HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO Minutes of Commission Meeting Thursday, August 14, 2008
440 Turk Street San Francisco, California
The Regular scheduled meeting of the Housing Authority Commission of the City and County of San Francisco met at 440 Turk Street, San Francisco, California, on Thursday, August 14, 2008, at 4:00 p.m. Vice President Gans called the meeting to order at 4:08 p.m. 1. ROLL CALL PRESENT:
Neola Gans, Vice President George R. Brown, Commissioner Jane Hsu, Commissioner Millard Larkin II, Commissioner (arrived at 4:20) Matthew Schwartz, Commissioner Dwayne Jones, Commissioner (arrived at 4:21)
NOT PRESENT:
Rev. Amos Brown
A quorum was present. ALSO PRESENT: 2.
Mr. Henry A. Alvarez, Executive Director Mr. Roger Crawford, Assistant General Counsel
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
During this time Commissioner Schwartz recused himself from item 10B.1 and 10B.3 and requested that the order of the agenda be changed in order to accommodate this request. He then motioned to approve an amended agenda. Commissioner Brown seconded the motion. This request was approved unanimously. 3.
GENERAL COMMUNICATIONS
Henry Alvarez, Executive Director informed the Commission that there was a General Communication Items that would be discussed further during Closed Session. That concluded the General Communications. 4.
REPORT OF SECRETARY
There was no Secretary Report. August 14, 2008 FINAL MIN
Commission Meeting Minutes August 14, 2008 Page 2 5. COMMITTEE REPORTS Diversity Committee No report. Finance Committee No report. Personnel Committee No report. Development Committee No report. 6.
REPORT OF GENERAL COUNSEL
Mr. Roger Crawford, Assistant General Counsel, stated that there would be a Closed Session to discuss pending litigation, personnel matters and labor negotiations. 7.
TENANT REPRESENTATIVE REPORT
City Wide Council - Senior/Disabled No report. Public Housing Tenants Association (PHTA) Kimberly Hill-Brown, president of the PHTA reported on several issues including the passing of Betty Brooks, ROSS grant opportunities for PHTA, case management for the family developments 8.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS: LIMITED TO 2 MINUTES NOTE: The public will have the opportunity to comment on agenda items prior to any action taken by the Commission pursuant to the San Francisco Housing Authority Rules Governing Public Testimony adopted 2/23/95 as Resolution No. 4423. Prior to adjournment, after Item No. 11, the public will have the opportunity to comment on items not on the agenda. Public comments were heard from the following people: Kimberley Alveranga 9. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None
10.
NEW BUSINESS
Commission Meeting Minutes August 14, 2008 Page 3 A) CONSENT AGENDA 1) APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR MEETING OF AUGUST 04, 2008 Commissioner Schwartz motioned to approve the Consent Agenda. Commissioner Brown seconded the motion. The Consent agenda was approved unanimously. B) ACTION ITEMS 1. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO: (1) EXECUTE AN AMENDED AND RESTATED OPTION TO LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE DEVELOPER, CITIZENS HOUSING CORPORATION; AND (2) EXECUTE A COLLATERAL ASSIGNMENT OF SFHA DOCUMENTS AND OPTION TO LEASE ESTOPPEL CERTIFICATE WITH THE DEVELOPER AND THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO FOR THE ROSA PARKS SITE Barbara Smith, Administrator of Housing Development and Modernization presented this Resolution. This Resolution states that on November 10, 2005, the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) Commission adopted Resolution Number 5238 authorizing the Executive Director to negotiate an Exclusive Negotiating Rights Agreement ("ENRA") with Citizens Housing Corporation (the "Developer") and its development team for a Ground Lease (the "Lease") for the addition of up to 100 affordable apartments for senior and disabled households on a portion of the Rosa Parks senior housing site. The ENRA was negotiated and signed by the Developer and SFHA on September 20, 2006 with the primary purpose of establishing the procedures and standards for negotiation of the proposed Lease between the SFHA and the Developer, and to set forth the major negotiating tasks to be accomplished within the Negotiating Period of the ENRA. The Developer and SFHA desire to amend the Option to provide, among other changes, for an option payment in the amount of Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000) (the "Option Payment") to be credited against the proposed capitalized ground lease payment. The SFHA intends to use the Option Payment as program income for public housing purposes and the Developer is continuing to secure entitlements and financing and to negotiate the terms and conditions of the Lease with SFHA and other related development documents. Commissioner Jones motioned that the Resolution be approved. Commissioner Hsu seconded the motion. This Request was approved unanimously. 2. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE RESCISSION OF THE 1996 DEMOLITION APPLICATION FOR CAL 1-39B, 951 EDDY STREET
