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January 19, 2022 Regular Board Meeting Minutes

I. Regular Meeting
Chairman James Cloar called the regular meeting of the Tampa Housing Authority Board of Commissioners to order at 8:36 a.m. Other Board members present were Lorena Hardwick, Sul Hemani, Parker Homans, and legal counsel Ricardo Gilmore. Commissioner Billi Johnson-Griffin participated online after approval of the minutes. Commissioners Ben Dachepalli and Bemetra Salter Liggins were not present for this meeting nor available online.

The Chair began by asking everyone for a moment of silent prayer and/or personal meditation; those in attendance were also asked to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance; recital of the agency's mission statement followed.  

II. Minutes
A motion to approve the Minutes of the regular Board Meeting of October 20, 2021 was made by Commissioner Hemani and seconded by Commissioner Hardwick: 

Commissioner Hardwick - Yes  
Commissioner Cloar - Yes
Commissioner Hemani - Yes
Commissioner Homans - Yes 

III. Public Forum (3 minutes limit allotted per speaker)
There were eight speakers registered to speak, all were residents of River Pines Apartments.

Mr. Fredrick Larry, was the first to speak, he stated that he had no complaints, he previously had some issues with his unit but nothing "to the point where I got to constantly harass the office or the managers." Mr. Larry added that he never had any misunderstanding with management, having gone through three managements for over 10-year as a resident of River Pines.

Ms. Angela Holder, a 7-year resident had no issues with River Pines adding that she liked the people there, management and the residents. When she needs something done it gets done, she kept her unit clean and cool; she didn't understand what the issues were.

Mr. Jimmie Davis, a resident of River Pines since 2005, he received good services from management, had no problems with them, they had been a good staff and appreciated their services, anything he asked for of management they were prompt with fixing. He added that he was going to be living there for a long time as he was not going anywhere.  

Mr. David Walker Sr. an 11-year resident of River Pines had no complaints, management had treated him nice, they take care of him fine.  

Ms. Vanderlyn Witherspoon was not available to speak at this forum.

Ms. Juanita Lilly a 13-year resident had concerns about the windows and the doors, they need locks for the doors with better security, they need a cigarette ban for no smoking in the units and the hallway. She added that "we think we need a better smoking area adjoining the apartments and my management is there for our needs." She believed "what we need is the ownership to get into the management to help us."

Ms. Martha Whyte stated that the current manager and her staff had been excellent with their work compared to the previous two managements, adding that the current manager was a very nice and respectful person. Regarding people that have brand new apartments, she did not understand why they were complaining, she has been in her apartment for 13 years, she has nothing new, and she had no problems. When she goes to the management office, the staff jumps to whatever she needs done.

Mr. Gerald Miller resided at River Pines from 2000 to 2009 then returned in 2015. Management was very receptive to issues with his unit, adding that when people move out and before the next tenant moves in, everything in the unit is replaced with new. Mr. Miller was a residential director for several agencies in Tampa and he thought that the management at River Pines was doing a great job. 

Ms. Reva Iman was a Hillsborough County Community Organizer from Florida Rising, she conducted over 120 surveys and claims that when management found out, at least 60% of the residents that participated in the surveys retracted fearing retaliation. Ms. Iman created 7-day notices for residents, after these were submitted to management, residents received a letter within two days stating that if they were unhappy, they could move out. She also claimed to have witnessed mistreatment towards a resident by management. Some of the surveys she conducted were good, but the majority reflected badly on management. She added that some of the seniors at River Pines had heart issues, were diabetic, had mental issues, etc. Before her time was up, Ms. Iman added that in her opinion, the management at River Pines "should not be there and a new management company needs to come in." 

Ms. Loretha Barthel, was a former resident of River Pines, she had recently moved out and claimed that management had not fixed anything in the unit, she had turned in a 7-day notice, she went to the office Friday and told them in October she was moving out in November. She was told she had to fill out a letter stating when she was moving out. She comes over, they had changed the locks, she still had two fans, she did not know how much they were going to charge her. They did not do a walk-through of the unit with her, and management mistreated her. She was told that all the doctor letters she submitted were thrown out. Ms. Barthel's request of the Board was to allow her to have a walk-through of her unit. 

Ms. Patricia A. Griffin was not available to speak at this forum. 

Ms. Deb Malone referred to the public forum response from the last meeting which mentioned there were eight people that complained about River Pines. She stated that the management at River Pines had intimidated and bullied residents, as well as threatened residents with eviction or with their leases not renewed. She claimed that was the reason there were only eight people with complaints. Ms. Malone claimed she still had roaches; recently while she was not home, there were "sticky things supposedly under the fridge and behind the stove" that she found in the middle of her dining room floor and her service dog began to chew on, putting her dog at risk. She was told that someone would come by again that day and no one did. Ms. Malone wishes "to transfer to a non-roach apartment complex." 

Mr. Joe White and Ms. America Lebron were not available to speak at this forum. 

