Houston Daily

Houston Housing Authority Board of Commissioners met July 24.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

I. CALL TO ORDER

A Meeting of the Board of Commissioners (“Board”) of the Houston Housing Authority (“HHA”) was held on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at the Houston Housing Authority Central Office, 2640 Fountain View Drive, Houston, Texas 77057. The meeting was called to order at 2:00 p.m.

II. ROLL CALL

Present:

• Joseph “Jody” Proler, Chairman

• Alton Smith, Vice Chairman

• Stephanie A.G. Ballard, Commissioner

• Kristy Kirkendoll, Commissioner

• Kenneth C. Li, Commissioner

• Jamie Bryant, Secretary

Absent: Cynthia Aceves-Lewis, Eric G. Carter

Chairman Proler: I believe we have a quorum. I don’t know if Commissioner Carter is en route, but he will pick up when he arrives.

III. INTRODUCTION OF THE INTERPRETERS

Chairman Proler offered the use of interpreters to be available to Spanish, Mandarin, and Vietnamese speakers who may need assistance with public comments.

IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS

Ms. Blackwell. Hello everyone, I am a resident of the Irvinton Village Apartments, and I'm coming here today with a concern. Thank you, everybody, for taking care of, partially, dealing with the trees, where the tree in the yard next door to me. This was a tree that the Housing Authority planted. They mostly got rid of the limbs off of the tree, but there's still one major branch that's hovering over…reaching to my roof, and one of the people, the contractors, was cutting the limbs off the tree, and they said that they could not do it because it was too high. They said they were not able to cut the limb, and I just felt like if they were on a step ladder, at least up to my waist, if they were able to step on something that height, but they weren't able to cut it. So, I still need somebody to look into that. And also, there are still some other trees along where the property is, where I am, they still need to be cut. And then also there was a concern, there was still a lot of trash in this lot that's in front of my house, going around the corner and I don't know exactly, if that is something owned by the city or who owns it? And they usually tell me to call it in. There's no way for me to call it in. You can't drive up to it. So, I would appreciate it if the Housing Authority could get in touch with the city or whoever, and somebody from the Housing Authority would be able to escort that person on the property. They'll have to come to where I live because the property, whatever it is, is more hidden in front of my house, and I'm trying to figure out if the city owns this. If they do, they need to remove the trees. There are nine dead trees, and I'm just trying to get this taken care of before floods or anything happens, or I get trapped and nobody can rescue me because of the dead trees, which are within the fence line of this property. I need that and I also need the trash picked up. There are so many trash bags. There are all types of things out there in that lot. So, I appreciate it when you do come, if you can make sure someone can get what you need to make sure I'm home, so when they come to the property, I can direct them and show them where the dead trees are. I would greatly appreciate it if that could be taken care of. So I am a resident of Irvinton Village apartments. I would appreciate it if somebody could get with me on that.

Chairman Proler: Yes, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Chairman Proler: Before we call the next person, how many people do we have online? I.T.: 12 people on television.

My name is Tracy Gordon, and I lived at the Historic Oaks Allen Parkway Village until October of last year, when they moved me into an extended stay hotel for two months. Going on 10 months now, and when I was told I would be there for two months, I prepared for two months. But ten months is kind of ridiculous. Every time I ask, when am I going to get my apartment back, I'm told we don't know. When you prepare in a suitcase, you have to stay in the suitcase for 10 months instead of two months, when all of my stuff is in storage and I can't get to it. In my kitchen, I have two burners, a microwave, and a dishwasher. I don't need a dishwasher, I need an oven because I do most of my own cooking. In the past ten months, I've gotten food poisoning twice from eating out. Once, I ended up in the hospital for three days. Now my question is, when am I going to get my apartment back? I'm tired of living out of a suitcase.

Chairman Proler: Thank you. I'd like to put this on the agenda for the August meeting. I want an update on both those properties for the board and the public.

Joel North: Yes, Sir.

Chairman Proler: Thank you.

Donna Dixon: Mr. Chairman, we do not have a third speaker. This gentleman wanted the interpreter to translate during the meeting. Please sit next to him and translate during the meeting.

V. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

a. Board Meeting Minutes: June 17, 2025

On motion by Commissioner Kirkendoll and seconded by Commissioner Ballard, the Board approved the June 17, 2025, HHA BOC Meeting Minutes.

