1 1 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 2 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 3 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022 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 5:15 p.m. * 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 NORMA GONZALEZ, President 17 BRIAN LOGAN, Commissioner 18 ALIF MUHAMMAD, Commissioner 19 IMAM DAUD HAQQ, Commissioner 20 PATRICK COUNCIL, Commissioner 21 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 5 By: Kim Barnes 6 6 7 Items for Approval 17 8 9 RESOLUTIONS PAGE 10 H-1 through H-9 26 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Good evening, 2 everyone. It is Thursday, December 15. It is 3 5:15 p.m. and I'm calling the Housing Authority's 4 Board meeting Board of Commissioners. So I would 5 like to call the meeting to order and I would like 6 to take a roll call. 7 MR. CIRILO: Sure. Thank you, Madam 8 Chair. 9 Commissioner Council. 10 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Present. 11 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 12 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Present. 13 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 14 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Here. 15 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 16 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Here. 17 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 18 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Present. 19 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, we have a 20 quorum. 21 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. 22 Director Cirilo, could you please read 23 the Open Public Meetings Act. 24 MR. CIRILO: Yes, Madam Chair, as 25 required by N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 known as the Open Public 5 1 Meetings Act, notice of this meeting was provided in 2 the following manner. On December 3, 2021 notice of 3 this meeting specifying the date, time and location 4 was transmitted to the Star Ledger, El Especialito 5 and to the Clerk of the City of Newark. 6 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. I 7 would like to ask Commissioner Haqq to please lead 8 us in prayer. 9 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Oh, mighty God, we 10 give you praise. We praise you and thank you for 11 all the numerous favors and bounties which you 12 showed us. Thank you for life, thank you for 13 health. Thank you for leadership of our City. 14 Thank you for a beautiful City and we ask that you 15 will continue to keep it as a beautiful City. Thank 16 you for bringing us together and despite the weather 17 we ask that you will bring us to a good conclusion 18 and give us good results in our meeting today. We 19 ask that you would forgive us every year and guide 20 us where we go wrong. That you will help us always 21 to keep you as before us as head of us and that we 22 should always give thanks. Amen. 23 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. 24 Thank you especially during this holiday season. 25 Please remain seated because I would like to ask 6 1 Commissioner Council to please lead us in the Pledge 2 of Allegiance. 3 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance 4 was recited.) 5 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: We already did 6 roll call. We had a special presentation, but 7 because of the weather one of our Commissioners, 8 former Commissioner, is running late so I would like 9 to move to the public participants. 10 MR. CIRILO: Thank you, Madam Chair. 11 Our first participant is Ms. Kim Barnes. 12 MS. BARNES: Good evening. 13 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Good evening, 14 Ms. Barnes, welcome. 15 MS. BARNES: Sorry, I wasn't here last 16 month, circumstances. Kim Barnes, 147 Riverside 17 Court. I am a resident at Riverside Villa and we 18 always -- y'all always say the priority of the 19 residents. Once again I come before you that we had 20 another fire at Riverside Villa. There was no 21 representation from Housing Authority there. I 22 don't know why, but also when the fire department 23 got there to hook up the hose to the fire hydrants, 24 the cap fell off. That stuff is unacceptable. It 25 really is unacceptable. 7 1 Secondly, we underneath the RAD now 2 and we at Riverside got our statements in December 3 stating that our rent went up. We hadn't sat down 4 with a meeting with the RAD people, but in the 5 process I have had a meeting with the RAD committee. 6 So we are scheduling that because the residents are 7 asking us, you know, what is the next process and my 8 thing was since Danny Gonzalez was managing that 9 part I sent an e-mail to her stating that what was 10 the next step as far as us going into the RAD. 11 Before they did their closing they were supposed to 12 have a meeting. They didn't have a meeting with the 13 residents so the residents are totally upset and 14 they are coming at me as if like why you don't know, 15 you are the president, you should know these things. 16 My thing is that we should have been informed before 17 this stuff and the excuse you always give is that it 18 was a glitch in the system. Who puts the glitch in 19 the system. Who put information into the system, 20 but people. So it is human error. 21 So my thing is that now that we are 22 back on track 2023 I'm really coming at you because 23 there is things in that RAD conversion that as 24 residents that we need to know. Once again, I'm 25 asking what HUD guidelines are we are following. 8 1 Who do we follow. What are we following. We need 2 to know about the lease, all this stuff and what is 3 going to happen with those that are backed up in 4 their rent. What steps are going to be taken on 5 that aspect because they are coming to me like I owe 6 back rent. The rent -- they went to the rent 7 assistance program. Some of them is not being 8 helped. So now they are fearing because a lot of 9 them have little kids four and five kids so they 10 need to know these things so I need to know. My 11 thing is when we come into the RAD thing and my 12 Board coming in as January 23 I'm going to educate 13 my Board members so when they come or when a 14 resident comes to us we can go and say this is what 15 we are doing. This is the section right here on the 16 lease. This is the section right here on this. 17 Even though we are now under administrative plan, we 18 are no longer under the public side so we need to 19 know these things. We should have been informed, 20 not blindsided because the manager was blindsided 21 when we got these calls about this rent going sky 22 high and she was like she didn't know. She called 23 Victor. Victor in the meantime told them they had 24 to fix it by 11:00 a.m. This is ridiculous. This 25 is uncalled for. We as residents once again y'all 9 1 keep forgetting us. You will keep forgetting that 2 we have input into this and we should have input 3 just like the work session. That is in the 4 Commissioner handbook. We are supposed to be there. 