1 1 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 2 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 3 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 4 x--------------------------------x 5 IN THE MATTER OF: * 6 THE ANNUAL BOARD MEETING * TRANSCRIPT 7 OF THE HOUSING AUTHORITY * OF 8 OF THE CITY OF NEWARK * PROCEEDINGS 9 Commencing at 5:00 p.m. via Zoom * 10 x--------------------------------x 11 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 12 500 BROAD STREET 13 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 14 B E F O R E: 15 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 16 EDDIE OSBORNE, President 17 MARTINIQUE COSTA, Commissioner 18 FAUSTO BAEZ, Commissioner 19 NORMA GONZALEZ, Commissioner 20 BRIAN LOGAN, Commissioner 21 ALIF MUHAMMAD, Commissioner 22 23 24 ANTHONY HOFMANN, C.C.R. 25 LICENSE NO. XIO1854 2 1 PROFESSIONAL STAFF: 2 3 VICTOR CIRILO, Executive Director 4 KATIA OLIVEIRA, Executive Assistant 5 ELIO MENA, Counsel 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 Opening Statement 4 4 Election of Officers 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 MR. CIRILO: Mr. Chairman, we are now 2 on. 3 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: It is now 5:01. 4 This meeting will be called to order. We are going 5 to have a reading of the Open Public Meetings Act. 6 MR. CIRILO: Yes, Mr. Chairman, we 7 will start with the Annual Board Meeting of the 8 Housing Authority which has been postponed from last 9 month. We are going to do the roll call first. 10 It's Thursday, February 25th, 2021 at 5:01 p.m. 11 This is the Annual Board Meeting. I 12 will start with roll call and then I will read the 13 reading of the Open Public Meetings Act. 14 Commissioner Logan. 15 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Present. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 19 Commissioner Gonzalez. 20 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Present. 21 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 22 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Here. 23 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 24 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Present. 25 MR. CIRILO: Mr. Chairman, we have a 5 1 quorum. I am going to read the Open Public Meetings 2 Act at this point. As required by N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 3 known as the Open Public Meetings Act, notice of 4 this annual meeting was provided in the following 5 manner. On December 30, 2020 notice of the meeting 6 specifying the date, time and location was 7 transmitted to the Star Ledger, El Nuevo Coqui and 8 the Clerk of the City of Newark. 9 Mr. Chairman, for the nomination for 10 Chairperson at this point. 11 COMMISSIONER COSTA: I will nominate 12 Eddie Osborne for Chairperson. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Second. 14 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I am here. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will second, 16 Director. 17 MR. CIRILO: Is there any other 18 nominations for Chairperson? 19 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Vice Chairperson. 20 MR. CIRILO: This is for Chairperson. 21 Okay, hearing none, Mr. Chairman, I will read the 22 roll call at this point on the nomination. 23 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Excuse me, 24 Director, what are we doing, is that Chairman or 25 what are we doing? 6 1 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson. 2 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Okay. 3 MR. CIRILO: We are going to take the 4 roll call now on the motion to nominate Commissioner 5 Eddie Osborne for Chairperson. 6 Roll call, Commissioner Logan. 7 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 11 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 13 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 15 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 17 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: The motion passes. 19 Congratulations, Mr. Chairperson. 20 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Thank you all for 21 your votes. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Good job, 23 Chairman. 24 MR. CIRILO: At this point we will now 25 entertain a motion for the position of Vice 7 1 Chairperson. 2 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I nominate Mr. Alif 3 Muhammad. 4 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: I will second. 5 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I will second. 6 MR. CIRILO: Are there any nominations 7 for Vice Chairperson? Hearing none, we will take a 8 roll call on the nomination of Commissioner Alif 9 Muhammad for Vice Chairperson. 10 Commissioner Logan. 11 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 15 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 17 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 19 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 21 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Congratulations, 23 Commissioner Alif Muhammad. 24 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Thank you, 25 appreciate everybody. Newark first. Newark first, 8 1 thank you. 2 MR. CIRILO: You're welcome. 3 We are going to move on at this point. 4 We will now entertain a motion for the position of 5 treasurer. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'd like to 7 nominate Norma Gonzalez. 8 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I will second it. 9 MR. CIRILO: Are there any other 10 nominations for treasurer? Hearing none, we will 11 take a roll call now on the nomination of Norma 12 Gonzalez for treasurer. 13 Commissioner Logan. 14 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 15 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 17 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 18 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 19 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 20 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 21 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 22 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 23 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 24 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Congratulations, 9 1 Commissioner Gonzalez. 2 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Thank you, 3 everyone. 4 MR. CIRILO: Mr. Chairman, at this 5 point you can entertain a motion to adjourn the 6 annual meeting. 7 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I make a motion to 8 adjourn. 9 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Second. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 11 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 15 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 17 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 19 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 21 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. The 23 annual meeting is now adjourned. 24 (Whereupon, the proceedings were 25 concluded at 5:10 p.m.) 10 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 I, ANTHONY HOFMANN, a Certified Court 4 Reporter, and Notary Public within and for the State 5 of New Jersey, certify that the foregoing is a true 6 and accurate transcript of the stenographic notes of 7 said witness(es)who were first duly sworn by me, on 8 the date and place hereinbefore set forth. 9 10 11 12 ___________________________ ANTHONY HOFMANN, C.C.R. 13 LICENSE NO. XIO1854 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 1 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 2 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 3 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 4 x--------------------------------x 5 IN THE MATTER OF: * 6 THE REGULAR MEETING * TRANSCRIPT 7 OF THE HOUSING AUTHORITY * OF 8 OF THE CITY OF NEWARK * PROCEEDINGS 9 Commencing at 5:10 p.m. via Zoom * 10 x--------------------------------x 11 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 12 500 BROAD STREET 13 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 14 B E F O R E: 15 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 16 EDDIE OSBORNE, President 17 MARTINIQUE COSTA, Commissioner 18 FAUSTO BAEZ, Commissioner 19 NORMA GONZALEZ, Commissioner 20 BRIAN LOGAN, Commissioner 21 ALIF MUHAMMAD, Commissioner 22 23 24 ANTHONY HOFMANN, C.C.R. 25 LICENSE NO. XIO1854 2 1 PROFESSIONAL STAFF: 2 3 VICTOR CIRILO, Executive Director 4 KATIA OLIVEIRA, Executive Assistant 5 ELIO MENA, Counsel 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 Opening Statement 4 4 Public Participation (None) 5 Special Presentation 5 6 Items for Approval 22 7 8 RESOLUTIONS PAGE 9 H-1 through H-8 25 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 MR. CIRILO: Mr. Chairman, we will 2 move on to the regular agenda at your leisure. 3 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: The next item will 4 be the special presentation. 5 MR. CIRILO: We are going to get 6 started and you can call the meeting to order, Mr. 7 Chairman, of the regular Board meeting. 8 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I now call the 9 regular Board meeting to order. 10 Do I need a motion? 11 MR. CIRILO: I am going to read the 12 Open Public Meetings Act. 13 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Okay. 14 MR. CIRILO: And then I will take roll 15 call. 16 Mr. Chairman, as required by N.J.S.A. 17 10:4-6 known as the Open Public Meetings Act, notice 18 of this monthly meeting was provided in the 19 following manner. On December 30, 2020 notice of 20 the meeting specifying the date, time and location 21 was transmitted to the Star Ledger, El Nuevo Coqui 22 and to the Clerk of the City of Newark. 23 I am going to move on to roll call. 24 Commissioner Logan. 25 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 5 1 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 4 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 6 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 8 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 10 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: We have a quorum. We can 12 move on to the special presentation, Mr. Chairman, 13 at your lead. 14 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: All right, let's 15 move on to the special presentation. 16 MR. CIRILO: Thank you very much, Mr. 17 Chairman. Mr. Vice Chair, Madame Treasurer and the 18 rest of the Board members. Today we have with us 19 the City of Newark Homeless Czar Sakinah Hoyte and 20 Ms. Safiah Holiday of the health department. 21 There have been a lot of questions 22 about the initiatives in assisting residents without 23 addresses. Our homeless community especially in 24 light of the pandemic and the Housing Authority has 25 stepped up and has committed not only mainstream 6 1 vouchers which we applied for these additional 2 vouchers in unison with the City of Newark, but also 3 the Board approved the extension of two hundred 4 additional vouchers this past November. We're still 5 working on the Memorandum of Agreement on the two 6 hundred vouchers. We hope to finalize that and a 7 hundred of those vouches have been requested by the 8 City to assist clients at this new village that is 9 being put together in retrofitting the containers. 