HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO Minutes of Commission Meeting Thursday, December 10, 2009
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, December 10, 2009, at 4:00 p.m. Vice President Gans called the meeting to order at 4:01 p.m. 1.
ROLL CALL PRESENT:
Neola Gans, Vice President George R. Brown, Commissioner Matthew Schwartz, Commissioner Dwayne Jones, Commissioner Millard Larkin, Commissioner
NOT PRESENT:
Rev. Amos Brown, President Jane Hsu, Commissioner
A quorum was present. ALSO PRESENT:
2.
Mr. Henry A. Alvarez, Executive Director Mr. Roger Crawford, Acting HR Director
APPROVAL OF AGENDA Before approval of agenda, Vice President Gans requested a motion to move Item B3 to Consent Agenda. Commissioner Schwartz motioned to accept the request. Commissioner Brown seconded the motion. Commissioner Jones motioned to approve the agenda as amended. Commissioner Schwartz seconded the motion. The agenda was approved unanimously.
3.
GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS/ REPORT OF SECRETARY Mr. Henry Alvarez, Executive Director informed the Commission that they can find HUD correspondence and information regarding normal business in their Commission binders.
4.
COMMITTEE REPORTS There were no Committee Reports.
Commission Meeting Minutes December 10, 2009 Page 2
5.
REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL Mr. Roger Crawford, Acting Director of Human Resources informed the Commission that there would be a Closed Session to discuss personnel matters, pending litigation and real estate.
6.
TENANT REPRESENTATIVE REPORT Mr. Vitalie was not present at this meeting. Mr. John Dorsey presented in his place. He reported on the election process. Kimberly Hill-Brown was not present at the meeting.
7.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS Public Comments were heard by the following: Karen Huggins
8.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business.
9.
NEW BUSINESS A) CONSENT AGENDA 1. Approval of Minutes of October 22, 2009 Commission Meeting 2. Approval of Minutes for November 12, 2009 Commission Meeting
3. [Signature of the Section 8 Management Assessment Certification for FY 2009] Consideration and Approval. 4. [Authorization to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding between the SFHA and the Northern California Carpenter’s Regional Council] Consideration and Approval. Commissioner Larkin moved to approve the consent agenda. Commissioner Jones seconded the motion. The Consent Agenda was approved unanimously. B) ACTION ITEMS
1. [ Submission of a Request for Approval to select, by sole-source procurement, HPS Development Co., LP to redevelop Alice Griffith public Housing Site]
Commission Meeting Minutes December 10, 2009 Page 3 Barbara Smith, Administrator of MOD/HD presented this Resolution. Alice Griffith was identified by the Mayor’s 2007 HOPE SF Task Force as a public housing site that is in need of revitalization be revitalized. The Task Force recognized that limited federal funding is available for revitalization and that innovative partnerships would be essential, such as the one proposed with HPS Development Co., LP and CP Development Co., LP (Lennar), the developer of the Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point. Commission authorization for the Executive Director to request U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approval of sole source procurement for Lennar to rebuild the site, will provide the leverage of resources that would be unavailable to a developer working in isolation on the replacement of Alice Griffith public housing units. As required by HOPE SF, Alice Griffith residents have been involved in the planning and support revitalization of the site through this process. HUD allows public housing authorities to solicit a proposal from one source based on unique circumstances such as unique financing and other benefits of the proposal (24 CFR 85.36(d)(4). The HUD approval that is required will be requested following Commission authorization. Upon HUD approval of the sole-source procurement request, the Authority will continue to involve the Alice Griffith residents while working with the Developer to complete development, disposition and Mixed-Finance documents for this redevelopment. The Developer will be required to meet or exceed the Authority’s 20% MBE/WBE subcontracting requirements (Commission Resolution #2444), as well as requirements of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and the Mayor’s Office of Housing. The Developer will be required to meet or exceed the Authority’s requirement that 25% of the work force hours for contractors and consultants be public housing resident hires (Commission Resolution #4967), as well as requirements of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and the Mayor’s Office of Housing. The $57 million of immediate capital improvement needs will be addressed through replacement of the Alice Griffith public housing units with new housing that is financed with private and other public funds leveraged through the proposed partnership with Lennar. Commissioner Brown wanted information on gaining employment for these revitalized sites. Ms. Smith informed the Commission that the number of workers on the painting jobs is relatively small so the number of residents hired remains small. She informed the Commissioners that the more work we acquire, the more residents will be hired.