5 We are supposed to have an input. Just like this 6 annual plan, what day are we on with the 7 forty-five days in reviewing this. I don't have the 8 plan. We had a meeting, but I don't have the plan. 9 The plan is now -- the books are now being put in 10 the recreation centers which means I have to run 11 across the street back to my office if a resident 12 comes with questions. 13 Thirdly, the last thing that I want to 14 say is that when you have a resident that is a 15 resident of JC White whose daughter passed and she 16 wanted to have a repass at the Clubhouse, they 17 charged her three hundred dollars and it is supposed 18 to be no charge for repass. Three hundred dollars 19 and the room was this small, this small and you have 20 fifty people along there with the tables with the 21 food that you had in there, people with wheelchairs, 22 people with walkers, you couldn't get through. That 23 is unacceptable. If these people from JC White is 24 using the Clubhouse, they should get the same thing 25 because they are Newark residents. They pay rent 10 1 and y'all not explaining this stuff to the 2 residents. 3 That is all I have for y'all tonight. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 5 Gonzalez. 6 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, sir. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Ms. Barnes, 8 have you got your answers to the last couple 9 meetings? 10 MS. BARNES: No, I have not. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So that is 12 evidently we need to start answering any questions 13 that we can answer her now like the Council is doing 14 now. We need if we can answer some of these 15 questions, we need to answer because she's not 16 answering for her, she's answering for two hundred 17 units that she is, you know, that she is the 18 president of the TA of. So I think if we got some 19 answers all that in writing and everything like that 20 we need to answer the questions right now if we have 21 the answers. So can we answer some of these 22 questions. 23 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Director. 24 MR. CIRILO: I can answer some of the 25 questions right now. 11 1 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: You could, but 2 I think that there is a -- the last meeting that Ms. 3 Barnes was at before she got sick so those were the 4 questions that she should have gotten in writing. I 5 don't know if there were comments or questions at 6 that time, but did we have a written response? 7 MS. BARNES: No, Katia said she will 8 give it to me at the next meeting and it is six 9 months of questions. 10 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Okay, all 11 right. So I want to make sure we still get you 12 that. 13 MR. CIRILO: We can get it for you. 14 That is easy enough. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: The E.D. said 16 he can answer some of the questions. 17 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, Ms. 18 Barnes. I do have a question. Thank you so much, 19 but it's regarding the fire hydrant that Ms. Barnes 20 just mentioned. Has the fire department corrected 21 that, let's just follow up on that. 22 MR. CIRILO: I will look into it, 23 Commissioner. I wasn't aware that there was an 24 issue with the City's fire hydrant. We will look 25 into that. 12 1 MR. DOUGLAS: I will contact the fire 2 department. 3 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Any other 4 particular questions today like the RAD meetings, 5 the manager at Riverside, what are we doing not just 6 for Riverside, but for all our residents to give 7 them the information of this transition that is 8 taking place and new changes of managers, et cetera, 9 et cetera. 10 MR. CIRILO: I think it's in our best 11 interest to answer some of these questions right now 12 because RAD is moving quickly so I can answer some 13 of Ms. Barnes' questions. The residents had four 14 meetings before the closing so there's been a lead 15 into the conversion and this closing. Now we are 16 setting up meetings for what Ms. Barnes mentioned 17 what to expect, when do you sign the new lease and 18 how does the new certification process work meaning 19 personnel. I asked that the meetings be set up from 20 our staff for next week. There is one meeting at 21 each site where we are going to speak with the 22 residents, the Section 8 department. I am going to 23 be in attendance to talk about the fact that not 24 much is changed. The rent is still thirty percent. 25 To Ms. Barnes' point about owing rent, if you owe 13 1 rent you're still responsible to pay for that rent. 2 We are not going to sign a new lease until you 3 make -- you can still stay there, but you are not 4 going to sign a new Section 8 lease until your rent 5 is up-to-date which is what we would do with any 6 situation because we follow landlord/tenant law. So 7 nothing changes with regard to that. 8 You mentioned about assistance from 9 the City. I know that Mr. Foster's team is working 10 really hard to try to sign up as many folks as 11 possible that are still eligible for that program. 12 I mean we are up to how much money in reimbursable? 13 I think the last time I heard was about six hundred 14 thousand dollars in past rent that we have signed 15 people up for. It is not because of lack of trying, 16 we are trying. We are reaching out as opposed to 17 the other way around like if I owed money I would be 18 reaching out for this assistance so we are like 19 begging people to sign these forms and sign up. So 20 hopefully at your site everyone's proactive and I 21 know we spoke to site management Ms. Ali at the RAD 22 sites. We need to catch them up everybody that is 23 behind especially at RAD sites because we have an 24 expectation of higher rent collection there. In 25 return we are going to provide a better service and 14 1 you are starting to see some of that. You are 2 starting to see better property management, more 3 active property management. So, yes, we are working 4 on all those things. 5 Mrs. Barns also mentioned the glitch 6 with the system. The software company has to switch 7 the data tables from public housing to Section 8 and 8 in that process there was a glitch with the utility 9 allowance number. The utility allowance charge did 10 not properly transfer over so for those folks that 11 receive the utility allowance credit, it was added 12 as a plus so the rent seemed off so I believe we 13 sent a letter out to all those residents that were 14 affected saying please do not pay attention to this 15 rent, we are going to rectify this issue, but it was 16 a data migration issue on the software company's 17 side. Believe me, they heard from us. I made sure 18 that the IT department told them that we can't 19 afford those mistakes. However, the rents will 20 remain the same. The rules and regulations are all, 21 yes, they are going to be the admin plan, but we 22 still have the pet policy, we still have all those 23 rules, we still have members of the RAB. We are 24 still going to follow those rules and regulations. 