Houston Housing Authority Board of Commissioners met Feb. 6

Houston Housing Authority Board of Commissioners met Feb. 6.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

I. CALL TO ORDER

A Special Meeting of the Board of Commissioners (“Board”) of the Houston Housing Authority (“HHA”) was held on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at the Houston Housing Authority Central Office, 2640 Fountain View Drive, Houston, Texas 77057.

Chairman Proler: Before I formally call the meeting to order, I would like our Interim President to share some incredibly positive news that she and I just received in the last 15 minutes.

Secretary Hovell-Cox: Good afternoon, everyone. I just want to make the commissioners of the HHA Board, as well as staff and members of the community, are aware that about 30 minutes, I and other HHA staff members received an e-mail from our HUD shortfall team advising that the Houston Housing Authority is no longer, officially, in shortfall as of fiscal year 2025. Great work to the HHA staff, Mr. Kenny Coles, the HCV team, and the Finance team. In case HUD is watching, thank you to our HUD shortfall team for all of your assistance in this tremendous achievement and accomplishment. We look forward to being able to issue vouchers within our financial parameters to assist the community with providing affordable housing options.

Chairman Proler: I see that we have representatives from the city of Houston here, and they, too, had their hands up. So, Amy, this is really great news to share with the mayor and City Council. This is a big one.

Chairman Proler called the meeting to order at 1:01 p.m.

II. ROLL CALL

Present:

• Joseph “Jody” Proler, Chairman

• Alton Smith, Vice Chairman

• Cynthia Aceves-Lewis, Commissioner

• Stephanie A.G. Ballard, Commissioner

ABSENCES: Kristy Kirkendoll, Commissioner

• Eric G. Carter, Commissioner

• Kenneth C. Li, Commissioner

• Jennine Hovell-Cox., Secretary

III. INTRODUCTION OF THE INTERPRETERS

Chairman Proler offered to provide interpreters to Spanish, Mandarin, and Vietnamese speakers who may need assistance for public comments only.

IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Lauren Fielder-Holmes: Thank you for passing the live stream resolution. That's going to make a big difference for the trust in the community, transparency, people who have come on buses and walk, and all of that. The second thing is I didn't plan to speak on this but I was reading the minutes from the last meeting and looking at the agenda from yesterday and December. I have a real estate background. My grandfather was one of the first developers in South Padre Island and built a little motel. I've been in real estate, put my way through college, through property management. I got My real estate license and almost got my broker’s license and then decided I wasn't enough of a barracuda to make enough money when it was lean times, so I became a hospice nurse. But I do have this background in real estate, and I was investigating Jamie Bryant. I’m retired now, I broke my back, so I cannot work anymore, but when I worked as a hospice nurse, I worked with seniors who fell through the cracks. A lot of times, you say it worked, and they just missed that cut-off for Medicaid or public health or whatever. They were very poor, and a lot of them I placed into properties that were run by Avenue and some of it was single homes, some of it was their multifamily properties. I got to know some of the people there and the organization is an exemplary organization. Mr. Bryant was on the board of it, and if he could bring some of that to HHA, I think it would be a huge win. Also, his extensive knowledge of the Houston real estate market. I think it would be great to bring somebody in who is local. He's been here for a long time. Just my two cents. The third thing, I think last meeting or was it December, you guys went to the HUD recertification every three years? Did I get that wrong? If you did, you may want to rethink it. I helped a lot of these seniors fill up their packets, and I know that a lot of people fudged on a lot of stuff, and when you're dealing with seniors and low income, you don't have a lot of income screening, a lot of it is the SSA or SSI statements, not that hard to do the recerts and I think three years would let people who are dishonest, have a longer time and there are too many people that need it. Fourth, I'm going to state the obvious. We're in unprecedented times in Washington. It's really scary. I'm normally a very optimistic person, but I would use an abundance of caution. Worst-case scenario thinking, the last time Trump was in office, he took a lot of the money that Obama had put in for HUD, for vouchers and public housing. He went in and raided it. Now he tried to do that on the VA side of it, on the HUD VASH side, and we stopped because it was the VA and then a lot of the veterans that were elected.

