GOSHEN — Supporters of a $571,050 plan to bailout the Goshen Housing Authority and put the agency back on solid footing left Tuesday’s City Council meeting with new optimism, according to some people who attended the meeting.

Mayor Allan Kauffman, who’s leading an effort to use money from the city’s $4.7 million rainy day fund for the housing authority request, wrote on the city’s Facebook page that Tuesday night’s council debate on the issue represented his proudest moment in his 15 years as mayor. He said he left Tuesday’s meeting impressed with the “grace and compassion” echoed by many people during an extensive public discussion.

He said Wednesday that he is cautiously optimistic about the proposal’s future.

“I was pleasantly surprised at what came out of the mouths of some people that I would not have expected,” Kauffman said. “Some people would say compassionate conservatism is an oxymoron, but it wasn’t last night. It was personified.”

The council passed the proposal on first reading by a 6-1 vote and a final vote is expected Feb. 21.

Kauffman’s request comes a week after city officials learned the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had identified a huge shortfall in the Goshen Housing Authority’s voucher reserve account and wants the money returned. As a result, the agency is faced with slashing the number of rental vouchers available to the Goshen residents to make up for the loss.

Without an immediate infusion of cash — officials speculate the office could run out of money within two months — a decreased level of service and administrative funds from the federal government could spark a downward spiral that could lead to the closing of the office within a few years, according to Wayne Kramer, vice president of the Goshen Housing Authority’s board.

Public input during Tuesday’s council meeting included only one person who flatly opposed the measure. Others who were skeptical of the idea argued that the private sector needs to provide money to alleviate the housing agency’s funding crisis.

Council members heard support for the plan from various people, including a bank president, an elementary school principal, a township trustee, two social service agencies, several parents of disabled adults who depend on housing vouchers and a handful of recipients themselves.

However, City Council member Dixie Robinson, a Republican representing the 3rd District, said she thinks the 6-1 vote might have provided a sense of false hope to some. She said she — and possibly others as well — only voted in support of the measure to extend the debate for two more weeks.

Robinson said she’s not convinced the proposal will pass if the city has to cover the entire amount. She said she’d like to see all of the money come from private contributions, but is not sure if that is realistic.

On the other hand, she said she thinks a “cooperative effort” would help gain support among council members.

“This is not a Goshen city problem. It’s a community problem,” Robinson said.

On Tuesday, Kauffman said one person had already wrote a check for $571.05 and was under the impression the contributor viewed it as a challenge for others to contribute.

The mayor said he’s received more inquiries on how to donate and heard other hints that  a few “relatively sizeable” contributions might on the horizon.

He said he’s also asking pastors to make an appeal from their pulpits to support the drive for private donations.

“We’ve got two weeks to find out what kind of generosity there is in the community,” Kauffman said.

 “I don’t think anybody likes the idea of taking public funds to fix the problem, but the alternative is worse,” he said.

Council members also heard a call by numerous people for direct accountability of the troubled housing authority, which has been dogged by poor record keeping and numerous allegations of improper spending practices.

Kauffman said he’s open to stipulations in the spending measure that would provide city scrutiny of the housing agency. He said he supports the idea of the council receiving annual financial reports from the housing agency and council approval of future mayoral appointments to the agency’s board of directors.

“That would be an OK compromise by me,” Kauffman said.