. For example, the Home Affordable Refinance Program excludes homeowners who owe more than 125 percent of the value of their house. To spur more refinancing, the government may decide to encourage Fannie and Freddie to lift such restrictions.

But government officials cautioned that Fannie and Freddie do not do the administration’s bidding, even though they are essentially owned by taxpayers. Edward J. DeMarco, who oversees the companies as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has voiced concerns about any plan that might cost the companies money, according to the two people briefed on the discussions. “F.H.F.A. remains open to all ideas that provide needed assistance to borrowers” while minimizing the cost to taxpayers, Mr. DeMarco said in a written statement.

A broader criticism of a refinancing expansion is that it would not do enough to address the two main drivers of foreclosures: homes worth less than their mortgages, and a sudden loss of income, like unemployment. American homeowners currently owe some $700 billion more than their homes are worth.

Columbus Dispatch: Residences likely west of Arena District

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Residences likely west of Arena District

Nationwide Realty plans would nix new Crew stadium

By Marla Matzer Rose

The Columbus Dispatch Thursday August 25, 2011 6:40 AM

Nationwide Realty Investors is planning to expand to the west of the Arena District now that the $1 billion-plus development is almost completed, based on the original master plan for the area.

New development, however, is likely to take on a slightly different look, with a greater emphasis on residential buildings and offices that are less-densely packed than the core Arena District.

The first evidence of this is the $10 million office building that Nationwide unveiled to the Downtown Commission this week, which will be built at 425 Nationwide Blvd., west of Neil Avenue.

“As we move west of Neil, I think you’ll see densities diminish,” said Brian Ellis, president of Nationwide Realty Investors. “There are nearly 2 million square feet of office space in the master-planned Arena District, all with (garage rather than surface) parking.

“I don’t think this (west of Neil) area can sustain that density at this time. I think it will be predominantly residential.”

On Tuesday, Nationwide closed on the purchase of 25 acres it agreed to acquire from Penn National Gaming as part of a deal tied to Penn agreeing to move its planned Columbus casino to the West Side. The purchase could put an end to the much-discussed idea in recent years of putting a new stadium for the Columbus Crew soccer team on that site.

“Our plans for that area are residential. Anything else is speculation,” said Tina Guegold, vice president of marketing for Nationwide Realty Investors.

All told, Nationwide owns about 35 acres just west of the Arena District, including 3.6 acres of land next to the Buggyworks condo project and Huntington Park. Nationwide acquired that land from Buggyworks developer Kyle Katz in June. The 75-acre Arena District, built on the site of the former Ohio Penitentiary over the past dozen years, originally had Neil Avenue as its western boundary, although some related development — such as the LC Pavilion — has occurred outside of that.

Nationwide hopes to complete its office building at 425 Nationwide Blvd. by October 2012. It will be set back farther from the street and have more landscaping than most buildings in the Arena District. The time frame for further development in the area is less clear, with Ellis simply saying that he expects the area to fill out during the next decade.

Nationwide recently completed its nearby Flats on Vine apartments, which are almost fully leased.

In a different matter, the Downtown Commission has approved temporary banners to rebrand the Hyatt on Capitol Square as a Sheraton. The signs are set to go up by the end of this month and come down by Oct. 1, when permanent signs should be installed.

The property’s new owner, Florida-based Driftwood Hospitality, has not yet announced details of its planned renovation of the 27-year-old, 400-room property.

mrose@dispatch.com

The Advocate: Is This the Next Great Gay Film?

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Is This the Next Great Gay Film?

By Jeremy Kinser

Two men meet at a gay club and spend two days together that will affect them forever in the new film Weekend, which some are hailing as the best gay-themed film of the year.

Directed by Andrew Haigh, Weekend offers an honest look at a modern gay relationship and features breakout performances by Tom Cullen and Chris New. The film, which earlier this year won the jury award at Outfest and the audience award at SXSW, will open in New York September 23 and in other cities throughout the fall.

Watch the trailer below.

Columbus Dispatch: Bob Shamansky 1927-2011: Lawyer served term in Congress (Update)

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Robert N. Shamansky | 1927-2011: Lawyer served term in Congress

He also was world traveler and local philanthropist

Robert N. Shamansky’s one term in Congress was 23  years behind him when he made another run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006.

He was pushing 80 by then, but for a man who made daily visits to the gym up until a few weeks ago, his congressional bid did not surprise his close friends and family.

Shamansky, an ardent Democrat, spent $1.4 million of his own money in his unsuccessful attempt to unseat Republican Pat Tiberi that year.

“He was very concerned about the direction the country was headed in,” said his longtime friend and law partner, James Feibel. “There was nothing in it for him. He just really wanted to try to turn things around.”

Shamansky, an accomplished lawyer, world traveler and city philanthropist, died unexpectedly at home on Thursday evening, his nephew and local attorney Sam Shamansky said last night. He was 84.

A graduate of Bexley High School, Ohio State University and Harvard Law School, Robert Shamansky served in the U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps before his first run for U.S. Congress in 1966.

He lost that bid to unseat longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Samuel L. Devine.

Fourteen years later, he did unseat Devine and served one term in Congress, until Jan. 3, 1983. He lost to another politician beginning his own career in national and state politics: John Kasich.

Sam Shamansky said his uncle, who never married or had children, believed that government should serve as a safety net for the less fortunate.

“He wasn’t a limousine liberal, let me put it to you that way,” Sam Shamansky said. “He cared about the disadvantaged.”

Sam Shamansky said his uncle was active in community preservation and passionate about seeing the world.

“He’s been everywhere,” he said. “You name it, he’s been there.”

He remembered his uncle as curious and well-read, with “a mind like a trap.”

Feibel recalled his friend as “one of the brightest people I’ve ever met,” with a sharp sense of humor and unfailingly preppy wardrobe.

“He never stopped dressing as he did when he went to Harvard Law School, in the Ivy League tradition,” Feibel said.

Feibel said his friend took up causes because he believed in them, no matter how unpopular his positions might have been. Soon after arriving on Capitol Hill, he took on the tobacco lobby, “which was probably not politically astute for a freshman congressman” in the early 1980s, he said.

Shamansky reflected on his time in Congress during a 1989 interview with the Columbus Jewish Historical Society.

“There are more good people than bad people in Congress, no matter what you might read or think,” he said. “That would be for both Republicans and Democrats. There are some bad characters, but, for the most part, there are some greatly qualified people there.”

tdecker@dispatch.com

Coroner labels former lawmaker’s death suicide

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By Stephanie Czekalinski

The Columbus Dispatch Wednesday August 17, 2011 8:26 AM

The Franklin County coroner has ruled the death of a former congressman and Columbus lawyer a suicide.

Robert N. Shamansky, 84, shot himself at his home on Thursday, his nephew Sam Shamansky confirmed yesterday. The elder Shamansky lived Downtown at 1 Miranova Place, according to voter-registration records.

“It was a most-sudden surprise,” said his nephew. His uncle had no history of depression, was in good health and worked out regularly, he said. “What you have here was a man who wanted to end his life on his own terms.”

sczekalinski@dispatch.com