Commission Meeting Minutes December 10, 2009 Page 4 Commissioner Larkin wanted an estimate on the number of jobs that will come out of the redevelopment. Ms. Smith informed the Commission that this revitalization is a long process and that the SFHA is working closely with CityBuild and the Mayors Office of Economic and Workforce Development to get residents into training programs and work-ready programs. Commissioner Jones wanted to know the timeline for approval. Ms. Smith informed the Commissioners that the agency has preliminary indications that HUD will look favorable on the application. She then estimated four to six weeks as an approval date. Commissioner Schwartz wanted more clarification on the agencies goal to not sell off property and wanted to be reassured that the agency would be developing Alice Griffith through a ground lease. Ms. Smith reiterated that the proposal is through a ground lease that would come back to the Authority after the tax credit compliance period. Commissioner Brown wanted further clarification that the agency has not sold off any property under Hope VI and/or Hope SF. Ms. Smith confirmed that all of our revitalized sites are under ground leases. During this time, Vice President Gans opened the floor for public comment on this item. The following public comments were heard: Manny Flores. Commissioner Jones motioned to approve this Resolution. Commissioner Schwartz seconded the motion. This Resolution was passed unanimously. 2. [ Closure of Public Housing Waitlist] Nicole McCray Dickerson, Acting Director of Section 8 presented this Resolution. HUD requires the PHA to place all eligible families that apply for public housing on a waiting list. When a unit becomes available, the PHA must select families from the waiting list in accordance with HUD requirements and PHA policies as stated in its Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) and its annual plan. The San Francisco Housing Authority’s own Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy, adopted by the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission in July 2008 and approved by HUD in January 2009, states, “The SFHA, at its discretion, may restrict registration from intake, suspend application intake and close waiting lists in whole or part. SFHA may elect to: close a waiting list completely…” (SFHA ACOP, Section 3.2, part C, Section 1, page 18, July 1, 2008)
Commission Meeting Minutes December 10, 2009 Page 5 Currently, the San Francisco Housing Authority manages 6,262 public housing units (family and senior/disabled). As of January 14, 2009, the public housing waiting list was 29,977. There are currently 13 employees working in the Eligibility/Customer Care Department processing applications and answering questions about waiting list positions. With a waiting list of 29,977, the average client caseload per employee is approximately 2,300. The budget for these eligibility activities is $1.4 million. Because the waiting list is so large, staff members are not always able to provide the type of customer service that prospective clients, and the SFHA itself, expect. This resolution will benefit both the Housing Authority as well as applicants. It will prevent false hope among families that assistance will be available in the near future, and it will eliminate unnecessary application processing costs and allow staff members to devote time to other important program activities such as hosting development fairs and working with property managers to effectively market their properties and communities. Commissioner Jones wanted to know the current number of people on the waitlist. Ms. McCray-Dickerson informed the Commissioner that there were 29, 977 people on the waitlist. Commissioner Jones then requested further information on the actions we have taken to filter the current list. Ms. McCray-Dickerson informed him that the public housing waitlist was purged in May 2009. Purging the waitlist consist of mailing out information, letters and postcards to all the waitlist asking for preferences and updated information. 10% of the waitlist was lost during this process. Commissioner Brown wanted to know an estimate of when the list would be reopened. Ms. McCray-Dickerson informed that Commission that staff would have to look into the number of vacant units as well as the need and preferences of the members on the waitlist and manipulate the waitlist accordingly. Commissioner Larkin motioned to approve this Resolution. Commissioner Jones seconded the motion. This Resolution was approved unanimously. 10.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA Public Comments were heard by the following: Falaofuda Satele Karen Huggins Shenessa Williams Christine Neal Margaret Dennis Marvin Harrell Laura Gi Renita Mason
Commission Meeting Minutes December 10, 2009 Page 6 Yvonne Martinez Daz Lamparas Joseph Ospital Rev. Arelius Walker Barbara Brown Quan Moore 11.
COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS AND REPORTS There were no Commissioners Comments and Reports.
12.
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 5:05 p.m. Present were Vice President Gans, Commissioner Jones, Commissioner Schwartz, Commissioner Brown and Commissioner Larkin. No decisions were made.
13.
ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission, Commissioner Schwartz motioned to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Jones seconded the motion. Vice President Gans adjourned the Commission Meeting of December 10, 2009, at 6:15 p.m.
Henry A. Alvarez, Secretary/ Executive Director
Neola Gans, Vice President