Daniel Teal: I want to talk mostly about Historic Oaks of Allen Parkway. Right now, the walls and roofs and stuff are boarded up. From what I understand they have financial monies for the Resident Council. We would like to have the resident council back. We were told they were going to do that but I haven’t heard anything yet. Where we can all work together and try to figure out what's going on and how we can help each other instead of waiting for the child to get hit by the train and then put up a bridge. We don't want to do that. We want to fix this now because this is our historical property. I have been there for 57 years and I've seen a lot of people letting people do what they do not need to do. We need to get fixed. There is too much going on right now. It's uncertain times How can we become a better person or people? The HHA can help out when it comes to Allen Parkway Village. APV is almost dismantled. There is hardly anyone even there. I don't even think it's 17 units out of 1000. Like I said, if y’all need any help with what’s going on, you can use the people that live there. They know more about what's going on than you guys walking around and driving here every day. But we don't have a resident council. Who can I talk to about getting a Resident Council back?

Tracy Gordon: I did live at the Historic Oaks of Allen Parkway Village until four months ago when they moved us out because they said the construction company wanted to work on our units, which at the time, I knew it was the biggest waste of money moving us out to an extended stay hotel when the construction company hadn't finished Section A or B yet. They weren't going to start sections C & D until they finished that. I guess my main question is, they moved us out to the extended stay, the seniors, and there are several families out there. We're on the second and third floors now. I'm parking on the 3rd floor, and the elevators don't work. 73 years old. I've had two heart attacks, and last night, after walking up three flights of stairs, I checked my blood pressure, which was 182 / 95, which my heart doctor says isn't good. My question is, are you all fining the construction company for not meeting their deadlines when they say they were? I mean, they moved the first group of people out in December of 2022 and told them they could move back in December of 2023. They moved the first senior section out in July 2023 and said they could move back in July 2024. Neither one of those sections is finished yet. So, when are we going to get our homes back?

Verdell Ingram: I'm the President of Cuney Homes and also serve on the board. I come before you again today. I am frustrated. I spoke with you, and one of the things that happened when we came down and speak is retaliation from either inspection or different things. Now, I spoke to you, as you recall, on February 4, which was Tuesday of this week, 2025. I have a letter for an inspection for next week. Let me tell you why that's the challenge and why I'm frustrated. I certify in December every year. They start in September for certifications and inspection. So why do I have an inspection in February? Also, with that said, we need a list of when inspections are supposed to be done. We also need the board to make sure they tell you, you have this inspection and that inspection and everything. But when you look up the inspection, there's nobody who can tell you what inspection is supposed to be done. Now, we have two members on the board who understand this, too. Commissioner Ballard understands that, and also Commissioner Kirkendoll has been through the walk, so they definitely know what I’m talking about. That is why the people don't come. I'm on the board, and I try to get them to come and talk to the Board of Commissioners. They don't come because they fear. They drop something down, and we have no resources. You have lawyers over here and over there. So, our tax dollars are used against us because the lawyers don't work on our behalf. So, It's almost like we put here, and everybody's earning money off us and everything, but we are not getting any. That's why I can't get the residents to come. They got mold in their apartment and rats. They are afraid to come speak because they're afraid that retaliation is going to come and they're going to get put out. That's why they don't come to speak. I came to speak one time and had a maintenance charge of $309 dollars that I was forced to pay. So please check into that and sometimes meet with us. Y'all meet with everybody comes contract and none of us according to HUD regulation and we’re on resident council. None of us are making the decision on the president. We might not make the decision on anything. We're being left out of the board. If you read the HUD rules, we are being left out, and we want to be a part of it. But I'm very frustrated today. I do not like coming before you frustrated, but I have a letter if you need it to prove it.

V. EXECUTIVE SESSION

Chairman Proler suspended the Public Session on Thursday, February 13, 2025, at 3:03 p.m. to convene an Executive Session to discuss:

▪ Personnel matters, including whether to name Jamie Bryant a finalist for the position of President and Chief Executive Officer and authorize the Board Chair to negotiate and execute an employment agreement under Section 551.074 of the Texas Government Code.

VI. RECONVENE PUBLIC SESSION

Chairman Proler: The Public Session is being reconvened at 3:55 p.m. to take action on Executive Session items.

NEW BUSINESS

a. Resolution No. 3859: That the Houston Housing Authority Board of Commissioners name Jamie Bryant as a finalist for the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Houston Housing Authority and authorize the Board Chair to negotiate and execute an agreement with Mr. Bryant to be employed accordingly.

On motion by Commissioner Carter and seconded by Commissioner Smith, the Board unanimously approved Resolution No. 3859.

VII. ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Proler asked for a motion to adjourn.

On motion by Commissioner Carter and seconded by Commissioner Li.

Chairman Proler declared the meeting adjourned at 3:10 p.m.

https://housingforhouston.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/HHA-MINUTES-February-6-2025-FINAL.pdf