February 27, 2024 Board Meeting Minutes

THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES
501 Alonzo Watson Drive
South Bend IN 46601
February 27, 2024 @ 9 a.m.

Click here for the February 2024 Board Meeting Link.
Meeting ID: 861 258 2297
Passcode: W8Pk16

• CALL TO ORDER:
  Commissioner Calvin called the meeting to order 9:00 a.m.
  
  
• ROLL CALL:
  Commissioner Calvin, Commissioner Luecke, Commissioner Chamblee, Commissioner Daniel, Commissioner McNally.
  
  
• HASB STAFF:
  Marsha Parham-Green; Executive Director, Deborah Mobley; Director of PH, Lori Wallace; Director of HCV, Andy Delaney; CFO, Katherine Bailey; Family Self Sufficiency Coordinator, Pamela Rogers, Administrative Assistant to Executive Director/Board Secretary
  
  
• OTHERS:
  Attorney J. Harris
  
  
• PUBLIC: 
  
  • Rodney Gadson South Bend Tenant Association
  • Sarah Schaefer City of South Bend
  • Camille Sarabia South Bend Tribune
  • Doris Agnew HASB Resident
  • Kyong Koehle HASB Resident
    
    
• OLD BUSINESS:
  Commissioner Chamblee moved to approval of Minutes from the January 2024, board of commission meetings, Commissioner McNally second the motion. The vote was as follows.
  
  
  • Commissioner Luecke AYE
  • Commissioner Chamblee AYE
  • Commissioner Daniel AYE
  • Commissioner McNally AYE
  • Commissioner Calvin AYE
    
    
•  PUBLIC COMMENTS
  Rodney Gadson stated that he had 7 points to make. He wanted to start with a question to former mayor Luecke. There was a tragedy with the house fire of the Smith six, and condolence to all. He wanted to ask a question of section 8 and their inspections; do they have to report to code enforcement and verify things when it comes to an inspection in a failed house?
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said at this time regulations do not require us to report to entities, however the HASB is willing to work with other agencies to report incidents. We are working with the city in order for information to be shared.
  
  Mr. Gadson asked Mayor Luecke is there a way for us to create an ordinance to unify HUD and the municipal of such findings to report to the city council or report to code enforcement so when a situation happens it can be noted. Couldn't there be an ordinance so when something happens on South Bend grounds it can be noted, reported, and unified and making it transparent as well as being oversighted by the Section 8 people as well.
  
  Commissioner Luecke said it's a good question, but it is a city council question where ordinances originate. I don't know if the city can force a federal agency to report, but as Director Parham-Green has said we are working with the city to establish a MOU to share information when we find a building that does not meet our standards and to be able to share that with code enforcement so if they want to take action.
  
  Mr. Gadson said we have tenants at Cedar Glen apartments, the portage township trustee accessor went a step beyond to see the injustice of the tenants of those units that went without heat, water and other necessities in their houses for months. If this be the case, and you are aware of it, shouldn't it be some oversite from the section 8 department if the complaint came to them to investigate it and not be so natural and see the problem for themselves because after all you are paying for it and so is our tax dollars.
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said the first question is, did we know about the problem? Many times, the HASB does not know about problems upfront or while they are happening. On occasions, we learn about the situation through other means, not directly from the resident nor was information provided directly to the HASB.
  
  Mr. Gadson said if you know that this is unhabitable, wouldn't you not be as neutral in the federal government and play a more active part and tell the tenant and say we may have other options available (and I know housing is short) they may have to go temporarily into Public Housing, until that situation is fixed. Wouldn't section 8 play a more active role in helping the tenants.
  
  Commissioner Chamble asked Mr. Gadson, you asked can't the housing authority be more proactive, what is your proposed solution from a legal, enforcement and logistical standpoint can we tell the people of Ceder Glenn (you must fix your furnace), or else is our tenant will request to move. If you have a proposal, then please make it.
  
  Mr. Gadson said his proposal would be if he knew publicly that there is a danger in a household, he would take the lead of doing oversite. If he knows Ceder Glens tenants are having a problem, he would get the caseworker out there to assess the situation. He would let the tenant know their rights and options of not living there. He would be more hands-on with the tenant. Sometimes they fear the Housing Authority since there is a shortage of housing and don't want to make waves.
  