10 Ms. Hoyte can talk a little bit more about that 11 initiative of the City. 12 So a hundred of the two hundred 13 vouchers that you have allocated this past November 14 would be earmarked towards that effort. Going back 15 to the point of mainstream vouchers which have been 16 allocated during this COVID-19 crisis. We do have a 17 Memorandum of Agreement with the City of Newark as 18 well as some of the service providers. The City 19 extends screening to a client that comes in through 20 that program and then they're partnered with a 21 provider which will assist or assist depending on 22 the need with the required services such as any type 23 of security deposit assistance, any vouchers for 24 furniture, so on and so forth in addition to any 25 type of professional services. These are licensed 7 1 professionals. That extends this type of screening 2 and after the screening process and after the 3 partnering, they are forwarded to the Housing 4 Authority for the extension of the voucher. At that 5 point the Housing Authority's role is to house the 6 client through the regular program and assure that 7 the unit stays in decent, safe and sanitary 8 condition as well as assuring that the landlords and 9 the tenant through, in many instances, the 10 assistance of a service provider are bound or are 11 following the terms of the lease that is signed. 12 At this point I would like to 13 introduce Ms. Sakinah Hoyte to address the Board to 14 talk a little bit about the programs I just 15 referenced as well as any future initiatives that 16 the City is undertaking to address our homeless 17 population and service clients without addresses. 18 Ms. Hoyte. 19 MS. HOYTE: Thank you, Victor and 20 thank you esteemed Commissioners for allowing me to 21 present today. My name is Sakinah Hoyte. I am 22 recently the City of Newark's Homelessness Czar. I 23 am responsible for creating the overall strategic 24 plan to address homelessness in our City and 25 additionally responsible for the operation of the 8 1 new office of homeless services which is under the 2 auspices of the office of our Mayor Ras J. Baraka. 3 The mission of the Office of Homeless 4 Services is to work collaboratively with 5 stakeholders to promote safety, well-being and self 6 sufficiency of homeless persons through 7 strengthening the homeless service delivery system 8 with the ultimate goal of ending homelessness. 9 Currently under the direction of Mayor 10 Baraka the City is working on three key initiatives. 11 Our Miller Street Pathways to Housing Center, our 12 Newark Hope Village and our Making Housing Homes 13 challenge which Victor referenced. The Miller 14 Street Pathways to Housing Center is a facility that 15 has the capacity to house one hundred sixty-six 16 single men and women while offering meals, 17 transportation, connecting clients with medical care 18 and supportive services and assisting in the process 19 of identifying permanent housing solutions. 20 Our Newark Hope Village, a newly 21 constructed low barrier shelter which will consist 22 of twenty single units made from recycled 23 containers. The site includes a bathroom with 24 individual units, also admin space. The clients 25 will be receiving meals, transportation, mental and 9 1 substance abuse services along with general 2 supportive services to help meet the needs of both 3 clients. This project was a critical solution and 4 emergent response to the pandemic and also the 5 frigid temperatures. 6 Our Making Housing Homes challenge is 7 the Mayor's vision for creating healthy, permanent 8 and affordable housing options for Newark's 9 residents without addresses, our homeless 10 population. The Making Housing Homes challenge is a 11 housing first initiative that aims to collaborate 12 with local non-profits and private developers to 13 create one hundred transitional permanent supportive 14 housing units. This housing model requires social 15 service supports for those housed to dramatically 16 reduce the rate of returning to homelessness. Each 17 project is expected to include a minimum of about 18 twenty units. We are very grateful for our 19 partnership with the Newark Housing Authority. 20 Under Victor's leadership he has locked arms with 21 the City and provided access to housing solutions 22 through the form of the provision of vouchers. 23 Through our various City initiatives and 24 comprehensive temporary sheltering practice which 25 includes six City shelters, the Newark Housing 10 1 Authority has committed two hundred vouchers for 2 Newark's most vulnerable homeless. Our office 3 strategically targets both our shelter and 4 unsheltered population for these specific vouchers. 5 We partner with the Essex County 6 Continuing Care, a myriad of service providers as 7 Victor mentioned to ensure that each consumer has 8 access to an area of services in order to prepare 9 for housing, qualify, ascertain the housing and most 10 importantly sustain the housing. 11 This process takes a very 12 collaborative network of agencies in order to ensure 13 that consumers are properly screened and are able to 14 actually ascertain the documentation necessary to 15 qualify and most importantly are able to sustain the 16 housing units. It is very comprehensive, time 17 sensitive and resource heavy process as each 18 individual presents with their own set of unique 19 needs. The Housing Authority has also allowed us to 20 really address and end the cycle of homelessness for 21 more than ninety individuals over the past two years 22 through their voucher commitment and we do look 23 forward to building on this partnership. 24 We are currently working to house as 25 many of our residents as Victor mentioned through 11 1 the provision of vouchers at our hotel site which 2 was established as a result of the pandemic. 3 Additionally, at our Newark Hope Village and through 4 our Making Housing Homes challenge. 5 Thank you. 6 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you. That 7 was beautiful. Thank you. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman. 9 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Any questions? 10 Commissioner Muhammad. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Ms. Hoyte, how 12 are you? 13 MS. HOYTE: Hi, how you doing? 14 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Now, can I ask 15 you all the questions or should I wait for Safiah? 16 MS. HOYTE: You can direct them -- it 17 is actually Yaminah Dean is the one on to support 18 today. She is our program coordinator. You can ask 19 both of us the questions. 20 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: The New Hope 21 Village, is that going to be permanent or are you 22 looking for the client to say live there for a year 23 then take their Section 8 vouchers and go somewhere 24 else or are you looking for them to permanently stay 25 there? 12 1 MS. HOYTE: Our Newark Hope Village is 2 actually a shelter site. It is a low barrier 3 shelter that is targeted for vocation that are 4 living around the Penn Station corridor outdoors. 5 They will come in -- it is a ninety day pilot. They 6 will come in for the ninety days and actually upon 7 entry will start to work to transition them into a 8 housing unit. So we have I want to say about four 9 providers working with us to wrap an area of 10 supportive services around them so that we can get 11 them into the units and help them to sustain the 12 units. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: In other 14 words, the hundred vouchers that we are designating 15 for that site is not really for there, it is going 16 to be for where they end up at, right? 17 MS. HOYTE: So there is twenty actual 18 vouchers for that site and then we have our Making 19 Housing Homes where there's that one hundred. So 20 it's two different projects. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Whatever 22 happened to your TRA? What is going on with that, 23 is that over? 24 MS. HOYTE: TRA is actually managed 25 through the County division. 13 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay. Now, I 2 got a big problem here. What is considered a 3 resident of Newark because in order to qualify for 4 this new program that you are doing, this homeless, 5 you have to be a resident of Newark. What do you 6 consider a resident of Newark? 7 MS. HOYTE: A resident of Newark has 8 to -- well, it takes various providers so basically 9 what we do is we work with our various providers to 10 establish or identify a Newark footprint. So I can 11 take you through a scenario. If a client comes into 12 our office and they are in need of services, we will 13 ask them if they've been engaged by another provider 14 in the community. There's a system, it is our 15 homeless management information system that's shared 16 amongst various agencies throughout the County 17 homeless service providers obviously and so we can 18 actually go into the HMIS system and track peoples 19 progress amongst the network and that is a way for 20 us to identify whether someone has been engaged in 21 the City because obviously we are dealing with 22 people that are outdoors or transient and so we are 23 looking to see if they have been engaged in a 24 shelter. We are looking to see if they have engaged 25 Officer Fifer who is an outreach officer at Penn 14 1 Station, if they have engaged our outreach agency, 2 some sort of footprint that's identifiable in our 3 system. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Hypothetical 5 situation. I just come in from New York and I am 6 living here for a couple days. All of a sudden I'm 7 homeless. Do I qualify as a resident of Newark? 8 MS. HOYTE: You are not a resident of 9 Newark right away. So usually what we do is 10 transition them into one of our City funded 11 shelters. Our low barrier shelter is the 224 Health 12 Center. They don't require ID upon entry. They are 13 the only shelter that doesn't. So it is what we 14 would do is place them there and after about -- 15 Yaminah, you can probably clarify this, but I want 16 to say thirty days. Is that about right? 17 MS. DEAN: Sometimes we do longer. In 18 this particular case in your scenario with this just 19 only being here for two days and coming from another 20 state, more likely than not they will have to stay 21 in the shelter. Sometimes for our other programs we 22 do say six months because that is enough time to 23 establish that you've actually been here and be able 24 to receive some of the services from some of the 25 service providers that are local to Newark. 15 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So let me ask 2 you a question. If a person goes into a shelter and 3 they stay there for two months and you put them in 4 the shelter, they come to your program and you put 5 them in the shelter then are they a resident of 6 Newark if they are in the shelter for two months? 7 MS. DEAN: Again, it depends. Like I 8 said, for some of our programs and some of our other 9 programs we do say six months because that is enough 10 time for them to make that footprint. If we can go 11 into that homeless management information system, 12 the HMIS system that Sakinah mentioned and if we see 13 they have been serviced by another County right 14 before that two months if they have been here for 15 that long, we can go to another County so that other 16 County can assist them with resources, whatever the 17 resources are that they need. