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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes - Minutes - Housing Advisory Commission - Meeting Date: 4/23/2007 MINUTES HOUSING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING CITY OF GLENDALE,ARIZONA 5850 WEST GLENDALE AVENUE ROOM B-3 MONDAY,APRIL 23,2007 5:30 p.m. Members Present Roslyn Abramowitz, Chairperson Madelin Page,Vice-Chairperson Karen Nikoloudakis;'Commissioner Donnell Gentry,Commissioner Staff Members Pre tit Erik Strunk,Director Karen Russell,Housing Administrator Loring Haynes,Building Maintenance Supervisor Diana Whittle, Senior..Management Assistant Lois Brooks, Senior Secretary Charyn Palmisano, Community Revitalization Supervisor Alicia Hernandez, Community Revitalization Coordinator 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Roslyn Abramowitz called the meeting to order at 5:33 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 26,2007 COMMISSION MEETING A motion was made by Commissioner Karen Nikoloudakis to approve the minutes,and seconded by Commissioner Donnell Gentry. The motion carried unanimously. 3. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS All commissioners introduced themselves. Chairperson Roslyn Abramowitz then presented Commissioner Donnell Gentry with a plaque thanking him for his four years of service on the Housing Advisory Commission. 4. BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR None 1 J • 5. AGENDA ITEMS A. QUARTERLY CRIME STATISTICS Staff member Karen Russell presented this item. Commissioner Karen Nikoloudakis asked if there was a way to differentiate between whether or not the calls and reports are coming from a Public Housing resident or someone in the neighborhoods. She also asked what happens to a resident if they do commit a crime. Ms.Russell explained that she would talk to Officer Anthony Haney to answer the first question. She explained that residents are under what is called the"One Strike Policy"which was adopted approximately five years ago. The policy states that if a resident over the age of 16 commits a crime on or near public housing properties, they will be terminated from the program on the preponderance of evidence. No further action was required. B. COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION Staff member Karen Russell introduced Charyn Palmisano and Alicia Hernandez from the Community Revitalization Division. They explained the different programs offered by the division. No further action was required. C. UPDATE ON-SECTION 8 HOMEOWNERSHIP Staff member Karen Russell presented this item. One of our Section 8 participants,who has been on the program since 1987,has completed obligations under the Section 8 Family Self- Sufficiency Program(FSS), and purchased a home in Glendale. The FSS program helps families by allowing them to place increases in the family's income into an escrow account during the term of their FSS contract. The family accumulated over$15,000 in their account since beginning the FSS program in 2000. The participant graduated from ASU West last year and is now a full-time elementary school teacher. This great example of what the Section 8 program is intended to achieve. No further action was required. D. UPDATE OF VOUCHER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM r Staff member Karen Russell presented this item. The Voucher Management System (VMS) is ' used by HUD to monitor Public Housing Authorities' leasing and program costs in the Section 8 . , , . ' Housing Choice Voucher program. In 2005 the Quality Assurance Division of HUD conducted , 250 VMS ori-site reviews at selected housing authorities across the country. Glendale, one of the agencies identified in the review, had no errors in its systems and no fmdings were issued. The following comment was in the national report under Best Practice: "Glendale's accounting system was the most comprehensive. Not only did they utilize the system, each month they had contracted with the software vendor as the fee accountant. Under the contract, the fee accountant provided monthly summary reports of accounting activities and the data was taken directly from the report and placed in the VMS." No further action was required. E. PUBLIC HOUSING ASSESSMENT SYSTEM REVIEW Staff member Loring Haynes presented this item. HUD uses the Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) to evaluate the maintenance and condition of the public housing communities. The review was conducted in November of 2006 and out of 100 points possible, the properties 2 scored as follows: Cholla Vista, 94; Glendale Homes, 96; and Lamar Homes, 95. The average score for the three properties was 95, rating the Glendale Housing Authority as a high performer. Because of this, Glendale Housing received over $19,000 as a bonus, which will be put back into the properties.No action was required. 6. COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP DIRECTOR'S UPDATE Director Erik Strunk provided an update of recent and upcoming events for Community Partnerships. A family recently moved into a new Habitat for Humanity Home. The department has wrapped up its spring neighborhood grants process. The Bethany Heights neighborhood Mary Silva Park recently received funds to add a ramada,picnic tables,and cooking grills. The city's annual Serve Day in late February hosted 1,500 volunteers who worked on 26 projects throughout the;city. The department just hosted a statewide Community Development Block Grant recognition edent.at the Civic Center. 7. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS There were no written communications to discuss. No action was required. 8. MISCELLANEOUS The next Housing Advisory meeting is tentatively scheduled for Monday, September 24, 2007. No action was required. T • J 9. ADJOURNMENT A zriotion was made by Chairperson Roslyn Abramowitz, and seconded by Commissioner Karen Nikoloudakis,to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 6:36 ; ATTEST: Cg ' 41 AlZai-41 E Chai•.erson ' `ecretary I) 3