  Commissioner Chamblee said yes, there is a shortage of affordable, clean, and safe housing. So, section 8 has vouchers on the streets, and we know of the Cedar Glen situation from the news and from any tenant that has reported the uninhabitable units, that there is problems at Cedar Glen. You are saying that they are afraid because they don't know where they can move to? They can certainly seek other housing, but what if they are waiting for this to be resolved, because it meets the criteria, what do you expect the Housing Authority to do, compel compliance with heat, water, and lights? Because I am not sure we have the power that you propose we do, to make the landlord do what they need to do other than removing the tenant because they have to be removed.
  
  Mr. Gadson said the first responsibility of the board is to provide safe and habitable housing. And the next one is fiduciary, to make sure the money is going where it is supposed to go.
  
  Commissioner Luecke interjected and said, we are talking about Ceder Glen apartments. And it is my understanding that when we were aware of the heat and water problems, we actually checked with the section 8 tenants that we had in the building to see that they had heat and water and as I recall the report the people who had vouchers said they had heat and hot water. Those are the tenants that we have a relationship with, and if one of those tenants had reported that they were without heat or hot water, then we could tell the owner of the building or management company to provide heat and hot water. They have a certain period of time in which to meet those standards and if they don't then our next step is we can cut off payment of Section 8 support to that unit. Being respectful of the family that is within that unit, they may have a voucher but may not have a place to stay. We are trying to work with the tenant and make sure that the unit that we have a financial relationship with is meeting the standards of safe and affordable housing, and those are steps that our staff have taken with this situation.
  
  Mr. Gadson said that is what I was looking for, just what you just said. Because with the portage township assessor, they mirrored what you did. I am meeting with these clients.
  
  Commissioner Chamblee asked did you meet with the tenants in general or the tenants on section 8.
  
  Mr. Gadson said when he mentioned how many people were on section 8 the majority of them said they were on section 8, and it was about 25-35 people at the meeting. The first question was, did you report this to your landlord? Then the second question was, did you report this to your caseworker about the situation and half of them said no. I questioned, why wouldn't they report this to the HASB if they are having problems with, he landlord or code enforcement. I'm troubled with why they didn't do it. So, the next time we have a meeting I will ask these questions and report back to you. We don't want to force the issue of they can come off but where are they going to go? So how are the lawyers working with the apartment complex, what timeline can you give that landlord to make things right is actually what I am looking for from the HASB. So, I am saying to you with the lawyers they need to come up with a timeline and do it in a timely manner.
  
  Almost three years ago, on March 6, 2021, Rabbi Shulman was vacant. I see Monroe Circle is already leveled to the ground, why isn't Rabbi Shulman leveled to the ground.
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said we are still working to identify a developer to redevelop Monroe Circle. It is still in progress.
  
  Mr. Gadson said the administration building and the 501 building on your rad plan is supposed to be remodeled or leveled. When will this happen?
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said when we have a finalized plan, we will announce the information to the body, and you will have access to that information.
  
  Mr. Gadson said Harbor Homes is also on the Rad plan. Mrs. Mobley already told me that they are fixing up some of the home, but yet it is still on the Rad plan to go away. My question is it going to be fixed or torn down. My question is when it is going to be done. There needs to be a time frame and an answer and not be so vague.
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said at this time we don't have a definitive answer.
  
  Mr. Gadson said they need to know an answer, a timeline so the tenants can plan accordingly. The Rad program has an assist education part, please let me partner with you. We have a program that we can bring to you to see in order for us to work together. I want to help so that property isn't destroyed and requires a lot of maintenance. We want to help educate the tenants because we know that education open up eyes.
  
  Commissioner Calvin said we thank you and that concludes the public comment and concerns section. Let me assure you we all have some of the same common interests. We want to service South Bend as much as you do, and we encourage you to work with the Executive Director
  
  Attorney Harris said he distributed to all the board members a copy of the document involving United States vs Tonya Robinson et all. I don't know if you have any further comments now, but if there are no objections then we will go forward with an action filing with the court.
  
