Galveston is on the brink of receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in disaster recovery money. Some of this money should be used to solve our most serious, persistent housing problems.

We have to seize this opportunity because it will not come our way again. Let’s not risk the loss or delay of these federal funds.

If we don’t manage our future now, we risk others managing it for us; that’s what happened six months ago in St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana when a federal judge finally stepped in and brought an end to the post-Katrina impasse. It was a humiliating process for everyone. Can we agree to avoid that embarrassment?

Almost two-thirds of our families (of four) in Galveston earn less than $60,000 annually. Most islanders rent. To even have a shot at improving their situation, these men, women and children need decent, safe and affordable housing.

The next council and city manager must finally solve our economic decline, and modern housing resources and programs will be part of the solution, just as it is throughout urban America. With recovery money arriving at last, there is a sense that 2010 could see Galveston’s becoming the place we always wanted it to be. The stakes are high, almost as high as the distrust many feel for our government and now each other. People, please, let’s work this out.

Whether and where to build 569 units of housing? A seemingly simple question of design, density and proportion has produced a serious, now hostile argument. I’m asking for compromise so we can get the full benefit of our recovery funds.

Ideally, GHA should lead the city’s affordable housing efforts, like when it razed units at Palm Terrace and built new homes called The Oaks. We should look to that leadership for inspiration. Let’s also recognize that many residents don’t want housing resembling the density or appearance of the former 569 units.

With recovery money, GHA can enable more working tenants to buy a home; it also can teach more motivated clients financial self-sufficiency. These two programs are the best at the authority, but they were underutilized before Ike. The next mayor should appoint GHA commissioners who will make it Galveston policy to expect more of GHA’s tenants, while giving them the tools to excel.

Galveston’s window of opportunity still is open. Money, empathy and interest are ours. But the dollar spigot will close in two years’ time, and we’ll ask ourselves then, “Did we make the most of it?”

Let’s manage our division, compromise and build some decent housing so we can keep more workers and families on the island, populating our schools and little leagues, shopping in our supermarkets and retail businesses and making this a growing, not a dying community.

Here’s the compromise: GHA will take years to build all the units proposed, with the former Magnolia Homes as the final installment. Build homes on the other three sites, with less density as before, and let Magnolia become UTMB student housing or sell the land to a private developer for downtown mixed-use development. GHA could use the proceeds to buy and remodel a number of homes in decent neighborhoods and then sell them to eligible workers and families.

Joe Jaworski, a former member of the Galveston City Council, is a candidate for mayor.