Chapters keep being added to the voluminous story behind the affordable housing topic. Like elsewhere across the country, Sarasota and Manatee counties and the region’s municipalities continue to struggle with the hot-button issue.

The latest chapter is being written by Dr. Ben Carson, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The subject came up at the annual meeting of the Sarasota Argus Foundation on Thursday at the Sarasota Yacht Club when the guest speaker, Denise Cleveland-Leggett, advanced some of Carson’s initiatives and outlined the difficulties.