Ms. Arlene Frances Washington stated that she had asked for an A/C unit in April and got it in October. She had recently gotten a pacemaker; she was told by her doctor that she "did not have to be allergic to mold to be sick from mold" and that was her problem. The mold had not been cleaned up plus she had a flood in her unit. Maintenance was sent to take the water out from her rug, she was given something to pull the rest of the water. While her sister stayed in the unit to help her before she went for surgery, Ms. Malone emptied the water herself four times; every day since the surgery her sister emptied the water. Ms. Malone claimed she still had roaches, an inspector came to see if the mold had been taken care of, which had not been. She also had an independent apartment inspector come inspect her unit, she did not know the results. "My inspector came back" said Ms. Malone and that inspection did not pass. She signed up to be transferred to a new apartment but had not heard anything. Ms. Malone claimed she was given an eviction notice and that she had to be out of her unit by December 31st without a reason. She stated that she was 76 years old and repeatedly asked for a resolution.

The Director of Asset Management, Mr. Lorenzo Bryant addressed the Board regarding his response to the last meeting's public forum. His response was provided in writing and was included with the packet information prepared for the Board of Commissioners. 

IV. Employees of the Month

  • Administration - Jacqueline Cohen

V. Special Recognition (Geraldine Barnes Award)

  • Recipient - Tajh Chatman

Before proceeding with the resolutions, the Chair reminded Commissioners of two Directors' meetings immediately following the regular meeting, he also stated that next month's December meeting was cancelled. 

VI. Resolutions
Sr. VP/COO, Mr. Leroy Moore presented resolution 2021-4207. 

  • 2021-4207: Resolutions approving the canopy at West River Towers 1 & 2 F/K/A WRDG T4 equity, financing, and rental assistance demonstration closings.

A motion was made by Commissioner Hardwick and seconded by Commissioner Johnson-Griffin: 

Commissioner Hardwick - Yes
Commissioner Homans - Yes
Commissioner Hemani - Yes
Commissioner Johnson-Griffin - Yes
Commissioner Cloar - Yes 

The Director of Facilities, Mr. Donald Hagerty presented resolutions 2021-4208 and 2021-4209.

  • 2021-4208: A resolution approving the President/CEO to enter into a contractual agreement for replacement of 24 fire doors at J.L. Young Apartments.

A motion was made by Commissioner Johnson-Griffin and seconded by Commissioner Homans:

Commissioner Hardwick - Yes
Commissioner Homans - Yes
Commissioner Hemani - Yes
Commissioner Johnson-Griffin - Yes
Commissioner Cloar - Yes 

  • 2021-4209: A resolution approving the President/CEO to enter into a contractual agreement for the roof replacement at the administrative building.

A motion was made by Commissioner Johnson-Griffin and seconded by Commissioner Hardwick: 

Commissioner Hardwick - Yes
Commissioner Homans - Yes
Commissioner Hemani - Yes
Commissioner Johnson-Griffin - Yes
Commissioner Cloar - Yes 

The Director of Assisted Housing, Ms. Margaret Jones presented resolutions 2021-4210 and 2021-4211. 

  • 2021-4210: A resolution approving the revision of the payment standards for the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

A motion was made by Commissioner Homans and seconded by Commissioner Johnson-Griffin: 

Commissioner Hardwick - Yes
Commissioner Homans - Yes
Commissioner Hemani - Yes
Commissioner Johnson-Griffin - Yes
Commissioner Cloar - Yes

  • 2021-4211: A resolution approving revisions to the Housing Choice Voucher's Administrative Plan.

A motion was made by Commissioner Hardwick and seconded by Commissioner Hemani: 

Commissioner Hardwick - Yes
Commissioner Homans - Yes
Commissioner Hemani - Yes
Commissioner Johnson-Griffin - Yes
Commissioner Cloar - Yes

VII. President/CEO's Report

Finance and Related Entities
The Sr. VP/CFO, Ms. Susi Begazo-McGourty informed Commissioners that after her report, she would have a presentation of the North Tampa Housing Development Corporation (NTHDC), an instrumentality of the Tampa Housing Authority, presented by the administrator of the program, Ms. Layla Hartz. The presentation was included in the information packet provided to Board members and prepared for this meeting. The CFO began her report with the financial statements and the key indicators, her full report was also included in the Board information packet provided to Board members. 

Operations and Real Estate Development 
The Sr. VP/COO, Mr. Leroy Moore began his report with Encore updates, starting with the Legacy and the Independent buildings, completion of these two buildings was progressing well. The Legacy was believed to have started receiving move-ins, said Mr. Moore, ahead of the Transwestern project, the Independent. A mural had begun to take shape on the Independent building, visible from the City of Tampa's downtown.

Conversations with the Tampa Downtown Partnership and the Encore CDC Board regarding potentially joining Encore to the Downtown Special Services District, engaged the two private owners: Legacy and Transwestern. This expansion will add Encore's 12 lots through one-on-one briefings with City Council members prior to coming before City Council, possibly in January of next year to formally request the expansion and effectively joining in October 2022.

The City of Tampa conceded to 2-hour free parking throughout Encore, putting up signs to that effect, however, the 2-hour free parking does not include Central Avenue parking as this is specific to park patriots only. 

