HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO Minutes of Commission Meeting Thursday, October 23, 2008
440 Turk Street San Francisco, California
A Regular meeting of the Housing Authority Commission of the City and County of San Francisco met at 440 Turk Street, San Francisco, California, on Thursday, October 23, 2008, at 4:00 p.m. President A. Brown called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m. 1.
ROLL CALL PRESENT:
Rev. Amos Brown, President Neola Gans, Vice President Jane Hsu, Commissioner Millard Larkin, Commissioner George R. Brown, Commissioner Dwayne Jones, Commissioner Matthew Schwartz, Commissioner
NOT PRESENT: A quorum was present. ALSO PRESENT: 2.
Mr. Henry A. Alvarez III, Executive Director Mr. Tim Larsen, Assistant General Counsel
APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Gans moved to approve the agenda. Commissioner Schwartz seconded the motion. This request was approved unanimously.
3.
GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
Henry Alvarez, Executive Director, combined the General Communication and the Report of the Secretary by reporting on the information relating to the Hunters View relocation meetings, the Pacific Southwest NAHRO Conference coming to San Francisco and the status of the general counsel. He also informed the Commission that he would be traveling the NAHRO conference in San Antonio and he concluded by highlighting the report on the Resident Participation Fund.
Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2008 Page 2 Vice President Gans requested additional information on the Resident Participation Fund Report and wanted to know if the funds went to the Reserve. Cheryl Taylor, Administrator of Finance, informed her that the funds have not gone into reserve and that staff would be presenting the Commissioners with a policy on distributing the funds. 4.
REPORT OF SECRETARY This Report was combined with the General Communications.
5.
COMMITTEE REPORTS There were no Committee Reports.
6.
REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL Both Assistant General Counsels were attending Labor Negotiations during this time and were unable to report to the Commission for this meeting.
7.
TENANT REPRESENTATIVE REPORT Beverly Saba, President of the Tenants Association for 430 Turk represented the CityWide Council- Senior Disabled. She requested clarity on the Resident Participation Fund. Mr. Alvarez informed her that he would be able to give her more detail information at the next Commission Meeting. Kimberly Hill-Brown, President of the Tenants Association, informed the Commissioners of several issues regarding her concerns regarding the Resident Participation Funds and Hope SF Academy. She welcomed the Potrero Hill Tenants Association members who were present at the meeting.
8.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS Melvina Hayes, representing the Girls Scout of America, informed the Commission of her hopes to get the program at SFHA sites. She requested an opportunity to present a more detailed description of the Girls Scouts of America. Commissioner Larkin directed her to Mr. Alvarez and Belinda. Jeffries, Administrator of the Office if Fair Housing and Resident Services, for more information on how to implement the program on SFHA developments.
9.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business.
10.
NEW BUSINESS
A) CONSENT AGENDA
Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2008 Page 3 NOTE:
All matters listed hereunder constitute a Consent Agenda, are considered to be routine by the San Francisco Housing Authority Board and will be acted upon by a single vote of the Authority Board. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a member of the Authority Board so request, in which event the matter shall be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered as a separate item. 1) APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 25 , 2008
Commissioner Gans moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Schwartz seconded the motion. This item was approved unanimously. B) ACTION ITEMS 1) RESOLUTION APPROVING THE WRITE-OFF OF VACATED TENANT ACCOUNTS RECIEVABLE (TARs) IN THE AMOUNT OF $729,772.91 FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 ( Presented by: Cheryl Taylor, Administrator of Finance) Cheryl Taylor, Administrator of Finance, informed the Commission that this Resolution was a statutory requirement per HUD to write off tenant accounts receivable with no activity. This write-off complies with general accounting principals. The write-off accounts for approximately 4% of annual income which is along the lines of what the Authority usually writes off annually, however, this amount is lower then the write-off amount from last fiscal year. Commissioner Larkin questioned if the new programs that the Authority is trying to implement to help get residents current with their rent were included in the write-offs. Ms. Taylor informed him that the write- offs are deemed uncollectible because of death, eviction or move-out and the programs that SFHA was trying to implement would not apply to these residents. Commissioner Larkin then went on to motion to approve this Resolution. Commissioner Schwartz seconded the motion. This Resolution was passed unanimously. 2) RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO SUBMIT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT AN APPLICATION FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,176,000 FOR THE REVITALIZATION OF CAL 1-18(3), HUNTERS VIEW ( Presented by Dominica Henderson, Management Analyst Barbara Smith, Administrator of Housing Development and Modernization) Dominica Henderson, Management Analyst for Housing Development presented this item. She stated that this Resolution would allow us to apply for HUD funding that goes towards the demolition, planning and design phase of the Hunters View Revitalization Process. Hunters View is listed in the congressional records as special project that should receive this funding and it is a non-competitive grant. Ms. Henderson then recommended approval of this Resolution.
Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2008 Page 4 Commissioner Schwartz wanted to applaud staff on the fact that Hunters View was named in the congressional record. He then went on and moved to approve this item. Commissioner Hsu seconded the motion. This Resolution was approved unanimously. 3) INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATION: FISCAL YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2007 COMMUNICATIONS LETTER AND INDEPENDENT AUDIT REPORT FOR THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS (Presented by: Cheryl Taylor, Administrator of Finance) Cheryl Taylor, Administrator of Finance presented this item. She requested that the Commissioners accept the 2007 Independent Audit Report that was submitted to them. It is a statutory requirement of HUD to submit an audit report. SFHA follows GAP (General Auditing Principals) and HUD requires accordance with governing auditing standards. She informed the Commission that the Authority is considered solvent. All Commissioners accepted the Audit Findings.
11.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA
Tessie Esther, President of the Tenants Association in Hunters View, spoke on the Hunters View Relocation Plan and wanted to thank the authority for bring staff to the property to answer questions. She also wanted to make sure that all the Tenant Associations were included in the outreach meetings regarding the Plan. Deva Youngblood, spoke on the Hunters View Relocation Plan and she urged the Commission to review and re-evaluate this Plan thoroughly before adopting. John Dorsey informed the Commission that Walter Wells, treasurer of the Tenants Association passed away. 12.
COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS AND REPORT
President Brown stated that we need to make every effort to ensure that all residents are allowed to return to Hunters View. He also expressed a zero tolerance and stated that trouble makers have no place in public housing. He concluded by stating that we need to place an emphasize on people who are causing harm to our residents. 13.
CLOSED SESSION A Closed Session was scheduled with the Executive Director and Agency Counsel under Government Code Section 54957 (b) (1), 54956.9, 54957.6 to update the Commission on personnel issues, pending litigation and labor negotiations. The Commission went into Closed Session at 5:15 p.m.
14.
RECONVENING OF COMMISSION MEETING
Commission Meeting Minutes October 23, 2008 Page 5 The Commission reconvened from Closed Session at 5:50 pm. Mr. Larsen stated that President A. Brown, Vice President Gans, Commissioner Hsu, and Commissioner Larkin, Commissioner Schwartz and Commissioner Jones were present. No decisions were made. 16.
ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission, Commissioner Brown moved to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Larkin seconded the motion. President A. Brown adjourned the Commission Meeting of October 23, 2008, at 5:51 p.m.
Henry A. Alvarez III, Secretary/ Executive Director
Rev. Amos Brown, President