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So could you 19 give us the Commissioners a short progress, short 20 how you do. I am homeless, I walk into 110 Williams 21 Street and tell you I'm homeless. What happens from 22 there, what's the process? 23 MS. HOYTE: I didn't hear the last 24 part, I'm sorry. 25 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'm homeless. 16 1 I lived in Newark for about four or five months so I 2 lived here for a year and I walk in and I tell you 3 I'm homeless. Come to 110 Williams Street, Taylor 4 Homes, what's the steps in order for us to achieve 5 the point where you can qualify for our Section 8 6 voucher, what's the progress, what do we have to do 7 from there. 8 MS. HOYTE: So if a person walks in, 9 first we will do our assessment, full assessment. 10 We will then identify a shelter to place them in. 11 We will place them in a shelter. The shelter is 12 then responsible for connecting them with some sort 13 of agency so that they can start to receive services 14 that are necessary to make them independent 15 obviously. We will then put them on our waiting 16 list. We have a comprehensive waiting list amongst 17 the various shelters that we have and we will wait 18 until their name pops up on the list. So right now 19 we have five hundred fifty people in our shelter 20 network. We have a temporary shelter grant that 21 funds many of the shelters in the community, six 22 shelters in the community. So we have a 23 comprehensive list that people are placed on and in 24 the interim the shelters are responsible for 25 providing case management. The goal is not a 17 1 voucher. The goal is to transition them out of the 2 shelters into housing that they can sustain. 3 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I still don't 4 know how you do that. Like work or if they are 5 homeless, I don't understand how they are going to 6 be able to do that, in other words, if I'm homeless 7 and I don't have a job, how am I going to afford to 8 get an apartment. When you take me out of the 9 shelter, I don't understand how I am afford being 10 out of the shelter. 11 MS. HOYTE: A part of the wrap around 12 services that the providers are funded to provide. 13 They have to provide the case management that is 14 necessary to help people, connect them to job 15 resources, job readiness programs to get them 16 connected to rental assistance that we have in the 17 City and in the County that can also assist rather 18 than necessarily giving them vouchers. So we also 19 have -- 20 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: How do they 21 get to us? Is there a lottery or they go by the 22 waiting list? 23 MS. HOYTE: Waiting list. 24 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So it is 25 really not on you guys, the City and it is not on 18 1 the Housing Authority, it is really the shelters 2 where we are doing the services. 3 MS. HOYTE: That's correct. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Thank you so 5 much. But you guys determine residency, right? 6 MS. HOYTE: That's correct. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: The City 8 determines residency. I'm good, thank you so much 9 for coming. 10 MS. HOYTE: Thanks for having us. 11 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Thank you Sakinah. 12 Thank you Yaminah. Any other questions, any other 13 concerns? 14 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Chairman, yes, 15 Yaminah, I just want to ask you a question. What 16 can we do -- 17 MS. DEAN: My apologies, Commissioner, 18 you're breaking up. It is hard to hear. 19 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: My question to you 20 is pretty much I have somebody at the house come by 21 this week with three and four year old kid. There 22 is a couple they are homeless right now. They are 23 working temporarily. 24 MS. DEAN: I'm sorry, I am having a 25 hard time hearing. 19 1 MR. MENA: Commissioner, you are not 2 coming in very clear. You're breaking up a lot. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez, if you 4 allow me. Ms. Dean, what I heard was Commissioner 5 Baez has come across a family with children that is 6 homeless right now and he wishes to ask what options 7 can exist out there for this family. 8 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes, and a couple 9 that their house got burned out this week so right 10 now they have no place to stay. I am wondering what 11 can we do to help. 12 MS. DEAN: Well, currently are they 13 staying on the street right now, are they in a 14 hotel, exactly where are they right now? 15 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: They called me. 16 They have a place to stay with three and four year 17 old kid and they are a couple. The gentleman is 18 working, but right now they lost everything because 19 the house got burned out. 20 MS. HOYTE: What we can do if you 21 could share my number or my information, I could 22 reach out and offer, you know, shelter placement if 23 they would be amenable to that. 24 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: That sounds great 25 if you could give me your phone number. 20 1 MS. HOYTE: Absolutely. I will put it 2 in the chat, is that okay? 3 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: That's great. 4 Thank you. 5 MR. CIRILO: Thank you. Mr. Chairman, 6 Ms. Hoyte, thank you again for allowing us some of 7 your time and I know how busy you are and 8 congratulations on the opening of the new location 9 today. 10 MS. HOYTE: Thank you. 11 MR. CIRILO: The article is in the 12 newspaper and we are also able to broadcast the 13 event live on our Facebook page so congratulations 14 on that effort and what is striking is your passion 15 and it is really infectious, your passion for those 16 folks that haven't received the level of attention 17 and now through the Mayor's efforts, his hard work 18 and really very high level of proactiveness we have 19 been able to come together and address some of these 20 issues out there. 21 The Mayor said something interesting 22 today about how it is not only a Newark issue, but 23 as the Vice Chairperson shared we do have a lot of 24 folks that just come in here because we are slowly 25 becoming a community that has a high level of 21 1 resources for those that find themselves in a 2 difficult situation and we couldn't think of a 3 better leader to address this issue than you so 4 thank you again for your hard work and, Ms. Dean, 5 thank you for taking the time for being here on 6 behalf of the Housing Authority and the Board. 7 MS. HOYTE: Thank you so much. 8 MS. DEAN: Thank you for having us. 9 MS. HOYTE: Thank you for your 10 partnership. Thank you all. 11 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Thank you and 12 congratulations again. 13 MR. CIRILO: Mr. Chairman, we can move 14 on to the next portion of the agenda. Mr. Chairman, 15 we can't hear you. Mr. Chairman, are you on mute? 16 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Can you hear me 17 now? 18 MR. CIRILO: Yes, thank you. Public 19 participants with your lead. 20 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes, go ahead. 21 MR. CIRILO: We don't have any public 22 participants today, Mr. Chairman. 23 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Okay, so we are 24 going to move onto items for approval. 25 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: One minute, 22 1 Mr. Chairman, may I. Last meeting we had the public 2 came in to speak and I just want to tell our E.D., 3 our Director, that I received the written questions 4 that you answered and that was wonderful. So what I 5 am telling everybody out there in the public in the 6 Newark Housing Authority if you come and speak and 7 you ask us a question, we answer it so you know. I 8 just want to let you know that. Thank you E.D., 9 appreciate it. 10 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: So that leaves us 11 with items for approval. 12 MR. CIRILO: Yes, Mr. Chairman, we 13 will entertain a motion and a second to approve the 14 Board monthly activity report for January of 2021. 15 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I need a motion and 16 second. 17 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I move it. 18 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Mr. Baez. 19 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I will second 20 it. 21 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: And Gonzalez. 22 MR. CIRILO: On the monthly activities 23 report, Commissioner Logan. 24 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 23 1 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 3 Commissioner Gonzalez. 4 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 8 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Now, Chairman, 10 are you going to give me an opportunity to ask some 11 questions about it or how you want to do this? You 12 want to do this later because I have some issues 13 about the report. E.D., what you thinking, what is 14 your thought? 15 MR. CIRILO: At your pleasure. 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Because I have 17 some questions about it. I don't know if you guys 18 want to answer about some of the things in the 19 activity report. It is up to you, Chairman. 20 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: We might as well 21 address it now while we are here. 22 MR. CIRILO: We do have vendors on, 23 Mr. Chairman. Can we do it after. 24 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: We will do it 25 afterwards. 24 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: No problem. 2 MR. CIRILO: To proceed we are going 3 to entertain a motion and second to approve the 4 Board transcripts. The Board transcripts for 5 January 14, 2021. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I make a 7 motion. 8 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I will second 9 it. 10 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Muhammad and 11 Gonzalez. 12 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 13 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 15 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 17 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 19 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 23 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 25 We are going to move on to 25 1 resolutions, Mr. Chairman. 2 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: All right, 3 resolutions. Any member of the Board may request 4 that an item be removed from the consent agenda and 5 be considered separately. All remaining items will 6 be considered together. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, 8 again, on the flavor and, you know, transparency I 9 would like the E.D. to read them if possible if 10 that's not too much so people know what we are 11 passing. 12 MR. CIRILO: Mr. Chairman. 13 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: You want to read 14 the resolutions. 15 MR. CIRILO: Sure. Would you like to 16 read them individually and take a vote so on and so 17 forth or would you like for me to read them one by 18 one? 