  
• EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT:
  Mrs. Parham-Green said she has met with the residents of each development and to get their understanding of how we see the path forward and what they will want to see. At that time, we reiterated that if there is a problem they should report this directly to the Housing Authority because when we find out about it through code enforcement or another entity it could be weeks later. We have been engaged in identifying the things that need to happen with those vacancies so we can get families into those units. There are monies available to assist us with that and we will prepare an assessment with the help of the city of each one of the scattered sits and have a rough estimate on what it will cost to bring it online as well as with the 501 building. We have done 15 units and plan to do many more, we are working very aggressively. We are going to be working to come up with a very specific plan on how we spend our capital fund and how we resource the money out the money appropriately. On HCV, we have recruited several new hearing officers, they are individuals out of the community. We had a meeting with the HUD field office, they indicated because there is a continued growth resolution for our funding, they will potentially front us the money we need for housing assistance. They have proactively been thinking what will happen if there is a government shutdown.
  
  
• FAMILY SELF-SUFFICIENCY (FSS):
  Katherine reported on FSS for the month of January stating there are 67 participants enrolled in the FSS program. 58 in the HCV program, 9 in Public Housing, and 39 Participants with escrow accounts, with $99,437.00 for the total amount in escrow.
  
  Tamika Saunders the Community Marketing Representative II for CareSource was the guest speaker for the January 2024 FSS Monthly Meeting. She shared healthcare resources provided by the Hoosier Indiana Plan (HIP) and Hoosier Healthwise Plan. There was 1 termination from Public Housing because the participant moved out.
  
  Commissioner Luecke asked what are the standards in order to be able to graduate? Once they graduate, do they move out of public housing or off the voucher program?
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said they have to meet all of their goals in the five-year period. And for the ones who are looking for home ownership, yes. But say their goal is to graduate college, again the escrow is helping them to defer the cost of their education.
  
  Commissioner Calvin asked how do you get the monthly speakers? Katherine stated that she solicits them and asks them to speak.
  
  
• LOW-INCOME PUBLIC HOUSING {LIPH):
  Mrs. Mobley stated she has a total of 231 vacancies; however, we are in the midst of leasing up another 16 units. We have 10 units that we are waiting on contractors in order to get those units started. We are working on a lot of our scattered sites at this time, and we are working with the city to get funds to help get those scattered sites going. We had a total of 267 work orders. We are working on rehabbing in the 501 building, we have contractors working out in Harbor Homes, Laurel Court, and some of our scattered sights.
  
  Commissioner McNally asked how many rehabs are we working on right now? How many did we finish working on? And by the end of February, how many do you think will be finished??
  
  Mrs. Mobley said 10 that is in the process of being worked on now, and in January we started 15 and finished them in February.
  
  Commissioner McNally asked, by the end of February about how many do you think will be finished?
  
  Mrs. Mobley said that was a hard question to answer.
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said the plan that she talked about with the scattered sites, which is the target group for right now. We anticipate reaching our goal to have all of the scattered sites done by the end of March.
  
  Commissioner McNally asked how many scattered sites will that be?
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said that will be forty-four (44) total. And as Mrs. Mobley stated we are working to already have families identified for those units as they come online.
  
  Commissioner Calvin asked was the work orders were up or down?
  
  Mrs. Mobley stated that they are down
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said we have been communicating with the residents and something we heard a lot was when maintenance was working in the building the residents would then tell maintenance what their situation was. We are educating our residents that the maintenance person probably won't remember their request because they are working on a different unit. We reiterated in following the process in order to get their request to the proper place in order to get the work order scheduled for the repair. We are getting handheld, and refrigerator magnets with the contact and emergency contact phone number on them.
  
  Commissioner Calvin asked do we have a process for online for that
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said yes.
  
  Commissioner Daniel said that is wonderful for the clients because that way they don't have to go searching for it, it can be placed somewhere hand
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said that at next month's board meeting, we will do the board meeting
  
  
• HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM {HCVP):
  Ms. Wallace stated there was an insert in the package that will allow you a different way to see the balance
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said this report allows the team to see where the actual dollars are and underscore the cuts and see how much money we really need.
  
  Ms. Wallace said HUD has been very supportive in getting us what we need to get tenants paid. They don't want to see tenants get pulled off the program because there isn't enough money. Ms. Wallace continued with her report stating that for the tracking of the leasing activity, we are still growing. The utilization rate is still going up, the waiting list is still holding steady, and we still have more applications in queue to be processed. We made a big push in February to get our vouchers out the door. The next chart deals with processes of re-exams, people porting in, porting out and the tenants moving about. The last report is the HQS monthly quality control report where we completed 3II inspections, 1 40 annual inspections, 91 of those are reinspection's, 16 abatement inspections and 6 special inspections.
  