VI. CEO OPERATIONAL UPDATES

President Bryant: Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you to the board of commissioners and to everybody in the public for being here. Good to see everybody. My apologies, I missed the last Board meeting. I promise you, I would rather have been here than deal with the last-minute illness. Thank you, and thank you, Neal, for stepping in last month.

I just wanted to make a few comments on progress here at the Housing Authority and things that are going on that the Chairman has asked me to address. I think, as you are aware, there have been some updates to policies and procedures that we've been working on over the last several months, and the Chairman asked that I give an update on some of those.

Several months ago, we implemented a new spending and credit card policy to tighten up the checks and balances on that. As of right now, we have a very limited number of credit cards that are out. Myself and two other executives, as well as our Finance and Procurement departments, are the only ones with access to a credit card account. The procurement department only uses theirs when there are formally registered P.O.s and only for things that absolutely have to use a credit card; otherwise, things are being done via check. Then, the executive team and others, I review their credit card statements on a monthly basis to make sure they're in compliance. The Chairman gets a copy of mine every month to make sure that any charges I have are in compliance. So, we've added those procedures, as we promised to do, and we will continue to do so and strengthen those.

On the PFC front, we have been working through, as many people are aware, we have well over 100 properties in our portfolio that the agency has done over the last six or seven years with third-party developers that have compliance requirements. Those compliance requirements are two-fold. One of them is related to affordability and regulatory compliance. To the affordability requirements that they are to offer to the public in those facilities. The second is their financial compliance with the Housing Authority for fees and cash flow sharing that we are to receive from those properties. So, from the compliance standpoint on the regulatory fees, we work in partnership with TDHCA, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, to ensure compliance, and those properties are audited. If there are findings, those findings are noted to both us and the developer. Our teams are working with the developer to make sure that those issues are remedied, and then those findings and remedies go back to TDHCA and the cycle continues every so often to make sure those properties, moving forward, are always in compliance. We're also working through our team to build and strengthen our analysts, and our analysis of what's going on with those properties financially, to make sure that the Housing Authority is always receiving the money it should from these developers and these third parties. Unfortunately, I can't say that this was going on prior to, you know, the last 6 to 12 months, but I can promise you going forward that we are taking it very seriously and are ensuring that all of these properties are in compliance on both sides. Obviously, the regulatory side is super important because the only reason these things should be there is to be able to provide the affordability to residents in the City of Houston.

Other policies and procedures we’re working on in place across the board, whether it's from spending, or legal, or procurement, and so we're working with our teams training, and folks to make sure that we have the right checks and balances in place. A lot of them are policies and procedures this agency has had, but we are still relooking at things to consider. Is there a better way or is there some place we need to strengthen this up a little bit more? Right. We can always be better, just because it wasn't problematic, as you know. I'm very encouraged by the progress that's being made by the team and thankful to our team and staff for pushing those things down.

I would like to make an introduction today. We have, as of about almost two weeks ago, brought on the last piece of our executive team, which we had been in a search for over the last three months and that was the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. I'm proud to announce that Mr. Luke Joseph, who is going to stand up and wave. Luke, welcome. As of last Monday, Luke joined our team here at the Housing Authority. He brings over 3 decades of experience in housing and accounting to our team, and we're super excited for him to be here. He rounds out our Executive Team, along with Joel, Neal, Jennine, and Kenny, to round out what we need moving forward to have strong leadership across the board here and to be able to move this agency as we move forward with new initiatives.

I will make this statement. There are a lot of things going on out there in the community, both in the city, in the state, and federally. They create a bunch of noise. So, what I want to make sure is that you know, if folks have concerns, that there are issues, you know that you come to us, ask us the questions, let us help clarify some of those things so that we can discern and help you discern between the noise and the facts of what's going on. We are concerned. There is a lot of noise about what may come out of Washington, but we don't have any facts about that yet. However, we are being proactive and trying to get out in front of some of these things and make sure that we're able to adapt and adjust. We can't do anything about some of the things that are outside of our control, but what we can do is be as adaptive as possible. We can be as flexible as possible. We can be as efficient with our operations as possible so that we can respond to these things. With our goal and our mission, to consistently be able to serve as many residents who are in need in the City of Houston as possible. So, you know, but more importantly, I'm just excited about the direction that this team is going, that we've filled a few holes by bringing some good folks on, and I thank everybody for the grace and the patience. It's a slow-moving train to make some change, but I feel confident we have the right people in place. Over the coming months, you're going to continue to see progress and transparency. Now, that doesn't mean we're not going to keep making mistakes, that we're going to have missteps, and there's still going to be issues there, but overall, I feel very good, Chairman and Commissioners, that everything's moving in the right direction to the public. Thank you for your grace and your patience as we try to implement some of these things.