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I would 20 appreciate that because let people know. 21 MR. CIRILO: Not a problem, very good. 22 We are going to get started with Resolution 02-01. 23 This resolution reads that the NHA Board of 24 Commissioners accept the United States Department of 25 Housing and Urban Development's public housing 26 1 operating fund shortfall funding from federal fiscal 2 year 2020 appropriations in the amount of ten 3 million two hundred seventy-nine thousand four 4 hundred ninety-five dollars and approving a 5 financial assessment subsystem recovery plan. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Chairman. 7 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I just want to 9 say Executive Director and your staff we appreciate 10 this. What you guys did and went and found us ten 11 million dollars that is going to help us for the 12 Newark Housing Authority and we were one of the few 13 authorities that got it in America, not just in New 14 Jersey, but in America so I want to congratulate the 15 E.D. and his staff for coming up with this 16 ten million. Thank you so much. 17 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Next resolution. 18 MR. CIRILO: Should we take a vote, 19 Mr. Chairman, before we move on. I will entertain a 20 motion and second. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I make a 22 motion. 23 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I will second. 24 MR. CIRILO: On the motion to approve 25 resolution 01. 27 1 Commissioner Logan. 2 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 4 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 6 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 8 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 12 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 13 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 14 Resolution 02-02, that the Newark 15 Housing Authority Board of Commissioners approve the 16 revised NHA general business expense policy as of 17 January 2021 to accommodate the issuance and use of 18 procurement cards, P-Card. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman. 20 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Go ahead, 21 Commissioner Muhammad. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: E.D., did you 23 come up with who is going to have these cards yet, 24 did you come up with an idea? 25 MR. CIRILO: We are going to allocate 28 1 five cards, but we don't have a list yet unless Sam 2 does, Mr. Moolayil, our CFO is he on the line? 3 MR. MOOLAYIL: Yes, I'm on the line, 4 yes. We are going to choose five cards. One mainly 5 for force account crew and another one for 6 operations currently for emergencies. The rest of 7 the cards will be kept at finance and procurement. 8 If any emergency happen, then the procurement 9 officer will authorize that and then you will 10 release the card to be returned to procurement 11 office. 12 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Sam, you said 13 the E.D. is not going to have a card. 14 MR. MOOLAYIL: We can have one for 15 COCC, yes, that is one we have, but we haven't 16 discussed that. Yes, so definitely. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: That's three 18 and two you are going to hold? 19 MR. MOOLAYIL: Yes. 20 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay. Thank 21 you, Chairman. 22 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: You're welcome. 23 Roll call. 24 MR. CIRILO: Yes, we will entertain a 25 motion and a second. 29 1 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Motion. 2 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Second. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 4 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 6 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. On 8 the motion, Commissioner Costa. 9 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 11 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 15 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez did I 17 call your name, my apologies. 18 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes, I say yes. 19 MR. CIRILO: Thank you. Motion 20 passes. 21 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Resolution number 22 three. 23 MR. CIRILO: 02-03, that the Newark 24 Housing Authority Board of Commissioners authorize 25 the Executive Director to award the project to the 30 1 NRP Group and Adenah Bayoh, subject to the 2 negotiation of a Master Development Agreement in 3 order to develop mixed income family housing at 4 Clinton Avenue West. 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Chairman. 6 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Commissioner 7 Muhammad. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: E.D., how many 9 of these again is going to be affordable, do you 10 remember or is anybody there? I don't remember how 11 many is going to be affordable. 12 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I asked that 13 question the last meeting and the young lady stated 14 it was fifty-four, but now it is fifty-eight I 15 believe eighty percent. 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So you are 17 saying, Baez, there is going to be eighty apartments 18 that is going to be affordable? 19 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: That is the 20 question I asked at the last meeting and it was 21 eighty percent. This is Newark housing, we need a 22 lot of affordable housing right now. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I know you 24 said it, but I thought you were just wishful 25 dreaming. 31 1 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Eighty percent. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Eighty percent 3 is a lot. Is there anybody there, who is that 4 person? 5 MS. BAYOH: Adenah. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So how many 7 apartments is going to be affordable? 8 MS. BAYOH: Eighty percent. We are 9 looking for eighty percent or higher. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Baez, you 11 are a good dreamer. 12 On this project that is going to be at 13 the Clinton Avenue right now coming down High Street 14 to old-timers Martin Luther King where the old 15 Lasco's is going to be close to eighty apartments 16 that is going to be affordable that is going to be 17 put up by this group and we like that. We like 18 that. We like that, okay, I'm good, Chairman. 19 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Can I get a motion 20 and second? 21 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: I will move 22 it. 23 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I will second. 24 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Gonzalez/Baez. 25 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 32 1 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 3 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 4 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 5 Commissioner Costa on the motion. 6 Commissioner Gonzalez. 7 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 11 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 13 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Move to resolution 14 04. 15 MR. CIRILO: 02-04, that the Newark 16 Housing Authority Board of Commissioners authorize 17 the Executive Director to enter into an indefinite 18 delivery/indefinite quantity, IDIQ, contract with KM 19 Construction Corporation for agency wide 20 installation of sidewalks, retaining walls, steps, 21 curbs, landscaping, paving, fencing and other 22 related work for one year with options to renew for 23 two one-year extensions at one million dollars per 24 year or an aggregate amount of four million dollars 25 for four years, whichever comes first. 33 1 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Is the vendor on 2 the line? 3 MR. CIRILO: Yes, we do have a 4 representative of KM Construction as well as our 5 purchasing department on. Does anyone from 6 purchasing wish to introduce representatives of KM 7 Construction for any questions. Maria. 8 MS. MARIA: Sure, good afternoon, 9 everyone. KM is supposed to be there, Anthony. 10 KM CONSTRUCTION: Yes, hi, good 11 afternoon. This is Marly and Tony. 12 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, can 13 I ask some questions? 14 MR. CIRILO: Go ahead, Commissioner. 15 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Commissioner 16 Muhammad. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Could you tell 18 us a little bit about your company, you know, how 19 large you are, whatever job, you ever did any work 20 for us before. 21 KM CONSTRUCTION: Sure. So we are KM 22 Construction. We are located out of Irvington. We 23 have about fifty employees. We worked with Newark 24 Housing before. No issues so far. We have 25 extensive experience with site work. We are GCs and 34 1 we mostly focus on site work, that is mostly our 2 work. 3 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: You could tell 4 us some of the jobs you did for us in housing if you 5 can off your head. 6 KM CONSTRUCTION: I will move this 7 over to Tony, he is a project manager. He knows 8 more about this. We did a lot of sidewalks already, 9 paving, we did curbs, a lot of site work for Newark 10 Housing, all right. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Could you tell 12 me where, Tony, what sites? 13 KM CONSTRUCTION: The sites of the 14 jobs we did? 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 16 KM CONSTRUCTION: Couple sites we did. 17 I'm not remember the sites, but we did a lot of 18 sites, all right. I think all the sites we did the 19 jobs. 20 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: All twenty-six 21 of our sites? 22 KM CONSTRUCTION: I think so. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: It is okay, 24 you are not prepared to answer that question. 25 KM CONSTRUCTION: I can compile a list 35 1 if you need and send it over to you. 2 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: How many Newark 3 residents do you have working for you currently? 4 KM CONSTRUCTION: Can you repeat that? 5 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: How many Newark 6 residents do you have working for you currently? 7 KM CONSTRUCTION: I would say probably 8 seventy percent. It is seventy percent or more from 9 Newark. 10 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Steady workers. 11 They work with you steady. 12 KM CONSTRUCTION: They work for us. 13 Is it full-time you are asking, yes, they work for 14 us full-time, yes. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay, I'm 16 good, Chairman. 17 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Any other questions 18 or concerns? 19 MR. CIRILO: If there is no questions. 20 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: We can do roll 21 call. 22 MR. CIRILO: We need a mover and 23 second. 24 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I will second. 25 MR. MENA: Do we have a mover? 36 1 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: I will move it. 2 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 3 Commissioner Logan. 4 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 6 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Abstain. