CRHA Special Board Meeting   3/30/2021

Well, this is Betsy.

Okay, so Betsy says she's having some computer trouble and she just wants us to start the meeting.

Let me pull up the the agenda.

And so I will call this meeting to order.

I don't have code 2.2-3708.2 parentheses a three.

But

Presumably, that's the code that says that we're allowed to meet virtually rather than in person because the coronavirus pandemic makes it unsafe and impractical to gather together in person.

Is there anything I'm forgetting about that?

So then, Kathleen, are you speaking?

No, I was not speaking.

Yeah, I'm driving, I'm sorry guys, I'm like going to address a family emergency as I'm driving.

Okay, so let's try to push through.

This is a special meeting of the CRHA Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, March 30th at 5pm.

I'm going to attempt to do that, so please forgive me if it gets loud in my household.

Commissioner Goldblatt?

Here.

Commissioner Green?

Here.

Chair Rutger, Commissioner Slaughter, Mayor Walker.

Did I forget anybody?

Sure.

No quorum.

That's what I thought.

She said she was.

Yeah, that's my understanding.

She was trying to reboot her computer.

I mean, should we wait a few minutes until she or Mayor Walker joins?

Right.

I don't think we can, yeah, I agree.

Chair Rector.

Yay.

I'm on my phone.

So in my laptop, for some reason is still restarting itself.

I don't know, it must be very unhappy.

So okay, I can copy and paste it into the chat in a moment.

So that you can see it.

But we're at the we'll take a moment of silence.

Wonderful.

Okay, Betsy, do you want me to read out the meeting dates?

I don't know if you have those.

Yeah, you can go ahead.

All right, so next we have general announcements.

So the next CRHA board work session is Thursday, April 8th, 2021 at 5 p.m. via Zoom.

Our regular board meeting is Monday, April 26th at 6 p.m.

The safety meeting meets every other Tuesday.

It meets tonight at 6 p.m.

and then again on April 13th at 6 p.m. and you need to enter passcode 181698.

It's on the CRHA website and on the Facebook page to get into the meeting and you can find all the Zoom info there.

The Redevelopment Committee meeting is every first Thursday of the month at 4 p.m.

This is a new time and you can go to the website for the Zoom info to get in.

The Resident Services Committee meets every second Tuesday of the month at 1 p.m.

and you can also find the Zoom meeting information there.

Are there any other announcements or meeting dates that I missed?

If you would like to speak to the CRHA at this time, please click the raise hand icon in the Zoom webinar.

If you're joining us via telephone, press star nine.

Each speaker will be allowed up to three minutes.

Please share your place of residence when you begin.

Okay, Brandon Collins, you are on with the board.

Yes, I can.

Good evening, CRHA Board of Commissioners.

I'm Brandon Collins.

I'm a staff person for PHAR, the Public Housing Association of Residents.

We are the resident council and the resident advisory board for dealings with CRHA.

We've had some back and forth on your budget.

I think we all appreciate the approach you took.

We know that the big question before you is what to do about the security contract and the massive amount of money you're spending for security that from y'all's perspective and from many residents perspective is not really accomplishing much, especially for the amount of money being spent.

So we've done some digging around.

A big concern of ours is what does that mean for Crescent Halls, which has very different security needs.

It was proposed that they, that CRHA could hire its own door person for the building.

We've had some conversations.

Residents there overwhelmingly feel like the security is not doing what they expect of it.

That may be some misunderstanding of what the security is supposed to be doing there, but I think a door greeter situation there, if CRHA were to work very closely with the residents there on what their needs are, that certainly a better way of handling that could be in place.

One resident I'd spoke to mentioned somebody having a window broken twice

in a very short amount of time.

And how could that happen if there was security there with, you know, they were on duty and how were car windows broken when that happened?

The other sites, I think you get a similar perspective.

A lot of that's been funneled through the safety committee.

I think it's very important that we ramp up participation on that committee.

I know it's not easy,

But if that committee is to guide the deployment of funds for safety and security, we're going to have to again work with these very closely to identify what's needed.

There is definitely that same sense that security is not really keeping crime from happening.

and that other things may be more beneficial to the community.

So I can't say for sure that that's a far position, but that is our general experience with residents over these past few weeks.

Our next speaker is Tim Sansone.

That's okay.

Good evening.

This is Tim Sansone.

Can everyone hear me?

Okay.

Yes.

Thank you for having me again.

Tim Sansone with the President of Century Forest Security.