Commissioner Smith: So, you know, one of the things I may be out of order. If I'm out of order, tell me so. You mentioned reviews, etc, and changes being made as a result of reviews. What I hope happens to the operations end of it, that that activity continues on an ongoing basis. Constantly review what we are doing and make sure that we're doing what makes sense, and correcting it rather than waiting until it’s a crisis.

President Bryant: Being proactive versus reactive.

Commissioner Smith: You're right.

President Bryant: ...and accountability.

Commissioner Smith: Thank you.

Chairman Proler: Commissioners, any other comments or questions for the President? Commissioners: No

VII. EXECUTIVE SESSION

Chairman Proler suspended the Public Session on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at 2:15 p.m. to convene an Executive Session to discuss personnel, legal, and real estate issues in accordance with Sections 551.074, 551.071, and 551.072, respectively, of the Texas Government Code.

VIII. RECONVENE PUBLIC SESSION

Chairman Proler reconvened the Public Session at 3:16 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, 2025, to take action on Executive Session agenda items.

Anna Hawkins called the roll. Commissioners Aceves-Lewis and Carter were absent.

Chairman Proler: We have four resolutions to approve this afternoon.

a. Resolution No. 3913: Consideration and/or take action to authorize Houston Housing Authority’s refinance of The Henry at Deerbrook, located at 9494 Humble Westfield Rd., Humble, Harris County, Texas 77338.

b. Resolution No. 3914: Consideration and/or take action to authorize Houston Housing Authority’s refinance of The Henry at Jones Road, located at 11925 Jones Rd., Houston, Harris County, Texas 77070.

c. Resolution No. 3915: Consideration and/or take action to authorize Houston Housing Authority’s refinance of The Henry at Woodland Hills, located at 14807 Woodland Hills Dr., Humble, Harris County, Texas 77396.

Chairman Proler: I ask for a motion to approve Resolution Nos. 3913, 3914, and 3915 all for the purpose of authorizing the housing authority to refinance The Henry at Dearbrook, The Henry at Jones Road, and The Henry at Woodland Hills. May I have a motion to approve in seriatim?

On motion by Commissioner Kirkendoll and seconded by Commissioner Smith.

Chairman Proler asked for a motion to approve Resolution Nos. 3913, 3914, and 3915.

On motion by Commissioner Ballard and seconded by Commissioner Kirkendoll, the Board approved Resolution Nos. 3913, 3914, and 3915.

d. Resolution No. 3916: Consideration and/or take action to authorize the Houston Housing Authority’s facilitation of the (i) transfer of the Post Real Estate Group’s leasehold interest in the Gramercy Park Apartments located at 3225 Woodland Park Drive, Houston, Texas 77082, and (ii) the future financing of the leasehold interest in the Gramercy Park Apartments located at 3225 Woodland Park Drive, Houston, Texas 77082, and the execution of all required documents therefor.

Chairman Proler: I’ll entertain a motion to approve Resolution No. 3916.

On motion by Commissioner Kirkendoll and seconded by Commissioner Ballard.

Chairman Proler asked if there is any discussion regarding this resolution. I would like the minutes to reflect that our President and CEO will report back to the Board, the status of this transaction as it gets completed, to ensure there is full financial compliance with all parties as a part of this transaction.

Secretary Bryant: Understood.

Chairman Proler: With that, all in favor say aye.

Commissioners: Aye.

The Board approved Resolution No. 3916.

IX. ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Proler: This concludes the items on today’s agenda, and asked for a motion to adjourn. On motion by Commissioner Ballard and seconded by Commissioner Li.

Chairman Proler declared the meeting adjourned at 3:16 p.m.

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