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 8 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 10 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 12 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 13 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 14 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 15 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 16 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Resolution 05. 17 MR. CIRILO: I thank KM for being 18 available and Adenah Bayoh for being available as 19 well. 20 I am going to move on to Resolution 21 02-05, that the Board of Commissioners authorize the 22 Executive Director to enter into an indefinite 23 delivery/indefinite quantity, IDIQ, contract with 24 Fox Fence Enterprises, Incorporated for fence 25 installation, repair and related services for two 37 1 years with an option to renew for two one-year 2 extensions at two hundred fifty thousand dollars per 3 year or an aggregate amount of one million dollars 4 for four years, whichever comes first. 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, 6 Commissioner Gonzalez, is this the one you were 7 concerned about, right over in Stephen Crane. 8 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yeah, a while 9 ago not with the vendor per se and I'm glad that we 10 got this specific vendor now. I just had some 11 concerns that there were some fencing down and Rich 12 has assured me that now with RAD coming into play 13 that those fencing are going to be done. So I think 14 that is why we need this vendor as well. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Also, I was at 16 Kretchmer yesterday. They have some fencing 17 problems, E.D. Is this company going to work on 18 that too? 19 MR. CIRILO: Absolutely. If approved 20 they would be able to start right away. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So the fence 22 that you are talking about by Stephen Crane, I was 23 at Clara Maass and I snuck through the fence. That 24 is what you are talking about, Norma? 25 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: All that site down 38 1 there is messed up. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I snuck 3 through the fence. I didn't have to walk around. I 4 am not going to be able to do that anymore. 5 MR. CIRILO: Not if we select a vendor 6 today. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay, Mr. 8 Chairman, I'm good. 9 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Any other 10 questions? Okay, Mr. Director. 11 MR. CIRILO: A mover and second. 12 COMMISSIONER COSTA: I will second. 13 MR. CIRILO: Is there a motion? 14 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will make 15 the motion. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 17 Commissioner Costa seconds the motion. 18 MR. MILLER: On the motion, 19 Commissioner Logan. 20 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 21 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 22 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 23 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 24 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 39 1 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 3 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 4 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 5 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 7 Thank you representatives of Fox Fence 8 for being here today. 9 We are going to move to 02-06, that 10 the Newark Housing Authority Board of Commissioners 11 authorize the Executive Director to execute an 12 Amended Shared Services Agreement with the City of 13 Newark for police personnel to serve as social 14 distance ambassadors for the period of March 1, 2021 15 through December 31, 2021 in an amount to be 16 negotiated, but not to exceed five hundred thousand 17 dollars which is eligible for reimbursement from 18 CARES Act funding. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Chairman, 20 can I ask Captain Broner our director of security to 21 tell me how this money -- this happened last year, 22 but tell me how we are going to work it this year 23 because it appeared that it was successful. 24 CAPTAIN BRONER: Commissioner, good 25 afternoon. Good evening, Commissioners. It is 40 1 going to work similar like it was last year. We 2 actually deployed them to some of our problematic 3 sites. They were actually very helpful in 4 maintaining the peace and keeping and assisting with 5 keeping the social distancing. We had 6 eleven percent drop in crime overall last year and I 7 attributed that with the shared services that we had 8 with the City of Newark. So it is going to be ran 9 similar to the same way. 10 Again, we deploy them at Pennington 11 Court, Riverside Villa, Bradley Court and hopefully 12 we're going to go this year to Kretchmer Homes, 13 Oscar Miles. Mostly our problematic sites because 14 we know when the weather starts to warm up and 15 everybody is feeling all penned up right now they 16 are going to want to come out and stuff like that so 17 their presence will be very needed at these sites to 18 help maintain the peace and the social distance 19 particularly with this virus going on to maintain 20 the social distancing so we look forward to keeping 21 using them similar like we did last year. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yeah, Captain, 23 we can see the difference from last year. I am 24 going to say bravo to you. You can feel the 25 difference with our crime situation. We appreciate 41 1 that man and the people that work with you. We just 2 want to tell you that and we are glad all the 3 cameras work too. I was down at Kretchmer. I was 4 looking at all your cameras yesterday. I went in 5 every building and I was looking at all your cameras 6 and stuff and I asked the security, I said where 7 does this go, you know, and everybody said this goes 8 over here. It was excellent, excellent so bravo 9 again to you. Thank you. 10 I'm good, Chair. 11 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Any other 12 questions? Any other concerns of the Commissioners? 13 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Chairman, question 14 for Captain Broner. Let me ask you a question, 15 Captain. Those cameras is all being directed from 16 500. 17 CAPTAIN BRONER: The cameras we have 18 at our operational center at 500 Broad Street. They 19 actually have -- we have somebody there twenty-four 20 hours. They monitor the cameras, but we also have 21 access to those cameras at my office at 26 22 Vanderpool also so we have investigators here that 23 watch the cameras. We also assist with the 24 investigations with the Newark Police, other outside 25 agencies, Essex County Narcotics Division and other 42 1 outside investigative units. We assist with them in 2 some of our long-term investigations so they might 3 come here or they might go downtown depending on the 4 circumstances and monitoring the cameras. So we 5 both have access and availability to the cameras to 6 move them around to look at it and to record. 7 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Excellent, thank 8 you. Thank you, you are our hero, thank you very 9 much. 10 CAPTAIN BRONER: You're welcome. 11 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Any other 12 questions, any other concerns? 13 Mr. Director. 14 MR. CIRILO: We will entertain a 15 motion and a second, Mr. Chairman. 16 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I move it. 17 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Commissioner Baez. 18 COMMISSIONER COSTA: I will second. 19 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Commissioner Costa. 20 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 21 Commissioner Logan. 22 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 23 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 24 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 43 1 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 3 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 4 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 7 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 9 We are going to move on to Resolution 10 02-07, that the NHA Board of Commissioners authorize 11 the purchase of two 2021 Ford F250 four-wheel drive 12 pickup trucks with eight-foot boxes pursuant to 13 state of New Jersey contract number A88727, for use 14 by the Department of Operations at Park Place and 15 Oscar Miles/Betty Shabazz, in an amount not to 16 exceed sixty-three thousand one hundred nine 17 dollars. 18 Maria, do you have the representative 19 on? 20 MS. MARIA: Yes, we do. 21 MR. CIRILO: Do we have any questions 22 from the Board from our representatives. 23 MS. MARIA: We have -- 24 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Can you hear 25 me? 44 1 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Eight feet, I 3 am trying to remember, eight feet is that like a 4 pickup truck size? 5 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Exactly, that 6 is a full pickup bed body on the back of that F250 7 truck. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: It is closed 9 up to, you know, like about two feet in height. It 10 is a box. There is no covering, it is just a box. 11 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Correct, it's 12 open, that is correct. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: That is all I 14 needed, Chairman, I'm good. 15 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Can I get a mover 16 and second? 17 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Move it. 18 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I will second. 19 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Commissioner Logan, 20 Commissioner Baez. 21 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 22 Commissioner Logan. 23 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 25 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 45 1 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 2 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 4 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 8 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 10 We are going to move to Resolution 11 02-08, that the NHA Board of Commissioners amend 12 Resolution H-19-23-05-05 and authorize an amended 13 contract for soot removal services and other 14 unanticipated work at various properties, increasing 15 the maximum contract amount by two hundred twenty 16 thousand dollars for an aggregate amount not to 17 exceed seven hundred seventy thousand dollars. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, is 19 Mr. Ahmed here, is he still on, is he with us? 20 MR. CIRILO: Unfortunately, he wasn't 21 able to join us today, Mr. Chairman. I'm sorry, 22 Mr. Vice Chairman, we sent him notification. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Maybe you can 24 help us with this. What I like -- what I said is 25 that we have a lot of old equipment, right? 46 1 MR. CIRILO: Yes. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: This is going 3 to help us keep it running until we can get new 4 equipment, right? 5 MR. CIRILO: Correct. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay. Thank 7 you, Chairman. 