25 So to the Board, we will be having 15 1 four different meetings next week with the residents 2 on mostly the certification process and when to 3 expect that. But rent continues to be the same. 4 They are just going to see a lot of construction 5 going on and also more attention paid to the site. 6 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Director, I 7 appreciate your responses. One thing I would like 8 to add is please include the Board of Commissioners 9 on those meetings because oftentimes the residents 10 and TAs will call us so we need to have that 11 information. It is just providing them with 12 information that you already have so please include 13 us in those e-mails and I just wanted to know -- 14 well, everybody will get the same information. 15 Thank you. 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 17 Gonzalez. 18 E.D., when she is saying renting the 19 Clubhouse, I never heard that before. I think it is 20 free to use the Clubhouse, the recreation room in 21 the building, right, like if one of our tenants died 22 or something like that and they have a repass. I 23 think it is more in our building not so much in the 24 Clubhouse or Waterfront, am I right? 25 MR. CIRILO: I will look into it. I 16 1 don't have the answer right now. All I can tell you 2 is that I do know that every building, every 3 recreation center has a fee schedule, but I don't 4 know the rules with respect to residents versus 5 non-residents and also the amount. So I can report 6 back to you via e-mail and let you know what those 7 rules are. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay, thanks a 9 lot. I just want to put it on record that I am a 10 strong supporter of RAD. I live in a private senior 11 citizen building that went through it and it is 12 really good for the tenants. What I'm saying to you 13 my building it changed the whole -- Commissioner 14 Council will tell you, it changed the whole look of 15 the building. New kitchen cabinets, new bathrooms, 16 new hallways. You come in my building you think you 17 are in Fort Lee. The lobby, computer rooms, you 18 know, so the RAD thing is big because they have the 19 money which we don't have the money. You understand 20 what I'm saying, the money that we don't have so 21 what I'm saying I just want to put it on the record 22 that RAD is a very, very good thing. I know 23 everybody is afraid of it because we are ignorant at 24 a time, but it is really a good thing. 25 Thank you. 17 1 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you for 2 those comments too. That's real important for us to 3 know firsthand from someone. 4 So could we go on to our next speaker, 5 Ms. Myrna Brown, Ms. Brown. She's not present. 6 Next speaker Viola Thomas. Not 7 present. 8 Jacqueline Peoples, not present. 9 This closes our participation from 10 speakers. So we are going to go to the next items. 11 The items for approval, E.D. 12 MR. CIRILO: Yes, Madam Chair, we have 13 the November Board report that now it's revised. I 14 don't know if we have our -- 15 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Director or 16 somebody you want to give us a summary on any 17 revisions from the version that we looked at last 18 week to this new version. 19 MR. FRANCIS: What it is is that the 20 numbers -- 21 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Please come up. 22 MR. CIRILO: I will yield my time. 23 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Director, 24 Mr. Francis. 25 MR. FRANCIS: Winston Francis. 18 1 Commissioners, the information that we had in the 2 last report obviously were incorrect and the 3 Director explained that it was a conversion data 4 process on the side of our vendor that caused that 5 and we had since corrected it. So your numbers 6 should look different and we speak to what actually 7 is the numbers that should be on the report. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 9 Gonzalez. 10 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, sir. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: E.D., you were 12 talking about the RAD is going to change. You were 13 saying a hundred and fifty more apartments will go 14 on the RAD? 15 MR. CIRILO: Yes, Commissioner, a 16 thousand -- 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Not RAD, the 18 Mod. I'm talking about the Mod. 19 MR. CIRILO: Thank you, Winston. 20 For the next Board report for next 21 month you will see a new category for RAD with the 22 numbers, the numericals, that the RAD program 23 manages to. Which are similar, the same thing, 24 vacancy rates, the rent collection, unit turnover, 25 et cetera, but it's going to be a separate portion 19 1 of this report. This report currently only reflects 2 the remaining public housing apartments. At this 3 point available apartments under RAD -- I'm sorry, 4 under the public housing program are four thousand 5 nine hundred seventy-nine. A thousand fifty are now 6 RAD and they are going to be in a new report next 7 month so you are going to get more data on that and 8 then the balance if you want to talk about the total 9 amount of units that the Housing Authority operates 10 is the mixed finance units which I believe there is 11 a list of them in here in the back. 12 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Is the process 13 on renting the RAD, are they going to go directly to 14 the sites or they still deal with the occupancy 15 department here at 500? 16 MR. CIRILO: Yes, under Section 8 the 17 case worker handles the occupancy process. So after 18 the manager reports that the units are now ready for 19 occupancy, it is up to the case worker assigned to 20 that specific site to have someone ready to go look 21 at the unit and consider occupancy. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So it goes 23 back to old time public housing. 24 MR. CIRILO: Basically correct. There 25 is no longer handled downstairs, it is handled at 20 1 the site. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Excellent. I 3 know we have a manual here. I know that before you 4 were mainly concerned about the inspections and I 5 think the inspections will be over soon. When are 6 we going to start doing our vacancy rates and 7 getting our apartments out? I just want to know are 8 we going to start back January focusing on turning 9 over apartments more so than just everything is 10 about the inspection. Could you help me on that? 11 MR. CIRILO: Sure, well, we have not 12 slowed down the process of unit turnover. As a 13 matter of fact, especially on the RAD sites we are a 14 lot more active. Renee can tell you we are trying 15 to turnover as many units in those RAD sites as 16 possible because we don't want to lose subsidy. So 17 a thousand fifty units have been very active to turn 18 units over. We have extra manpower there and also 19 on the public housing side Mr. Thomas has also been 20 active. His team has been doing inspections of some 21 of the hundred and eighty units that have been 22 requested to be considered as Mod. Obviously, we 23 are not going to put all a hundred and eighty of 24 them, but when his team finds units that can be 25 quickly turned over, we go in there and we make that 21 1 happen. So they have been active as well. Yes, we 2 are focusing on the inspections and we are starting 3 to get really good numbers. I know that we had this 4 conversation last week, but nevertheless we are 5 still working on the unit turnover process. We have 6 slowed down a little bit because the manpower is 7 concentrated as you mentioned correctly on REAC, but 8 that's still going on, HUD is still calling us, they 9 are still asking us for a status update. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: In January of 11 2023 we will have a plan on how we are going to 12 start turning over properties again and I would like 13 also a plan if possible where we are going to find 14 out how the occupancy department, how we are going 15 to get rolling again with the occupancy department 16 because the way it looks right now we only have 17 twenty-five apartments to rent -- twenty-four 18 apartments right now. We only have twenty-four 19 apartments to rent per this report. 20 MR. CIRILO: That's correct. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: What I'm 22 saying I want to see how occupancy is going to turn 23 it up in 2023. Like you said Mr. Emanuel was here 24 and there is going to be a change. I would like to 25 have a report. On some of the termination I see a 22 1 lot of hires, new hires, but the thing is the hires 2 are mainly all assistant managers. My understanding 3 that we don't have -- we are short about four or 4 five regular managers, but the hiring look like the 5 new hiring that you said everyone is assistant 6 managers like four assistant managers, but what I 7 heard is that there's about four or five site 8 managers that's been terminated so how we going to 9 fill that gap? 10 MR. CIRILO: Sure. I would yield the 11 floor to our chief of operations, Emanuel Foster, if 12 he has a minute come up rather, but I do want to 13 make mention that you are correct, we have criteria 14 that needs to be abided by with respect to 15 certifications. If staff does not meet that 16 criteria or meet those timelines, we are forced by 17 our collective bargaining agreement to start looking 18 for somebody else and that's been an issue as of 19 late, but Mr. Foster can talk a little bit more 20 about what you asked as relates to assistant asset 21 managers and how those manager's position will be 22 filled. 23 MR. FOSTER: So we have begun to 24 interview applicants. We had interviews on Monday. 25 I had interviews today. We saw about three to five 23 1 potential candidates. We are looking to decide what 2 we are going to replace them and then we will send 3 them an offer. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Are they going 5 to come in certified? I know we were trying to help 6 assistant managers. 7 MR. FOSTER: They have a year from 8 employment. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: It will be 10 around the same eight ball where the person has a 11 year to get themselves together. We can't find 12 people that have their certification already? 13 MR. FOSTER: So I can speak to my past 14 tenure here so part of that process is to make sure 15 staff is developed so we are making sure have you 16 had that course, have you had that course and have 17 you had that course and if there is any assistants 18 you need in overcoming that obstacle. So we are not 19 waiting for a year to pass by and say you don't have 20 a course, you are not performing in this area so we 21 are going to track that. It is not just for our 22 managers. We are working with our boilers to get 23 boilers license to cross that finish line too and 24 all the training the staff is going to need. A 25 trained staff is a better trained staff to perform 24 1 on the job. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 3 Gonzalez, I'm good. 4 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. If 5 no one has any questions, the November Board 6 transcripts have been submitted. I'm sorry, could I 7 entertain a motion to move the November Board 8 report. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will. I 10 will move it for you. 11 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Second. 12 MR. CIRILO: On the motion. 13 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Motion by 14 Commissioner Muhammad. Second by Commissioner 15 Council. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council on 17 the motion. 18 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 19 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 20 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 21 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 23 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 24 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Chairwoman Gonzalez. 25 1 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: I'm going to 2 abstain. The reason is I didn't get a chance to 3 review the report, but we're good. 4 Next item, November Board transcripts. 5 Were they submitted? 6 MR. CIRILO: Yes. 7 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Can I have a 8 motion for the November Board transcripts? 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'll move it 10 for you. 11 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: I will second 12 it, Director. 13 MR. CIRILO: On the motion. 14 Commissioner Council. 15 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 17 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 21 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Chairwoman Gonzalez. 23 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 25 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. 26 1 We are going to go over to resolutions 2 now and, Director, could you discuss CRPT, the first 3 one. 4 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez, I 5 will ask your approval to move that resolution to 6 the end because we have to go into an Executive 7 Session because it's a matter of a legal issue with 8 your approval. 9 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: I will approve 10 it and, of course, we have our legal representation 11 here so could we please go on to the second 12 resolution. 13 MR. CIRILO: Yes, thank you, Madam 14 Chair. The resolution reads resolution authorizing 15 the Executive Director to submit a disposition 16 application to the U.S. Department of Housing and 17 Urban Development special application center for the 18 partial disposition of NJ 002003012, the Bergen 19 Street Village Townhomes located at 470-500 Bergen 20 Street to allow for the development of affordable 21 home ownership units. 22 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Could I have a 23 mover? 24 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'll move it 25 for you. 27 1 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Second, please. 2 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Second. 3 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Director. 4 MR. CIRILO: Yes, Madam Chair, on the 5 motion. 6 Commissioner Council. 7 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 9 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 13 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Chairwoman Gonzalez. 15 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 17 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Second item on 18 finance. 19 MR. CIRILO: Yes, the next resolution 20 reads the Newark Housing Authority Board of 21 Commissioners adopt the Annual Comprehensive 22 Financial Report, ACFR, for the fiscal year ended 23 December 31, 2021. 