Commission Meeting Minutes August 14, 2008 Page 4 In November 1995, 951 Eddy Street was severely damaged in the fire that destroyed the neighboring historic St. Paulus Church. In September 1996 under the leadership and directions of the HUD Recovery Team that has taken over SFHA, an application was submitted to HUD for HOPE VI Demolition Grant funds and approval to demolish the damaged structure. The Demolition Grant application was subsequently approved by HUD and HOPE VI Demolition Grant funds were awarded in the amount of $360,000. In November 1996, the SFHA Executive Director at the time reversed the decision to demolish the building, instructed the Modernization Department to rehabilitate the building, and requested that HUD approve the use of the funding for partial demolition needed to rehabilitate the building in lieu of complete demolitions. HUD denied the request and rescinded the grant. HUD advised the Authority that the Demolition Application must be rescinded by action of the Board of Commissioners in order for the units to be entered into the HUD PIC (PIH Information Center) data management system. Only units reported in the PIC are eligible for Operating Subsidy and Capital Fund Program grant calculations. Commissioner Schwartz wanted to know if this meant that those units mentioned above have been out of the PIC system. Ms. Smith informed him that the units are receiving subsidies but it is taking HUD a long time to convert all the units to the system and while they are receiving a subsidy, they are not formally entered into the system. Commissioner Schwartz motioned to approve this Resolution. Commissioner Larkin seconded the motion. This Resolution was passed unanimously. 3. INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATION- HOUSING SERVICES AFFLIATE OF BERNAL HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER PROPOSAL TO REVITALIZE ALEMANY PUBLIC HOUSING Ms. Smith presented this Item for an unsolicited proposal that the Authority received in response to its 2007 Developer RFQ, from the Housing Services Affiliate of the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center (HAS) and the John Stewart Company (JSCo) to evaluate revitalization options for Alemany and develop a financing plan with mixed-finance development methods. On June 5 , 2008 HAS and JSCo submitted a request to the Mayor’s Office of Housing for $632,864 to prepare a Master Pan for an Alemany Public Housing rebuild. HSD, a community based organization, has worked closely with Alemany residents and built affordable housing in Bernal Heights. JSCo has extensive experience developing affordable housing, including North Beach place, Pullman Point in Richmond and JSCO is co-developer for revitalization of Hunters View. HUD 24 CFR part 85 and part 941 subpart F regulations and Authority policies require procurement of development partners through publicly advertised and
Commission Meeting Minutes August 14, 2008 Page 5 procedurally fair competition. Subpart F allows for the procurement of development partners through the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process based on qualifications and negotiated price after selection or through a Request for Proposals process. As such, a RFQ or RFP is needed in order to consider this proposal. The Mayors Office of Housing has indicated that it would consider a request for predevelopment funding for a feasibility study for Alemany if the Authority selected a development team for the site. Staff requested direction on whether or not to solicit a development team for revitalization of the Alemany public housing community. Commissioner Jones wanted information on the timeline for development and Ms. Smith informed him that a RFQ would need to be prepared and advertised for several weeks. Commissioner Brown wanted to know what staff recommends and Ms. Smith informed him the opportunity to leverage outside financing is a very important consideration and that she would recommend moving forward by exploring the opportunities and find out if there is a feasible way to rebuild Alemany development. Commissioner Jones moved that we direct staff to move forward with the solicitation. Commissioner Brown seconded the direction. 4. INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATION- 311 PROGRAM John Wilkinson, Director of Central Services presented this Resolution. In April, the Housing Authority partnered with 3-1-1, the City’s Customer Service Center, to deliver quality and timely service to public housing residents. The result of this partnership is being proven successful. To date, 3-1-1- has taken almost 5,000 calls for maintenance requests; while allowing SFHA to reduce overtime costs and improve on customer service. Prior to the 3-1-1 taking calls, there was a single dispatcher that responded to calls Mon-Friday, 8-5 pm. During after hours and on weekends, SFHA outsourced all maintenance calls. The agency spent $3,578 per month and nearly $43,000 annually on an answering service to take these types of calls, generate work orders, and notify maintenance personnel during off hours. The answering service also had to adhere to the emergency protocol of the housing authority. The work orders generated by the answering service are assigned daily to appropriate crafts for completion of work. A report about work orders (completed or outstanding) is the tool to track the work orders request. There are over 65 Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) with 3-1-1 that are available to take customer calls seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Upon receiving SFHA maintenance call, the CSR determines the appropriate work order type; emergency, urgent, routine, and preventative, and assigns the work order to the
Commission Meeting Minutes August 14, 2008 Page 6 appropriate SFHA maintenance personnel. This initiative has reduced SFHA overtime by as much as 26%. The average overtime hours within a two week frame has reduced from 305 hours to 225 hours. Overtime hours were reduced because of CSRs proper screening techniques and by strictly following the established emergency protocol of the Housing Authority. On June 30th SFHA and 3-1-1 completed an integration of their applications that no longer makes it necessary for 3-1-1 to enter information into two systems. The improved and streamlined process allows SFHA/3-1-1 to monitor, track, identify trends, benchmark, and make adjustments in order to increase efficiencies and response/resolution times. Customer Service Representatives with 3-1-1 are also well trained to respond to callers, have good knowledge of the topics at hand, and have the ability to translate up to 175 different languages. Residents can also take advantage of this new reporting and tracking system. Whenever a resident calls to report a maintenance issue, 3-1-1 issues a tracking number to acknowledge receipt of call. Residents can refer to that number and receive a status on their maintenance request. Commissioner Schwartz wanted to know why the Authority keeps its overtime. Mr. Wilkinson informed the Commission that this was an issue that staff has taken into consideration. Commissioner Brown wanted to know if the response has been better from the crafts employees. Mr. Wilkinson informed him that the response time has improved from SFHA staff and 311 also offers the residents with a estimated time of arrival. Commissioner Gans requested more information on the tracking mechanism. Mr. Wilkinson informed the Commissioners that once the resident calls 311, they are given a number as well as an estimated time of arrival. She also requested information on the address and she was informed that the 311 service center was located on 1 South Van Ness in the old Bank of American building. 11.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA Public Comments were heard from the following: Margaret Dennis Carla Minick
12.
COMMISSIONER COMMENTS AND REPORTS Commissioner Schwartz welcomed Mr. Alvarez as our Executive Director and requested that we received a vacant unit report and a lease-up report. Commissioner Larkin, Commissioner Gans and Commissioner Brown also welcomed Mr. Alvarez
13.
CLOSED SESSION
Commission Meeting Minutes August 14, 2008 Page 7 A Closed session is 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 5:11 p.m. 14.
RECONVENING OF COMMISSION MEETING The Commission reconvened from Closed Session at 6:28.m. Mr. Crawford stated that Vice President Gans, Commissioner Brown, Commissioner Jones, Commissioner Schwartz, Commissioner Larkin and Commissioner Hsu were present. No decisions were made.
16.
ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commissioner Jones moved to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Schwartz seconded the motion. Vice President Gans adjourned the Commission Meeting of August 14, 2008, at 6:28 p.m.
Henry A. Alvarez III, Secretary/ Executive Director
Neola Gans, Vice President