8 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Can I get a mover 9 and second? 10 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Move it. 11 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Second. 12 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Logan and Baez. 13 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 14 Commissioner Logan. 15 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 17 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 19 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 21 COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 25 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 47 1 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 2 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: That concludes the 3 resolutions. 4 MR. CIRILO: That concludes the 5 resolutions. We can move to general matters at this 6 point, Mr. Chairman. 7 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Let's move on to 8 general matters. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Mr. Chairman. 10 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes, Mr. Muhammad. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I want to talk 12 about the occupation department first. Remember 13 last month, Chairman, it was a couple months 14 together and our leased out unit turnover was 15 fantastic, but this last month it dropped seriously 16 and is there somebody in occupation can tell me why 17 did it drop so drastically. I think we had 18 twenty-nine or thirty we rented out thirty 19 apartments and I think we have like twenty-eight 20 people that moved out so the positive was like two 21 for the month. I just don't understand why it is so 22 drastic drop like that. 23 MR. CIRILO: Thank you, Mr. Vice 24 Chair. We have Sekina Rodgers on from the occupancy 25 department and also our operations Director Vincent 48 1 Rouse. I would yield first to Sekina Rodgers. 2 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: I am looking at the 3 numbers. You referenced twenty-nine move-ins, 4 twenty-one move-outs for a difference of eight 5 units. 6 Ms. Rodgers. 7 MS. RODGERS: Hi, good afternoon, 8 everyone. 9 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Good afternoon. 10 MS. RODGERS: So for January we had 11 thirty move-ins. February surprisingly with all the 12 delays in terms of snow days, clean up at the 13 properties we are actually not that bad. We had 14 thirty-two apartments this month. In terms of what 15 is move outs that is on the operations side. I am 16 not really sure Vincent will have to speak to why 17 they are moving out. So my role is to just assign 18 the apartments when they become available for rent. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay, Sekina 20 can you tell me what you're looking to try to do a 21 month. I know we have to do more than thirty a 22 month. The progression was only like eight 23 apartments. We have a lot of apartments available 24 and as you know we have a massive waiting list. 25 MS. RODGERS: Okay, so Vincent Rouse 49 1 can explain where we are so what I did was -- and I 2 spoke to the Executive Director at our staff meeting 3 during our staff meeting and I informed him that we 4 needed to come up with a monthly leasing projection. 5 So, in other words, the managers will look at all of 6 their vacant units and provide me an assessment of 7 all the apartments that they are working on. So I 8 will know where to screen so I can assign those 9 apartments. 10 The only task that I have out there 11 right now is thirty-four apartments that have the 12 managers -- we may have apartments available. I am 13 not really sure, but we don't assign apartments 14 until the managers tell us or confirms that those 15 apartments are ready. So right now the only thing I 16 have is thirty-four apartments that have not been 17 assigned. Out of those thirty-four, twenty-six of 18 those are from the south side which is Kretchmer 19 21A -- excuse me, Seth Boyden 21E and Seth Boyden 20 21F. Those are our hard to rent properties believe 21 it or not. 22 So just so you know because of the 23 pandemic, the occupancy department was not screening 24 because we were shut down. We didn't have the 25 necessary equipment. Now, we do so we are looking 50 1 at contacting a lot more people, but keep in mind it 2 is still slow. We have a lot of applicants that are 3 not responding. They are not bringing in their 4 information, especially seniors. We don't have that 5 issue at the family properties, but we do have it at 6 the mixed population. With the senior disabled 7 properties people are not showing up believe it or 8 not and then sometimes we try to reach applicants by 9 phone. Their contact information is not current. 10 We have bad addresses. So we are doing everything 11 that we can on this end to get them ahead of the 12 game. 13 Now, I do have a lot of units for 14 Kretchmer 21A, about nineteen apartments. Just so 15 you know we have actually sent out letters yesterday 16 requesting those applicants to respond to us by 17 March 8 so we can get those units -- so we can start 18 screening so we can fill these units, but just keep 19 in mind we have a pandemic. We have even had cases 20 where we had some applicants who called and said 21 they tested positive so it is just slowing things 22 down. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay, because 24 thirty is not acceptable. It is not acceptable so 25 maybe next month you can come back and give us what 51 1 your projection is because this is not acceptable. 2 I mean I know we got a lot of apartments in Mod, but 3 it is just not acceptable. We have nineteen 4 thousand people so, for instance, hypothetically we 5 stay with thirty and I know you have the snow 6 problem, but you are talking about three hundred 7 sixty apartments. We are losing three hundred 8 people so it is like we are renting sixty apartments 9 a year out of nineteen thousand so maybe you guys 10 need to look at how long you get a person a chance 11 to answer because you have a list. When you're 12 fishing, a friend of mine said you are fishing in 13 the ocean. You have nineteen thousand people to put 14 in these apartments so I understand there was the 15 snow. I understand what happened with the virus, 16 but it is just unacceptable. It has to, you know, 17 so next month maybe you can give us a projection on 18 how many you are going to do because that's too low. 19 That is too low for a big City in Newark. It is too 20 low. 21 MS. RODGERS: Commissioner, just so 22 you know, we have a high number of refusals of 23 apartments on the south side. We really do. We 24 have a lot of applicants that's just not the area 25 that they want to live in. So we do get a high 52 1 level of refusals of apartments and that kind of 2 delays because we keep on having to reassign those 3 apartments because it is not desirable. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I know you 5 there and I know, but if I had a hundred dollars for 6 every time somebody need an apartment in Newark that 7 called me about the Housing Authority, I make about 8 five thousand dollars a week. 9 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: How often do our 10 counselors update their list or do we have anybody 11 to go out and actually try to track these people 12 down. 13 MR. CIRILO: I can answer that, 14 Commissioner Logan. To your question about timing, 15 that is a great point, Commissioner Logan. Director 16 Rodgers just mentioned that she has thirty-four 17 units available that she can start moving on so 18 looking at the real numbers, right, I reference 19 Commissioner Vice Chairman Muhammad. I reference 20 the report before you which is aged, it's about a 21 month old so it is all data. We do, Commissioner 22 Logan, to your point we do have real time data that 23 we get every Monday that comes in and real time data 24 as of this Monday was twenty-three move-ins and as 25 Ms. Rodgers mentioned thirty-four units additionally 53 1 that we can lease up that are ready to go. 2 So to your point about the market 3 conditions where we should probably do and speak 4 internally is to take a larger sample of people to 5 try to lease in case we have a lot of folks that are 6 turning the units down. If we take a wider sample 7 we can catch more fish and lease more units. That 8 would be my recommendation and we will speak about 9 that internally. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Because you 11 know, E.D., me and you talked about Local 55. 12 Remember, we were talking about the thirty units and 13 I said that was unacceptable a year and a half ago. 14 We just got to get moving man and that last report 15 was so great we just got to get moving. 16 MR. CIRILO: Yes, and Vice Chairman 17 there is another layer. The first layer is 18 Ms. Rodgers. When she takes on the units after they 19 have been delivered as she mentioned from the 20 managers they are ready to go. Right now that 21 universe is thirty-four units so you are right the 22 next level is our unit turnover operation. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'm not going 24 to beat up on her about that, I promise you. 25 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Mr. Chairman. 54 1 MR. CIRILO: We have 617 and the 2 contractors so that is another layer. So their job 3 is to structurally make those units ready so they 4 get to Ms. Rodgers who currently has thirty-four 5 units ready to go for leasing. So that other 6 universe, the make ready universe or downtime 7 universe based on Monday's report we are looking at 8 two hundred, about two hundred units, right, that 9 are down. So those are the units that go to the 10 next layer that you just referenced. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Chairman, 12 E.D., let me tell you what happened to me yesterday. 13 Some of your managers I guess I have been in Newark 14 all my life. I have some managers that is friends 15 of yours and just happen that the one at Kretchmer 16 is a dear friend. So she asked me to come down and 17 I am going to ask you to go down there. What she 18 did was like Sekina say the older senior building 19 down there is hard to rent because of the bad 20 bathrooms. She showed me the bathrooms and the 21 kitchens. It was like fifty, sixty year old, really 22 beat up. What she did was took one unit and did 23 what they call -- they take the tile and they put 24 everything over it and stuff. I don't know what 25 they call it. I see it advertised on T.V. She said 55 1 she did one unit that way in order to show you what 2 she can do for a low price to make the apartments 3 more attractive. So could you do me a favor, 4 Director Cirilo, could you go down there and look 5 because I just told her hey, I love it, but you need 6 to get the Director down here to see what she did 7 with this one apartment. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner, you have to 9 admire that because the problem as Ms. Rodgers 10 mentioned is market conditions. Folks are not 11 turned on when they look at the unit so I appreciate 12 the manager being proactive and coming up with ways 13 to make the property attractive so that Ms. Rodgers 14 level of denial is lower. So, yeah, I will be 15 there. I will check it out. 