Just wanted to again reiterate our stance and on our proposal, but to really quick address some of the comments and the statement provided by FAR just a moment ago.

Despite that statement, security has been doing a tremendous job at these properties.

Since we last met last Monday, there's now over 167 incidents that have occurred since January.

Since we started, that's an increase of 20 since last Monday's meeting.

The officers are diligently patrolling the areas they need to patrol and are documenting all of these incidents and responding to them appropriately.

One such incident I want to bring to your all's attention especially is at Crescent Hall.

The officers are doing a tremendous job there, despite any observations or comments made by far.

One such incident, there was an elderly resident that had fallen and one of her officers last week had assisted her and actually saved her because he went upstairs and assisted her when she fell, called 911 and directed paramedics to assist her.

And there was an incident report documenting that.

That was one of the 20 incidents that have happened since last week.

so the officers are doing a very good job at these properties and specifically regarding that incident that Brandon had mentioned about a broken window that was documented and reported that was one of the other 20 incidents that have occurred since last week since speaking with John Sales last week the officers have been told now instead of patrolling Crescent Halls to just remain permanently assigned to the front door in the lobby so they're not patrolling anymore but that incident was brought to our attention

It happened outside, so since they don't patrol anymore, the officer went outside when it was brought to his attention to submit a report.

He got a police case number from CPD, but the officers have now been told to control access completely for Crescent Hall.

But overall, they are doing an excellent job.

There have been a total of 167 incidents to date.

That's an increase of 20 since last week.

So there's clearly a lot of activity going on in these properties.

The officers are doing everything that they can to curb and address them.

I wanted to also mention, aside from the proposal that had been submitted last week to the board's attention for consideration, should the board decide to prefer a different alternative as far as

Continuing with security, there are other alternatives we can propose besides this proposal.

This isn't the only one.

All right, would anyone else like to speak at this time?

Okay.

Okay, so no other public comment?

Okay, sorry, I'm on my laptop now so I can

So commissioners, it sounds like we need to discuss this and move eventually to a resolution and vote on the

to pull it up, okay, on the budget for the next year.

Would it be appropriate to read the resolution before we have the discussion?

Yeah.

Yeah, I have it up if I can go ahead and read it.

This would be resolution number 1424, resolution approving the authority-wide budget for fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.

Whereas the authority-wide budget for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, which has been reviewed by the commissioners, and whereas the public housing budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022,

2022, which is included as part of the authority wide budget has also been reviewed.

And whereas with respect to the public housing budget, the incomes and rents of the residents residing in the authorities public housing at the time of the last annual reexamination have also been reviewed.

Now, therefore be it resolved by the commissioners of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority pursuant to the attached certificates that

Number one, the authority-wide budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022 is hereby approved.

Number two, the public housing budget for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2002 is hereby approved.

Number three, the following certifications are hereby made by the executive director with respect to the public housing budget.

that number one, well, this is A, number one, all regulatory and statutory requirements have been met.

Number two, there are sufficient operating reserves to meet the working capital needs of its developments.

Three, the proposed expenditures are necessary in the efficient and economical operation of the housing

For the purpose of serving low income residents, number four, the financial plan is reasonable in that A, it indicates a source of funding adequate to cover all proposed expenditures, and B, the calculation of eligibility for federal funding is in accordance with the provisions of the regulations.

Under 24 CFR 968.11,

0E and F comply with the wage rate requirements.

Under 24 CFR 96811 I will comply with the requirements for access to records and audits and D under 24 CFR 960.257 and 24 CFR 990.113 will comply with the requirements

for the reexamination of family income and composition and then resolved on this day by the commissioners.

And I can probably put it up on the screen if anyone cares to see all of that.

So it seems like

Kathleen, are you connected on here?

Yes, sorry.

Oh, hey, John.

Mr.

Sales.

Just wondering if there's any other teams we should know about.

It seems like the security, the shift in how we provide security

No, I've not changed anything since the last time we spoke.

I still have budgeted in to fulfill the DORG reader at one and a half positions to deal with crescent halls and the entry and exit of that building.

We do anticipate

Based upon where we are right now financially, as long as we stay projected with our current budget, we'll meet our reserve goal from HUD at the end of 2022 fiscal year.

HUD has us meeting it in two years.

So we'll beat that by a year, which is really nice.

So that will get us out of troubled status for our financial situation.

I believe that is the only other update we have.

We did submit the information for the PPP loan that you all passed at the last meeting.

