Pre-Hurricane Ike public housing in Galveston often left an impression of poverty and segregation. This affected surrounding neighborhoods north of Broadway, worsening a worthy community’s struggle.

Our island is too close to the economic edge to sustain more of the same. For our future public housing options, let’s make sure we do better. And, in our discourse, let’s shed more light than heat.

Galveston Housing Authority promises we can do better, and we want to believe. In fact, the recent success of The Oaks gives us hope.

But GHA, like most government, often proceeds in a way that exclusively promotes its charge — even if the details and underlying needs have forever changed. Since Ike, so much has changed.

When rebuilding our island’s public housing stock, Galvestonians need to know that right decisions are being made for the whole island — including our GHA tenants — but also including those of us who own or rent our homes.

Ultimately, it’s up to the city — acting through our elected city council — to plainly state our affordable-housing policy. Simple questions such as “how much,” “where” and “how dense” matter greatly.

For decades, the city has appropriately delegated to GHA the job of managing public housing in Galveston, but we’ve left unanswered a larger question. How do we make adequate affordable housing available to sustain our work force?

If you doubt we’re failing to resolve this critical issue, just look at the substantial evening traffic on the way out of town. This is a citywide issue, and GHA is not the body to address it alone.

Another related question: Should land near the University of Texas Medical Branch, the former site of Magnolia Homes, reflexively be rebuilt as public units for the elderly or disabled, or would it be put to better use as affordable, near-job housing for a growing health care work force as we rebuild the medical branch?

And another: Can’t the north side of Broadway be a thriving, populated neighborhood again, filled with homes, families and jobs?

It’s good that GHA has resources to rebuild, but it’s disappointing there is little private development of affordable housing. That’s got to change. The city should work with local and regional builders to fill the void left by Ike.

In 1940, city leaders conducted a survey of Galveston’s housing. The survey, which was submitted to the U.S. Housing Authority in Washington, D.C., identified an immediate need for public housing.

The housing authority was formed then by Galveston’s mayor to provide decent, affordable housing to low-income families, disabled people and the elderly.

It’s 70 years later, Hurricane Ike has wiped out our public housing stock, and great need remains. For Galvestonians who will live in public housing, and for the many more of us who won’t, Galveston’s mayor and city council must assert their authority to address our needs with an overall housing policy that encourages private development of affordable and middle-income housing and guides GHA’s good work on subsidized and Section 8 housing now and for the future.

Galveston, let’s solve this together.

Joe Jaworski is a declared candidate in Galveston’s mayoral election next year.