24 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: May I have a 25 motion? 28 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move it 2 for you. 3 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Second. 4 MR. CIRILO: On the motion. 5 Commissioner Council. 6 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 8 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 12 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 13 MR. CIRILO: Chairwoman Gonzalez. 14 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 15 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 16 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Next item, 17 please. 18 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, the next 19 item reads resolution authorizing the amendment of 20 Resolution H-19-25-04-03 and authorizing the 21 Executive Director to execute an amended contract 22 with Gateway Group, Prime Security and Pro-Cops for 23 the provision of armed and unarmed guard services at 24 various properties increasing the contract amount by 25 ten million dollars for an aggregate amount not to 29 1 exceed thirty million dollars. 2 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Could I get a 3 motion? 4 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. This was 5 to be related to the end of the contract year, 6 correct? 7 MR. CIRILO: Yes. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: The contract 9 year is not until June. I think it's June. 10 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: So the question 11 is we had a presentation at the prior meeting, one 12 of the vendors indicated that they will no longer be 13 working and so if this is to the next contractual 14 year have they put something in place? 15 MR. CIRILO: Sure. I'll answer the 16 financial component of your question and I would 17 yield to Chief Douglas for the plan on how to 18 address the vacancy. Yeah, on the first issue we do 19 need to pass this because there are some due bills 20 for Pro-Cops. So they were part of that contractual 21 year until this month so that is why we had to leave 22 their name in the resolution and to the deployment 23 question I will yield the floor to the chief. 24 MR. DOUGLAS: So as we are saying one 25 security company Pro-Cops will no longer be working 30 1 with us. But we do have a request RFP out which 2 will add another security company. It is already on 3 the website. Until that time we are going to have 4 Prime cover the mandatory posts which will be 5 Frelinghuysen 963-991, 100 Ludlow, 122 Ludlow, 31 6 Van Vechten, 35 Van Vechten. We will not use their 7 unarmed supervisor service because we will no longer 8 need that. We will have our own supervisor at night 9 so that will be a savings. Kretchmer armed will 10 also not be used. 900 Franklin, the TREC center, 11 Pennington Court, the Waterfront, Bradley Court and 12 special assignments so they will be covered. This 13 is going to get us to June. Some of those bills are 14 already due because the money is already spent so we 15 are just trying to get us to June under this money 16 which leaves us with five million dollars. So I 17 actually had to cut a hundred and sixty-two thousand 18 each month because I'm averaging five hundred 19 thousand for the three companies so I made the cuts 20 which puts me under the amount and gets me through 21 to June before we can get more companies in. 22 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: The RFP that we 23 put out, are we putting it to go out in January and 24 it should start in June and we have Prime who is 25 going to be covering from now until June until the 31 1 new person who wins the RFP comes in and picks up, 2 correct? 3 MR. DOUGLAS: Yes. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Anything 5 special you want in that RFP because you was putting 6 some good stuff in there. Can I say something? 7 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I was saying 9 that Commissioner Council has some special things 10 that he wanted in the proposal that was some real 11 good things and not just the regular proposal that 12 we want to put out. So I think he might want to add 13 something in the RFP. 14 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: I believe Chief 15 Douglas covered that information when we spoke about 16 it before with all the facts that we talked about. 17 MR. DOUGLAS: Newark residents and 18 most of the security guards that are there now are 19 Newark residents. Well over eighty percent, 20 definitely needed. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'm good. 22 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: If no more 23 questions, thank you, Chief Douglas. So if no more 24 questions, could we please entertain a motion for 25 approval. 32 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move it 2 for you. 3 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Second. 4 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, on the 5 motion. 6 Commissioner Council. 7 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 9 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 13 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 15 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 17 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. 18 Next item on our agenda, please. 19 MR. CIRILO: Yes, Madam Chair, the 20 next item reads resolution authorizing the Executive 21 Director to execute a contract and make any 22 necessary changes with Enterprise Fleet Management, 23 Incorporated in an aggregate amount not to exceed 24 three hundred thousand dollars or five years, 25 whichever comes first, to provide vehicles for 33 1 executive assignments on a sixty month open end 2 lease with options to purchase arrangement. 3 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Could I have a 4 motion? 5 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Motion. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will second. 7 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, on the 8 motion. 9 Commissioner Council. 10 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 12 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 13 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Commissioner 14 Muhammad. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 17 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Chairwoman Gonzalez. 19 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Motion passed. 21 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Next item, 22 operations. 23 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, the next 24 item reads resolution authorizing the amendment of 25 Resolution H-22-17-11-04 and authorizing the 34 1 Executive Director to execute an amended contract 2 and make all necessary revisions with Always Safe 3 Sidewalks to repair sidewalk trip hazards and 4 improve REAC scores at various sites for a term of 5 two years in an amount not to exceed five hundred 6 thousand dollars, whichever comes first. 7 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Can I get a 8 motion to move, please? 