  Commissioner McNally asked do we have any units that have not been inspected in the last year.
  
  Ms. Wallace said no, we are moving to biannual inspections if the unit is occupied by the same tenant and passes two consecutive annual inspections, and we are up to about 20% of our units that are starting this process
  
  Commissioner Calvin said that the new sheet was a great help and training to her.
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said going forward we will have reports that will be more concise and will allow us to show more specifically the information that is going on.
  
  
• FINANCIAL REPORT:
  Mr. Delaney started by going over the variance of the budget for each AMP beginning with AMP 1. In Amp 1, other tenant income is 55% of the budget, office expense is 128% of the budget because there was a software fee that was paid in the first quarter of the fiscal year. Legal expense was 138% of the budget because we had more eviction and more eviction notices and had to speak with Harris and associates for more information. In Amp 2, other tenant income was 37% of the budget, office expenses were 148% of the budget because we had cameras purchased for the 501 building, and legal expenses were 10% of the budget because we had fewer evictions in Amp 2. In Amp 3, office expenses were 155% of the budget because of the software fees paid in the first quarter. Utilities are 73% of the budget because it has been warmer outside and not as much gas was being used. We had more maintenance expenses in Amp 3 because we are doing maintenance to more of the units. In Amp 4, legal expenses are lower than budget because we had less evictions. Bookkeeping expenses are lower than budget because we have more tenant rentals than budgeted. In shortfall funding, we have not been able to use the funds because we haven't been awarded the funds yet. Under HCVP HAP, fraud income is 41% of the budget because we haven't got a lot of fraud income payments.
  
  Commissioner Luecke asked Mr. Delaney, since he mentioned legal expenses, that we are doing more evictions, is that primarily because of nonpayment of rent or are there other issues causing those evictions?
  
  Mrs. Mobley said some of it is because of the way the court system is changing. We need more legal advice on how to proceed. When tenants go into court, more of them have attorneys therefore we have our attorneys there also. To ensure the property manager isn't trying to present our case to a lawyer and that's why we pull our lawyers in.
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said that HCV Fraud had been suspended for a while. We will review the information to ensure that it is not an error and is actually unreported income.
  
  Commissioner Mc Nally asked if you could compare what a tenant reports as income relative to what social security is saying?
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said the way the program works is if there is unreported income, we identify that amount. Once we collect that amount, we get to keep 50% of whatever we collect under administrative. The majority of the time what is shown as unreported income is not income that you can count so we have to go through the report and figure out who they are and give them the option of a repayment agreement.
  
  Commissioner Luecke asked when we have a unit empty, how long does it take to fill that unit with a tenant?
  
  Mrs. Mobley said usually we give days to have an applicant respond back. We do have a lot of applicants from out of town or telephone numbers have changed and we run into trying to track them down.
  
  Commissioner Luecke asked if a family doesn't want a unit are they dropped from the list?
  
  Mrs. Mobley said they are rotated to the bottom of the pile, and they are advised of this, so they actually get two opportunities to get a unit.
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said what we have found that during the analysis of the 501, the problem leads back to the failing of the pipes. We have done a lot of work in the area, but this is necessary exercise. I want the agency to move forward in the right direction and most importantly to grow.
  
  Commissioner McNally said how much do you think we need to spend at the 501 to make it last 5-10 years
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said around 2-3 million dollars
  
  Commissioner Mc Nally said it is his concern that at some point the building has to come down anyway and the question is do we keep throwing money into it now? I hear you when you say we done have anywhere to put these residents
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said if we do not do anything now the building wouldn't last
  
  Commissioner McNally said he feels like Rabbi Shulman, we are going to have to move folks out
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said it's a little bit different because we already have people living in the building and the fact that they are still using the water in the building is keeping it alive and its not as bad as Rabbi Shulman
  
  Commissioner McNally said he doesn't have an answer, however, his concern is the amount we have to spend to maintain the building over the next 1 0 years might be better spent somewhere else
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said the flip side of the coin is if we don't invest in the pipes, where are we going to put these families and secondly, we are limiting the opportunity to house other families,
  
  Commissioner Mc Nally asked can we get it close to being full
  
  Mrs. Parham-Green said yes. Either way, we are going to be spending that money. If we update, will it eventually have to come down, probably yes
  
  Commissioner McNally said he understood
  
  Meeting adjourned.