A retail component has been confirmed for the ground floor of the Transwestern building, corner of Harrison and Central Avenue, although a name has not been mentioned yet.

Lot 12 design continued; a grocer was not committed although the design was completed with a very interested grocer. Pursuit of funding will begin first quarter of 2022. 

Phase 3 Chiller expansion discussion was well underway, and over the coming months first design services contract will be executed. This will be the third and final expansion plan of the Chiller building to get ready for future buildings. Mr. Moore reminded Commissioners regarding lot 8, which was under contract for 300 residential units. There had been much interest generated for lot 10 and renewed interest for lot 5 at Encore. 

The COO continued with West River, the three of the Boulevard buildings were receiving move-ins and will continue over the next 6-months, the fourth Boulevard, 8-floor building, was well under construction. Also visible was construction of the 30 townhome, 3-floor units, just north of the Bethune Apartments building. The Canopy's Towers 1 and 2, 196 units, were being built as Canopy at West River Phase 1 with the remainder to be built as Phase 2. This is a $72 million development, THA's biggest cost building to date.

A closing date for the grocer at West River was expected for January if not soon after, which had been under contract for over a year. Also under contract was the market rate residential with Related Group, as well as the townhomes, which were approximately 80 units, market rate, for sale townhomes.

Robles Park Village continued with its resident informational meetings, a survey in December, conducted by resident council, will determine final opinions for relocation and phasing for RPV redevelopment. Six developer proposals were received in early November for developing the master and vertical development with THA. A 7member evaluation committee will meet in December to score proposals; staff hoped to bring term sheets to the Board in January or February, showing partnership structures to potentially put in place for Robles Park.

Mr. Moore asked the Director of Real Estate Development, Mr. David Iloanya to address the Board regarding a Rome Yard public engagement meeting he participated in, the night prior to this meeting. This was the second of three community engagements for the community to bring residents that live in the area, the City, the County, stakeholders, and focus groups to the understanding of what was coming in terms of the type of units, mixed use development that will balance with what THA was doing, resulting in 50/50 market and affordable housing. Commissioners were asked to go to RomeYard-Tampa.com. The next meeting was scheduled for January 2022, so far, the first two meetings were a mix of in person and virtual engagement, the third meeting was expected to be virtual only, and a fourth meeting may be scheduled.

Since this was the last meeting for the year, Mr. Moore asked the Director of Program and Property Services, Ms. Stephanie Brown-Gilmore to brief Commissioners on some of the resident activities planned for the holidays, as well as a report on the results of the 13th Annual Golf Tournament.  

The director thanked Commissioners Dachepalli and Hemani for their participation and announced that Commissioner Hemani's team won the tournament. This year's gross tally was approximately $80,000 to support THA's youth programs, next year's tournament was scheduled for October 21, 2022.

Planned resident activities included distribution of 150 complete dinner boxes for Thanksgiving, scheduled for the 24th of November. For Christmas, the plan was to adopt 45 families and 10 seniors for Adopt a Family program and another 150 turkeys dinners will be distributed to seniors and families. A total of 1,640 gift bags will be distributed to all THA senior properties managed by THA and private managements, this was scheduled for the 20th of December. 

The Fishing Tournament was the next fundraiser, scheduled for April 4, 2022, this fundraiser will also support THA youth activities. 

The Commissioners were informed regarding the Annual Business Meeting, scheduled for the 3rd of December., an announcement will be made, during this meeting regarding one of the objectives from THA's strategic plan, to create a fully THA employee funded resident scholarship program, currently defined as the EFFORTS Scholarship Program, which stands for Educational Funding for Our Residents to Succeed. 

Mr. Moore asked Commissioners to refer to the Contract Register, under tab 13, in their Board information packet, which indicated that for the month of November there had been 30% minority business participation, the goal had been 20% participation.

The Director of Human Resources, Mr. Kenneth Christie began his report with the month of October, which was Breast Cancer Awareness month and on the activities that took place during that month. THA employees participated in November's Health Fair. Commissioners were provided with a few statistics regarding the pandemic adding that 221 employees had been vaccinated.

The CFO informed Commissioners regarding a COLA adjustment analysis; data gathering had just started, first looking at the local government to see what the City and County were doing. Then looking at all the comparable housing authorities such as Miami-Dade, Jacksonville, etc. A decision will be made based on all the gathered information. The President/CEO, Mr. Jerome Ryans added that since there will not be a meeting in December, and if it was decided to have the COLA adjustment done, it would likely take place sometime in December.   

VIII. Notices and Updates

  • None to come before this forum.

IX. Legal Matters
Attorney Ricardo Gilmore stated the reasons for the Directors meetings that will immediately follow the regular meeting, which will include the election of officers for Open Space Acquisitions, LLC.

X. Unfinished Business

  • None to come before this forum.

XI. New Business

  • None to come before this forum.

XII. Adjournment
There being no further business to come before this Board, the Chair declared this meeting of the THA Board of Commissioners adjourned at 10:26 a.m.

Approved this 19th day of January 2022.