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move it 10 for you. 11 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Second. 12 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, on the 13 motion. 14 Commissioner Council. 15 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 17 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 21 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 23 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Abstain. 24 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, the next 25 resolution reads resolution amending resolution 35 1 H-22-17-10-08 and executing an amended contract with 2 Selph-Ali Consulting to perform the services of RAD 3 property management operations director. In this 4 role the consultant shall perform oversight of RAD 5 housing managers, assist with professional 6 development, develop accountability measures, 7 develop performance measurements and achieve goals 8 for an initial term of three years with options to 9 renew for two additional one-year terms in an amount 10 of sixty dollars an hour with a not to exceed amount 11 of one hundred and five thousand dollars per year 12 for a maximum contract amount of five hundred 13 twenty-five thousand dollars or five years, 14 whichever comes first. 15 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Could I have a 16 motion? 17 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Move it. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will second. 19 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, on the 20 motion. 21 Commissioner Council. 22 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 23 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 24 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 36 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 3 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 4 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 5 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 7 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Next item, 8 please. 9 MR. CIRILO: The next item reads 10 resolution authorizing the Executive Director to 11 execute Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity, 12 IDIQ, contract and make all necessary changes with 13 Durable Kitchen Supply and Installation, 14 Incorporated and Qunnections Management Group, LLC 15 for the purchase of kitchen cabinets, countertops 16 and related supplies in an aggregate amount not to 17 exceed three million dollars for an initial term of 18 two years with options to renew for two one-year 19 terms. 20 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Can I have a 21 motion, please? 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move 23 it. 24 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Second. 25 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Muhammad and 37 1 Logan. 2 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, on the 3 motion. 4 Commissioner Council. 5 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 7 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 11 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Chairwoman Gonzalez. 13 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 15 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Next item, 16 please. 17 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, the next 18 item reads a resolution approving and authorizing 19 the submission of the 2023 Annual Plan to the United 20 States Department of Housing and Urban Development, 21 HUD. 22 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Can I have a 23 motion, please? 24 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move 25 it. 38 1 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Second. 2 MR. CIRILO: On the motion. 3 Commissioner Council. 4 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 6 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 10 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: Chairwoman Gonzalez. 12 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 13 MR. CIRILO: The motion passes. 14 Madam Chair, we have one resolution 15 left, but we do need to go back for the special 16 presentation. 17 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, okay. 18 MR. CIRILO: So should we do the 19 special presentation? 20 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Madam Chair, 21 prior to going to the Executive Session I just have 22 some questions. One about our basic maintenance and 23 repair plan. I want to know who can come up to 24 speak about this and the other day we were headed to 25 Van Vechten Street to house an activity for the 39 1 residents at 31 Van Vechten to get to the community 2 room to find out that the walls were opened up, the 3 smell in the room was horrid and there was a leak. 4 No one was notified. I'm not even sure if it was 5 repaired and then today the issue at 46 Evergreen 6 with the heat and also this elevator situation, 7 again, like this is going to be the last time I'm 8 going to mention something about elevators in this 9 meeting. The next time I'm going to have a press 10 conference at the elevators with the residents. We 11 have to purchase new elevators. This cannot go on. 12 We cannot allow people to suffer silently. Just 13 from my perspective as a Commissioner and not the 14 remainder of the Commissioners body, it is just my 15 belief that we should not -- I got a call from an 16 individual who was supposedly coming to the Housing 17 Authority for housing and they indicated that they 18 wanted to place her in Bradley Court. We shouldn't 19 be placing anybody in Bradley Court ever. We should 20 be initiating a plan to help get the people that is 21 in Bradley Court out of Bradley Court and then to 22 close it down and begin a plan to rebuild it 23 properly. We understand that there may be some 24 contingent and people may feel like they want to 25 fuss, but we cannot continue to leave people in 40 1 squaller and people have to understand they cannot 2 stay there at any kind of negligent of our own or 3 any kind of principal, you know, person that 4 understands that we have to begin to be as we move 5 into 2023 that we have to be very prudent about what 6 we do. We can be urgent and prudent at the same 7 time. I have been saying that for years that we can 8 be urgent and prudent at the same time, but what we 9 can't do on any level here or wherever is get caught 10 in a web of bureaucracy where everybody has to feel 11 like they have their own position of power while 12 everybody else suffers because it doesn't happen 13 this way in nobody else's community and it sure 14 enough shouldn't happen this way in ours. 15 The communication with the tenants 16 about the RAD conversion at the last meeting, they 17 indicated that we were supposed to have a large 18 meeting that most times that folks don't come to the 19 large meetings. So that was the purpose of having 20 the RAD meeting because they would catch most of the 21 tenant presidents at that meeting that they would be 22 able to go back and decipher that information. I am 23 not sure if that happened, but that may be a 24 plausible strategy that should happen so that they 25 can know what is happening. I do agree with 