So we do believe we'll have that funding as well, but that is a loan until it's forgiven.

So we have to carry it as a loan on our books as well.

So I don't have that proposed in this budget, but we'll come back and we can deal with that at that time, the loan is forgiven.

So I have one question.

One of the things that we had discussed in our last meeting was having the question of how we are going to compensate or do the night work that if we have someone at the door

24 hours a day, including weekends at Crescent Halls that we're going to have people working through the night.

And Mayor Welker had raised the issue of thinking about how many people we would need.

Yes, we did.

So that's why I added the half a person.

But we also don't plan to do 24 hours.

So the plan is to work the schedule that is currently being worked with security.

So it's after CRHA staff typically leaves the building, which is at five o'clock.

So that's when we would start.

It wouldn't be 24-7.

Once we have redeveloped the site, there may be a possibility where we actually have a staff member there in that office or in that space because they are building that bump out.

We can ask, may be able to house someone there, another staff worker, maybe the work order person is there.

So they're doing double duty.

They're playing the checking IDs while also answering the phone and taking work orders.

That is a possibility.

So it's not hiring an additional staff member, but it's still keeping that access control.

So we have talked about that, what that looks like internally, but that we have to get to a certain point where we have redeveloped that space to fit that person there.

Thank you.

One other question about the Crescent Halls position.

And this doesn't necessarily have to do with the budget, so maybe we can talk about it later.

But during construction, I know at times the entrance will move and change and we just may need, I know the construction company provides some help with this, but just thinking we're gonna need some additional help

potentially during the day even with people entering temporary entrances when they have to move the entrance.

I don't think that affects the budget necessarily.

Yeah, I think that's something that GMA has built into their budget, site control and site safety, knowing that this is still gonna be an active building with COVID still being heavily present in the area.

So they all have put that in their budget to take care of that.

So we have something in place for that.

Even with the transition, the temporary relocation of the door, that's actually a better spot when it comes to having a staff member there because there is an office space right off of that door.

Well, there's not gonna be any way possible to store all the building materials and everything needed on the inside.

And so that is a huge part of

and the problems with construction sites.

And since we know there's nobody from, the desk person won't be patrolling outside.

I would like to know that.

Cause I think that could, it could cause some problems.

I agree that that is an issue, but I also think that's something that we have to put on the contractor to address to shore, because it is their material, and so the building is turned over, so it's their liability, so they are supposed to address that, but I can get with GMA, and I can come back with an answer on that for you.

I'm just wondering if we can say a little bit, you know, coming out of the safety committee meetings and getting ready to go to one pretty soon,

I'm just wondering what this is going to look like.

And I think that's something that the people who attend the safety committee tonight are going to want to know.

And so if we don't have a security contract, what's the relationship with the Buck Squad or with other organizations?

I can say with some clarity, this is what it'll look like at Crescent Halls.

But of course, that's not the only place that people have safety concerns.

So I think the Buck Squad is actively working in the communities already even without having a contract or anything in place.

I do have a meeting scheduled with Mr. Gilmore tomorrow to discuss further what the arrangement will be with them either occupying space and working throughout our spaces, our communities to address the safety issue.

So I believe it's a multitude of things.

It's addressing some of the violence itself, but also addressing some of the things that lead to the violence and working with like the clinic at West Haven, April Oliver, and the services she's providing.

But beyond that, I think the safety committee is really gonna be deciding on what services and what safety looks like and where they would like to spend the money that we've put in place to address safety.

So if it's a bug squad or if it's peace in the streets or some other organization funding those initiatives and providing them with the services that they need in order to accomplish their goals

And this may not be a part for the budget.

I'm just going to, I guess maybe some of you don't know.

I just kind of speak my mind and my opinion.

I am concerned.

I don't have an answer, so I hate doing that, but I'm concerned about both the Buck Squad and he's in the streets.

And this is why I feel like some of this was formed on emotion from the death of someone and I'm concerned

that the momentum can keep going when that emotion starts to disseminate.

So that is just a concern.

I'm putting it out there.

I wanna make sure that there's safety and I wanna make sure that the residents feel safe.

And I do think what is being done is extremely admirable.

And, you know, we talk about,

I get outside of the box a lot and I think this is wonderful.

I'm just hopeful that after that morning and the healing starts to happen that this can continue.

I would agree with you, but I would also point to the fact that a lot of the folks involved in the book squad have also been involved in generational issues involving crime within this very community.

And so I think that's why they feel somewhat closer to what's going on.