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: She actually 17 took me in and I could see it. I could see it and I 18 seen the difference. Because generally like when 19 you go to rent an apartment, the first thing you do 20 is what I do is go into the kitchen and bathroom. 21 Even in my building when my building went RAD which 22 is privately-owned, that is what they replaced 23 first. They completely replaced the kitchen and the 24 bathrooms, gave us new fixtures, but her way or her 25 idea she had, Director, when you go down there it is 56 1 a lot less expensive than changing the whole 2 bathroom. It is really nice. It was really 3 functional and everything. 4 So I got your promise that you will go 5 down there because all I can do is vote yes when you 6 come up with the resolution, but once we get the 7 E.D. down there and see what you can do because 8 she's only talking about the apartments in the old 9 building, the buildings that was up in the fifties. 10 I think it is like two hundred apartments. So 11 thanks a lot, I just wanted to get that in there. 12 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Mr. Chairman. 13 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Commissioner Baez. 14 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you. I 15 don't know if it's on the line, but yesterday I 16 appeared to walk in Stephen Crane Village with the 17 manager of the site and also Rich and also Local 55. 18 I have to say Local 55 has been moving around on 19 this site a lot. I see them flying around from one 20 another to each apartment working together and 21 fixing those apartments. So yesterday I was with 22 Rich and the manager Ms. Jasmin on Stephen Crane and 23 we were looking a lot of apartments and I asked her 24 the question. I said how many apartments do we have 25 ready. She said we have about six ready to go and 57 1 this has been for the last two weeks. I am very 2 happy and I see a lot of apartments turning over 3 here which is great, I love it and I'd like to say 4 thank you to Rich and Local 55. I see them moving 5 around like a bird they go around from one apartment 6 to another doing this and that fixing that and we 7 need that. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 9 Baez, you are biased because we know you love the 10 North Ward. 11 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I love everybody. 12 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Plus we are 13 going RAD there so you are getting all the action, 14 but don't forget the rest of it. We know you are 15 biased now, you know that. I'm just putting that 16 out there, but what I am saying to you and, 17 Chairman, the managers got to stop saying in their 18 mind and E.D. they think RAD is a bad thing. It's a 19 good thing. You know, the E.D. done explained it a 20 couple times. I don't know why you guys are not 21 listening. The RAD they think they are losing their 22 job. It is a good thing. It's a good thing. It is 23 going to make our properties better so managers call 24 your E.D., he will explain it to you. You know, I 25 took the class on RAD. It's a good thing. It 58 1 allows us to do a lot more for our properties, 2 money. It is really a good thing so I don't know 3 what you could do, Director, because you explained 4 it ten times, but I go around there oh, they coming 5 RAD like RAD is like the end of the world. I said 6 no, it's a good thing. Thank you, Chairman. 7 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Anymore questions 8 or concerns? 9 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: With respect I 10 just wanted you to know that I am a large 11 Commissioner and got passion for everyone in Newark. 12 I just like to say something we were discussing 13 yesterday, Chairman and Director, I'd like to 14 request for next week some time next week a little 15 tour. Rich and I was looking at a couple issues 16 that I think is very good especially for a couple 17 sites that needs to be done. So next week I'd like 18 to get a couple of the Commissioners and maybe the 19 Director to come look at all those apartments how it 20 was before and what's been done now. 21 So I saw a couple yesterday that I 22 feel real disappointed at one site how that 23 apartment was looking and how it is returning now 24 which is I'm very happy on that part. So I'd like 25 to request for next week some time if you have the 59 1 time a couple of Commissioners to look around all 2 those apartments that's been done to see how it is 3 being done, please, if it is okay. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 5 Baez, I am in. You just tell me the day and time. 6 Are you going to cook for us too? 7 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I will do anything 8 so let the Director maybe make some time so we can 9 all get together and to go to those apartments. So 10 we can check them out. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay. 12 MR. ROUSE: Chairman, I would like 13 also to speak to Commissioner Muhammad's request of 14 asking about the move-ins and move-outs. We did 15 have quite a few DOAs throughout this time and also 16 we also have people who have been receiving vouchers 17 from Section 8 and so that affects our data as well. 18 They are receiving vouchers from Section 8 so they 19 are moving out while we are still trying to move 20 people in as well. So that did affect our data. 21 We do have, as Sekina stated, our 22 managers are now doing their lease projections and 23 so they have projected for the month of March 24 altogether we should have seventy-eight units ready 25 for the month of March. 60 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay, so E.D. 2 that is going to be in our new report, seventy-eight 3 units, right? 4 MR. CIRILO: Yeah, if you can send me 5 a list, Mr. Rouse, we will make sure that we stay on 6 top of that. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Listen the 8 public E.D. What is DOA? 9 MR. ROUSE: Dead on arrival, I 10 apologize. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Thank you. 12 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Any other items? 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I need to go 14 to Section 8. 15 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Who is going to be 16 speaking for Section 8? 17 MR. CIRILO: We have Mr. Duane Knight 18 on the phone and I believe Ms. Jackie Oliver is on. 19 MR. KNIGHT: Yes, good afternoon, 20 Commissioners. Can you hear me clearly? 21 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 22 MR. KNIGHT: Thank you. Yes 23 Commissioner, I am here to speak -- sorry, also I 24 have also Ms. Walton is available on the line as 25 well, but I can take any questions and concerns that 61 1 you might have. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Duane, the 3 City bailed you out. Sakinah bailed you out so I am 4 going to take you out of jail. 5 MR. KNIGHT: Listen, Commissioner 6 Muhammad, it is a good partnership and it still has 7 a way to go, but it's a good partnership. They are 8 a good partner. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: They said that 10 a hundred is designated for the Hope. How many have 11 we issued so far on that program, could you tell me 12 that? 13 MR. KNIGHT: So far we have issued 14 about ninety vouchers. This is not for the Hope. 15 The ninety is who we have leased so far with the 16 health department. It is not counting the hundred 17 for the Hope yet. Those have not yet come online, 18 the property that those are servicing. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So, in other 20 words, we only have ten left then, am I counting 21 that right, E.D.? 22 MR. KNIGHT: No, the ninety began as 23 part of the mainstream program which was HUD gave us 24 a special allocation of a hundred -- one 25 fifty-eight. 62 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: This is 2 included in the two hundred we gave to the City? 3 MR. KNIGHT: No, that is separate. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I want to know 5 how many vouchers have you out of the two hundred, 6 how many have you issued out of the two hundred? 7 MR. CIRILO: Zero. 8 MR. KNIGHT: Zero. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Thank you. 10 What kind of plan do you have to improve your 11 customer service that myself and Commissioner Baez 12 is very upset about. 13 MR. KNIGHT: We have started looking 14 at our customer service and putting together a plan. 15 Based on consultation with IT and some of my 16 observations when looking at the main call line I 17 see our plan is three fold. So on the one hand we 18 have the phones and we are looking at options in 19 terms of seeing how we can streamline the way the 20 phone line works so that someone can come directly 21 to us and they can select one for inspection or two 22 for wait list. See we are looking at that and 23 working with IT on it. Also, looking to see if we 24 need additional lines and/or additional staff on the 25 lines. 63 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: You can report 2 back to us in a month at the next meeting God 3 willing. 4 MR. KNIGHT: On the status of this 5 plan, yes, sir. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: See the 7 problem is when we get the report E.D. like on the 8 public housing is really set up good, but with the 9 Section 8 we are really just like they got 10 ninety percent, they are twenty percent. It doesn't 11 give us a lot. Like what I'm asking in the last 12 month can you tell me how many vouchers have you 13 issued in the last month, Duane. 14 MR. KNIGHT: I don't actually have 15 February's numbers at hand, but for January we 16 issued a hundred and one new vouchers to new 17 applicants. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So another 19 question. When a patient is picked on the waiting 20 list, how long does it generally take them because I 21 know there are some things they have to do. They 22 have to provide you with more information, but 23 generally how long does it take for them to receive 24 a voucher? I know they have to provide you with 25 information because I have seen it with a couple 64 1 people that you put out a letter, yeah, you on the 2 list and then you ask for more information. 3 Sometimes people take too long to give information 4 or sometimes people only half do it and you have to 5 go back and ask questions, but basically how long 6 does it take? I can't lock you really into that 7 because I seen it myself where people don't answer 8 the questions correctly or you have to ask more 9 questions, but I am just trying to get an idea how 10 long it takes. 11 MR. KNIGHT: What I can do is layout 12 the specific time frames and the process. What 13 happens is when we mail out the application so we 14 pull someone from the waiting list and mail out that 15 application. We typically give them a due date of 16 fifteen days to get the application back to us. 17 Once that application and what happens is we get 18 those applications in waves. Once an application 19 hits our desk, we typically review it within thirty 20 days and if it is -- and at that time make a 21 decision. 