41 1 Commissioner Muhammad about the RAD and the ability 2 for it to be able to do some things in a very 3 progressive way. I do see some things that is on 4 the horizon for this Authority as a Commissioner, 5 but I also see some basic things that we have to 6 learn to expect what we expect. From the ground up 7 and even with some of the transition of some of the 8 managerial stuff we still have to have a sense of 9 urgency about what we do with basic repairs. I got 10 a call from a lady from Summit Street about a toilet 11 that was broke for a while and indicated that 12 somebody just decided to order a part November 29 13 and today is December 15, right. So these kind of 14 things are the most simplistic things that we can be 15 able to touch to change peoples lives. You know, I 16 heard Commissioner Logan today at an event say so 17 eloquently that we have to fight to get it right. I 18 think that should be your charge and everybody's 19 charge in this room that sits in some kind of 20 managerial position that eats well, that goes home 21 and their heat is on and goes home and don't have a 22 problem with their toilet and we have to get it 23 right. That is what we have to do. We have to get 24 it right. Not for the sake of appeasing ourselves 25 to say that we are great managers or great people, 42 1 but just the sanctity of ensuring that people have 2 the right to live in decency and then when folks 3 live in decency they have to have the obligation to 4 take care of it. That is for our residents too, 5 they have to take care of it. So I just wanted to 6 share that during this holiday season. 7 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. 8 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Happy holidays, 9 everybody and Merry Christmas because I know we are 10 going into Executive Session. 11 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Commissioners, 12 we were going to have a special presentation first 13 and before since you indicated that we wanted to 14 have a special presentation, but one thing I wanted 15 to add to your elevator and everything else was the 16 lighting and I know it's not Newark Housing 17 Authority, but we need to continue working with 18 PSE&G because of the lighting in those areas you 19 mentioned. 20 What I wanted to add before we go into 21 this special presentation and the meeting is I would 22 definitely like all the Commissioners to receive a 23 schedule of the RAD meetings in time. I know that 24 I'm getting meetings from your office, but I'm 25 getting them like a day before or two days before 43 1 and I really need to plan my schedule in order for 2 me to be able to attend or any of our members. The 3 Board meetings scheduled for next year, Katia, 4 Director, could you please send it to us via 5 calendar invites versus just a regular schedule. It 6 would be easier for us as calendar invites for both 7 for the work sessions and Board meetings. That was 8 basically it. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 10 Gonzalez. 11 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, sir, any 12 items? 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I just want to 14 say that with Council he's got so many titles, he's 15 a pastor, he's a councilman, he is a Commissioner, 16 he's a brother, he's a Newarker. We are going to 17 get moving here in 2023 with him sitting here I'm 18 telling you and I do not blow smoke up nowhere. We 19 are going to really get moving. I want to tell the 20 tenants out there that there is going to be a move 21 in 2023 and I'm going to tell the staff that there 22 is going to be a great move with the addition with 23 Councilmen Council. I just want to say amen to 24 everything he said. Thank you very much. I believe 25 the Director has asked to make some comments. 44 1 MR. CIRILO: Yes, I share the same 2 sentiment. I believe in accountability and trust me 3 when I sent you those text messages on Sunday 4 mornings, Saturday mornings or when Mr. Foster is at 5 these sites where water is leaking from these walls 6 or steam is coming out of the ground, we share the 7 same sentiment and we worry as well as a human 8 component that really doesn't allow us to go to 9 sleep at night. We are dealing with ten thousand 10 apartments. We are dealing with aging 11 infrastructure. This is why we are doing RAD. That 12 is why I fought for RAD. It's been a fight here for 13 RAD in the last five years and we made it happen and 14 I'm glad we're finally trying to see -- starting to 15 see positives of how RAD can allow us to sustain 16 some of the affordable housing. 17 I will ask either Mr. Foster to come 18 up to talk about the question of basic maintenance 19 repairs and a plan for next year and the elevators. 20 Either Mr. Foster or Mr. Thomas who have been 21 struggling with this elevator company and they have 22 slowed everything down. They can let us know what 23 is happening with the basic maintenance and repair 24 plan for next year and what the future holds for the 25 elevators at our senior sites. It is just to be 45 1 transparent. I see there is recordings. It is not 2 something that is being neglected, it is something 3 that is being addressed, but, yeah, HUD is a 4 bureaucracy and sometimes we do have to battle HUD, 5 we have to battle these bureaucracies. Bradley 6 Court cannot be closed until this plan is approved 7 by this Board. Our capital funds cannot be released 8 to address these elevators until this plan is 9 approved by the Board and if we do then we run into 10 issues like with this Housing Authority was in 2017 11 where we were bankrupt and we were found to be 12 breaking every regulation according to a HUD study. 13 So we have to be mindful of that. There are rules 14 and regulations out there. There is a bureaucracy 15 and all of us suffer at night because we worry about 16 our residents. There is a human component. We do 17 care. So I do want to ask that either Mr. Foster or 18 Mr. Khalif Thomas come up here who are responsible 19 for overseeing and providing a vision for the future 20 as far as the elevators and as far as all these 21 issues with heating and maintenance. 22 MR. FOSTER: I am going to talk about 23 the maintenance plan that you referenced. We do not 24 have one in place, but you did say something as a 25 part of your comments which is expect what to 46 1 expect. So this month we have been working with a 2 third party company that is coming in. It didn't 3 get done in 2022, but they are going to inspect 4 every one of our apartments and that way we will 5 have a record with pictures as well as data of what 6 is going on, what those apartments look like. From 7 there we can develop a cohesive plan. I was on the 8 phone this morning at 9:00 o'clock me and Mr. Thomas 9 and legal. 10 MS. WEYRAUCH: Good afternoon, Madam 11 Chair, Commissioners, Director. Addressing the 12 elevators we know that we have some elevators down. 13 They are going to the company who is in contract 14 right now. Liberty is going to be at those sites 15 tomorrow. They are going to start addressing. We 16 have some issues internally. They actually been 17 discussed today. All day we have been back and 18 forth in meetings with the elevators, with 19 maintenance and we hope tomorrow they are going to 20 start fixing those elevators. 