And so I think that's also an important context to take right along with your concern because it's such an ongoing issue.

There's no start and there's no finish.

It seems like it's just an ongoing continuum.

I absolutely agree with you, Dr. Henry.

From the presentation, I understand

Folks very familiar and living in the community and very part of the community.

I hope it's sustainable.

That's my only, just to make sure so that we, I would love to get to an ending point.

Yeah, I would agree with the concern about, I guess, taking away an official security company that we're paying, but I'm totally willing to try it out.

And if this works, I do think it's a better system in the end.

And I mean, just in terms of the vote, I'm gonna vote for the,

the current budget and hope that if things change, we have next year, we have the reserve money that we are supposed to have sitting there if we need it.

I do think we can give it a try and really try to support it so that it is sustainable.

Well, also I know Mayor Walker mentioned circling back, we haven't been as consistent with meeting or at least

Checking in with the police either.

And so maybe that's another parallel, you know, whether or not we want them there more often or not.

And, you know, we still should be just, you know, keeping in contact with them.

So we've got both of those, you know, both of those.

Exactly, yeah.

And we haven't really, I think we were reactive in not wanting a heavy hand coming in there, but we need to keep that on a, we need to keep the communication on a consistent basis so that we're getting what we need.

And just, I think it's just great if we can

talk with them more often.

Second.

Ms. Hite calls it.

Yes.

Chair Green.

I'm sorry.

Commissioner Green.

Yes.

Commissioner Goldblatt?

Yes.

Commissioner Slaughter?

Okay, resolution has passed.

Um,

It looks like Brandon has his hand up.

I don't know how to.

All right.

Jay, I don't want to take up too much of your time in this very quick meeting.

I would like to say two things.

Laura, if you could please restate the meeting information for anybody who's watching that might wanna attend the safety meeting, that'd be super.

And the other was, there was some discussion amongst FAR about section three and the budget.

I know you just passed the budget and I know there is at least some piece of funding in the budget for section three and wondering if

In five minutes or less, if we could maybe get a rundown on what section three might mean under this budget that was just passed.

I can take that.

Okay, so we did have some employees that were hired last year through section three program.

So we have continued that funding for those positions.

We've also added some seasonal positions for the maintenance department that will also be section three.

and we have also we haven't fully completed our redevelopment budget yet so that one we will need to tackle that so we've had the annual agency budget now we'll be working on the redevelopment budget which is the funding that the city provided I believe two or three years ago it was a large lump sum so that has not

From what I can find, it has never been budgeted.

The City highlighted some areas where the funding could be spent, but the Housing Authority never created an official budget around it to say where the money was going to be spent.

So we have also committed to showing up our Section 3 program through that.

That's a source of funding.

So we'll work with PHAR to actually complete that.

I know Joy has been preaching about having a budget and working through that budget and making sure that everyone that is involved in the redevelopment process knows what's in that budget.

So we will be doing that this month in April, and that will come to the board in May.

So besides that position that we have already hired, and the position that we will hire, that's what we have in section three.

So two things, I'm sure.

For anyone who's watching, I just pasted into the chat the safety committee information just because there's a zoom link in there that's, you know, that like if I read out the URL probably would not be the most effective way to get it.

But we'll be meeting tonight at 6pm so in about 15 minutes.

If you can't make it tonight, we'll meet again on April 13 2021 at 6pm.

The Zoom link is always the same.

The passcode is always the same.

So I've pasted the Zoom link in along with the passcode.

The passcode is 181698.

If you are trying to call on your phone, you can call at 1646-518-9805.

That number again is 1646-518.

9805, and again the passcode if you're calling in is 181698.

The other thing is I'm excited to hear about more hiring through section three.

I would just echo that.

I think that is one of the main components.

It's hard to get individuals

into a job, I guess, a legal job when they're making so much money the illegal way.

And Miss Glenn-Matthews, hopefully just wrote in anyone who's perhaps watching and listening and can't see the chat,

Great.

Thank you.

And maybe I know Miss Joy Johnson has been had a rough couple months, but you know, maybe we'll hear from her at the board meeting about future section three initiatives.

Cause I know she was working hard.

with the city and getting people trained for redevelopment related work.

So maybe we can get an update on how that might get started or is starting back up.

And one other thing, the section three plan for the agency will be coming to the board possibly in April or early May.

Chair Rutgers?

Yes.

Commissioner Goldblatt?

Yes.

Commissioner Slaughter?

Okay.

Meeting adjourned.