$43m in federal grants OK'd to help ease housing blight
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The state Executive Office of Housing and Community Development hopes to solicit public comment on a plan to distribute $43.3 million in federal grant money to help communities fight blight in neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures.
"The goal is to have something available for review by the end of October," said Phil Hailer, a department spokesman. "Obviously, we want public comment on the plan, so that we make sure it's workable."
The funds were awarded last month as part of the new Neighborhood Stabilization Program of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The money will allow local communities to aquire and redevelop foreclosed properties. The goal is to eliminate blight and stabilize housing prices.
The state must submit a plan to HUD outlining how funding will be distributed to communities, Hailer said.
"Data will dictate how these funds will be disbursed," he said. "Obviously, we have to look at the areas of the Commonwealth that are really hard-hit."
Haverhill, Lynn, and Revere are among local communities hit hardest by the housing crisis. Foreclosure deeds in Haverhill totaled 156 through September of this year, a 47 percent increase over the same period in 2007.
Lynn had 364 foreclosures during the nine-month period, an 89 percent jump. Revere had 154 foreclosures, a 92 percent increase, according to data released last week by The Warren Group, a Boston firm that tracks real estate data.
Deeds are the most accurate measure of foreclosures. They are recorded after a property has hit the auction block.
Foreclosure notices, the first step in the process that notifies a borrower they could lose their home, are being compiled by the hundreds across the region.
Despite high rates, local communities did not receive targeted funds when HUD announced the grant money last week. Individual grants were made to Boston: $4.2 million; Springfield: $2.5 million; Worcester: $2.3 million; and Brockton, $2.1 million. All other communities will have to apply to the state for a share of the $43.3 million in statewide assistance.
Deacon now heads GE's aviation plant in Durham, N.C. She succeeds the late Corinne A. Johnson, the Lynn plant manager who died in March. Johnson, a Melrose native, was the first woman to lead the Lynn plant, which manufactures jet engines for military and small commercial airlines.
Deacon is a native of Wales, where she joined GE 10 years ago in engine services, working in finance and operations, according to a company announcement of her appointment.
She's adept at Six Sigma, a quality concept, which she implemented in manufacturing, assembly, and testing processes, the announcement said.
In Lynn, she is expected on the job by the end of the year. The plant now has about 3,500 employees.
Johnson, who was 49 when she died, was recently honored at the plant.
The Corinne A. Johnson Reception Center was dedicated earlier this month with corporate executives from GE Aviation, based in Ohio, on hand, along with plant employees and Johnson's family.
"Corinne was a terrific leader," said Rich Gorham, a GE spokesman in Lynn. "Renaming the center for her was a fitting tribute."
The blue-ribbon panel, headed by former US senators Howard Baker of Tennessee and J. Bennett Johnston Jr. of Louisiana, has 27 members, including retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Johnston will accompany 20 commissioners, who will tour Lowell National Historical Park tomorrow and Salem Maritime National Historic Site on Tuesday.
O'Connor is not among the commissioners who will visit. But Mary A. Bomar, director of the National Park Service, will attend the daylong visit to Lowell, said Michael Creasey, superintendent of the Lowell Park. On Tuesday, the commission will hold meetings at Gould Barn in Topsfield, then travel to Salem in the afternoon to tour the maritime site.
Along with preservation programs, the commission will look at community partnerships that have helped the parks to grow.
"Part of what they're coming to see is how we've taken an untraditional approach to park management. In Lowell, we say the city is the park and the park is the city," Creasey said, noting the park is 30 years old this year.
The Salem Partnership, a nonprofit business group, led the redevelopment of Salem Maritime site in the late 1980s. That model is now used throughout the region to support The Essex National Heritage Area, a federal designation for the historic and cultural sites in Essex County.
"We hope to persuade them that public/private partnerships are critical," said Annie Harris, executive director of the Essex National Heritage Area.
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com. 