22 So if they need to provide us 23 additional documentation, we send them a notice 24 requesting additional documentation. If the 25 application, however, is complete and we determine 65 1 the person eligible at that point they send a notice 2 to the client, contact the client and a voucher can 3 be issued within three business days. An average is 4 issued within three business days. 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay, that is 6 good. 7 MR. KNIGHT: That's the ideal 8 situation. Typically, for the additional documents 9 what we do is we say in the letter that the client 10 receives we say five -- we request the documents 11 back between five to seven business days, but we 12 routinely grant exceptions on that because we know 13 sometimes gathering these documents especially 14 things like birth certificates require the client to 15 go down to the office of vital statistics and stuff. 16 So what we do is we usually routinely grant 17 extensions and give our client up to an additional 18 thirty days and sometimes more to bring in that 19 documentation to us. 20 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Like the E.D. 21 was saying when we fishing say, for instance, do we 22 send out more than we have. Do we send out more 23 letters than we have vouchers for because we know 24 some people are going to fall through. How do you 25 handle that or you only do that one voucher, you 66 1 know, you got. 2 MR. KNIGHT: We typically send out 3 more applications for exactly that reason because we 4 get on average what happens is based on the 5 applications we send out we get somewhere in the 6 region of between fifty-five and sixty-five percent 7 response rate in terms of the application, the 8 returning applications. So in January we mailed out 9 four hundred and fifty applications and we got back 10 two hundred and thirty-nine and that's the way to do 11 it because what happens is people who return 12 applications there may be instances where somebody 13 may be over income, for example, so they wouldn't 14 qualify. So we have to kind of fish broadly so we 15 can make sure we do get as many vouchers on the 16 street as possible. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: There is a 18 question here. I didn't ask the E.D. People come 19 to me and they said the problem is inspectors. Do 20 you have enough inspectors because they said it 21 takes so long once the client finds an apartment it 22 takes them over thirty, forty-five days to get it 23 inspected, is that true or what's the problem there? 24 MR. KNIGHT: So from a client 25 perspective when they select a unit, a client meets 67 1 with the landlord and selects that unit and the 2 landlord has to submit this packet of information 3 into us. Things like verifying that they own the 4 property. Things like their bank information so we 5 can make deposits because we also look to see if a 6 landlord is current on their Newark property taxes 7 and current on their Newark water bill. So what 8 routinely happens is that landlords have outstanding 9 bills on either the property taxes or their water 10 bills and what we do is say look we are not going to 11 move forward until you get that cleared up because 12 we don't want our clients leasing in a unit that is 13 at risk for either having their water turned off or 14 not in compliance with or not current with their 15 Newark property taxes so that is one thing. 16 The other thing is I mean about 17 eighty percent of the time landlords submit 18 incomplete documentation to us. So the tenant 19 doesn't see that, but we are working with the 20 landlord to try to have them submit the remaining 21 documentation so we can package it up and get the 22 units inspected. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So you have 24 inspectors. Say hypothetically you have ten 25 inspectors. How do you break it down, is five for 68 1 new apartments and five to inspect the old 2 apartments, how do you do that? 3 MR. KNIGHT: The inspections team I'm 4 not immediately familiar with exactly how they break 5 down the schedule between inspectors. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: How many 7 inspectors do you have on staff? 8 MR. KNIGHT: That's CGI, the folks 9 doing the inspections. I believe they have four 10 inspectors and a supervisor. That's my 11 understanding. 12 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: They inspect 13 new apartments and they also inspect if you have to 14 recertify a person? 15 MR. KNIGHT: Yes, sir. 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: And also when 17 there is a problem, what happens when a person has a 18 plumbing or code enforcement, those same people 19 inspect that too? 20 MR. KNIGHT: Yes. Those same people 21 they do the emergency, those kind of emergency or 22 complaint inspections. The inspectors must go out 23 and inspect those units. So the priorities actually 24 new units and those emergency items. Those are the 25 two inspections, the units get prioritized in 69 1 scheduling. 2 Now, I would say that code enforcement 3 routinely also goes out to all units because we 4 encourage our clients when we may come out and 5 inspect the unit inside the unit, but if it is 6 something serious and code enforcement is also 7 informed as well so the Housing Authority and the 8 City are sharing the information. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Let me ask you 10 a question. Where I see customer service is a 11 problem. Is you don't have enough inspectors a 12 problem too in your excellent professional opinion, 13 be honest? 14 MR. KNIGHT: So what I will say this. 15 The weather has definitely adversely impacted and 16 made the scheduling of inspections a little 17 challenging and so what is happening the inspections 18 team is playing catch up at this point and I 19 actually had a conversation with the supervisor this 20 morning about it. Yeah, the snow days have really, 21 you know, because it constrains the travel for the 22 inspectors and that does impact our clients, yes. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So how many, 24 say, we have five thousand six hundred forty-seven 25 units leased, right? 70 1 MR. KNIGHT: Yes, sir. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: How many 3 vouchers do we have available that is available now? 4 MR. KNIGHT: We are currently working 5 and our goal is to lease an additional seven hundred 6 forty-five new vouchers this year. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: We have that 8 now? 9 MR. KNIGHT: Yes. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Did HUD give 11 us extra because you were telling us before HUD gave 12 us extra vouchers they want us to step it up. 13 MR. KNIGHT: We have the funding in 14 reserves to support those vouchers, yes. So we are 15 working to lease up that. So essentially seven 16 hundred forty-five new clients on the program before 17 the end of the year, yes. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: That's for 19 2021. 20 MR. KNIGHT: Yes, sir. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: E.D., Victor. 22 MR. CIRILO: Yes, I'm here. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Thanks a lot. 24 It works out good, the questions that I needed to 25 answer. I just want to tell you I appreciate it. 71 1 MR. CIRILO: Thank you very much. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'm good, 3 Chairman. 4 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Mr. Director, is 5 there anything else on the agenda? 6 MR. CIRILO: That is all for today. I 7 believe Commissioner Baez has a question. 8 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Commissioner Baez, 9 you have a question? 10 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you, 11 Director. I'd like to ask who received the mail at 12 500 Broad Street to distribute it to everybody 13 because I believe nobody can go in so I believe I 14 dropped an envelope to drop the letters in there and 15 my question is to Duane. As a matter of fact, 16 yesterday I had to call his office. I had a 17 wonderful young lady with Terrell Home that she 18 saying that you guys sent to HUD already to give out 19 the voucher to Section 8, but however she went to 20 look at the apartment, she liked it, she wants to 21 take it and looks like you guys took the apartment 22 back and saying you didn't have enough information 23 for the young lady. However, this young lady went 24 to drop three times an envelope at 500 Broad Street 25 and she's saying that you guys took her off the list 72 1 because you didn't receive the letter and the 2 letter -- I spoke to somebody in the office 3 yesterday and she said that yes, she did receive 4 one, but why did they take her out of the Section 8 5 when knowing that Terrell Homes people supposed to 6 be out of there and you guys had the apartment and 7 looked at the apartment, she liked it and you guys 8 denied it. 9 MR. CIRILO: Sure, that doesn't make 10 sense to us either, Commissioner. If you can share 11 the name of the client, we will get right on that 12 and figure out where the break in communication 13 happened, but that's not -- that wouldn't happen. 14 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I got it yesterday 15 and I will share it with you the information so that 16 way we can do something about it because really she 17 brought the information. She said I think took her 18 out because they didn't have enough information, but 19 she brought three letters she said. I asked the 20 question to the young lady why. She said she 21 received one, but why if she received one and they 22 got the information, why they took her off the list 23 so it makes no sense to me. 24 MR. CIRILO: Thank you, Commissioner. 25 If you text me the name of the client, I will get on 73 1 it right away. 2 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Definitely, thank 3 you very much, Director. 4 MR. KNIGHT: We will get that 5 addressed, yes, sir. 6 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Okay, so that's it. 7 MR. CIRILO: That is all for today, 8 Mr. Chairman, we will entertain -- 9 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Make a motion to 10 adjourn. 11 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I make a motion. 12 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I second it. 13 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 14 Commissioner Logan. 15 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 17 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Costa. 19 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez 21 asked to be excused. 22 We have Commissioner Muhammad. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Chairman Osborne. 25 CHAIRMAN OSBORNE: Yes. 74 1 MR. CIRILO: Meeting adjourned. 2 3 (Whereupon, the proceedings were 4 concluded at 6:30 p.m.) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 75 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 I, ANTHONY HOFMANN, a Certified Court 4 Reporter, and Notary Public within and for the State 5 of New Jersey, certify that the foregoing is a true 6 and accurate transcript of the stenographic notes of 7 said witness(es)who were first duly sworn by me, on 8 the date and place hereinbefore set forth. 9 10 11 12 ___________________________ ANTHONY HOFMANN, C.C.R. 13 LICENSE NO. XIO1854 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25