21 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Excuse me, are 22 you answering on day-to-day operations, maintenance 23 or procurement? 24 MS. WEYRAUCH: Procurement. 25 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: There is issues 47 1 with procurement? 2 MS. WEYRAUCH: No, I just got 3 involved. 4 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: That is what I 5 want to know. Since you are the procurement 6 director, I want to know what your involvement is. 7 MS. WEYRAUCH: My involvement today is 8 to understand why we have a hole in the contract and 9 fix that part so now it's been fixed and we are 10 hoping that tomorrow we have some response. 11 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Holding a 12 contract is part of procurement. 13 MR. FOSTER: On the operations staff 14 Director Khalif has been in communications with the 15 elevator company and they weren't providing the 16 service they demanded for our residents. Then as he 17 demanded they provide the service they shut down and 18 he said we can't operate like that. So we called in 19 contracts, legal and said what can we do because we 20 need one today. That is what we said this morning. 21 So he's been in that fight. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Could you say 23 one more time you said something was illegal. 24 MR. FOSTER: With legal. 25 MR. THOMAS: It was a conversation 48 1 with procurement and legal. 2 MR. FOSTER: You are talking about 3 fighting that fight so what we just said was how can 4 we fight it in a way that the Housing Authority is 5 going to win because we are not winning with these 6 elevators right now. 7 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: I have five 8 down in the South Ward so my phone don't stop. 9 MR. FOSTER: They are constantly going 10 down and what we have to have a contractor who 11 serves them quickly. He already has a staff person 12 that is online that reduced the call time when 13 people get stuck or reduce the call time that the 14 fire department don't rip those doors apart and then 15 we need them also to tell us what their plan looks 16 like for modernization so we can plan those out. 17 They have not been provided. 18 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: So you are 19 helping break up that bureaucracy. 20 MR. THOMAS: Yes. 21 MS. WEYRAUCH: They are trying to have 22 a process so it doesn't happen again. 23 MR. THOMAS: There is a discipline 24 component. When we have these issues with the 25 contractor, we have to involve them because they 49 1 actually got the contract through them so in case we 2 terminate early we have to do it through procurement 3 or legal. 4 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, if I may on 5 Commissioner Council's point about the future, 6 right, 2023 this is going to HUD tonight if you 7 approve it or you did approve it already. 8 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: We did approve 9 that. 10 MR. CIRILO: I have been on the phone 11 with HUD all week making sure as soon as they get it 12 they give us the release letter so these funds can 13 be made available so we can start renovating and we 14 are going to start right at the Kretchmer site 15 renovating the elevators. 16 MR. THOMAS: 100 Ludlow is the first 17 one. 18 MR. CIRILO: Capital funds cannot be 19 released without this document being approved by HUD 20 and sending us a letter. We have been deficient, I 21 don't disagree, on the preventive maintenance plan, 22 on heating and the mechanical rooms. I am not happy 23 about that. They know that. I have been going into 24 these mechanical rooms and I do not like what they 25 look like. There is steam leaks, we have had pipe 50 1 fractures. We have to do a better job and we have 2 been talking about that, right, going into, you 3 know, the new calendar year. We have to have a 4 preventive maintenance plan. We need to go into 5 those mechanical rooms and assure that all these 6 systems are not leaking, that they are being 7 inspected and that any steam leak is addressed 8 because it turns into a hundred thousand dollar 9 problem if we don't address them. So I will yield, 10 but that has been an issue this year. We have been 11 deficient and we are going to be looking to correct 12 that. 13 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: He indicated 14 that we are going to put together a preventive 15 maintenance plan, but that preventive maintenance 16 plan, Director Foster, I'm not sure is it going to 17 come prior or you are going to work on it prior or 18 after the inspection of every apartment because we 19 are going to inspect every apartment, have the 20 documentation so that we can be able to have visual 21 of what it is we're working with from every 22 building, every apartment, every number or is that 23 going to be simultaneously? I believe it probably 24 can be happening simultaneously. We are working on 25 a preventative maintenance plan to say, hey, if this 51 1 happens this should be the abatement time. This is 2 how long it should take. That is what needs to 3 happen or in the event of these things happen 4 together and then ultimately build your catalogue 5 about the inventory that we have of issues that may 6 be belonging to some of these apartments so if that 7 is happening on one end creating a preventive plan 8 on the other then the RAD component will begin to 9 take over. Then these -- and the five elevators we 10 purchased hopefully are new elevators that we can 11 get. These are sort of the things we can begin to 12 mitigate and begin to like move in a different way, 13 right, to regain some of the trust of some of the 14 people out here and change the moral. Even in this 15 building the moral has to change so if the moral 16 changes here, it has to change out there, but if 17 everybody here thinks that everybody here is a joke, 18 then they are going to take it as a joke out there 19 and we can't find people to show up when we need 20 them to show up or do what they need to do. 21 Everybody has to be held accountable, everybody. 22 Doesn't matter where they come from, what you 23 believe the connectivity is. Everybody has to be 24 held accountable because when you plug something in 25 the expectation is you get a surge and when you 52 1 unplug it when you disconnect it, the expectation is 2 the surge goes away. So we either have to start 3 making sure we have strong connections or we have to 4 start disconnecting some things to be the best 5 because I want to be a part of the best and I'm 6 quite sure that Commissioner Logan who has four 7 state championships and Commissioner Alif who has 8 sent kids to division one colleges all over and Imam 9 who runs many himself wants to be the best. Even 10 President Gonzalez we want to be the best housing 11 authority, not just in the State of New Jersey, but 12 in the nation. I would love to go places and tell 13 people I have a great Executive Director who is on 14 the pulse beat of what is happening in this 15 community and housing and we have great tenants and 16 residents and great tenant presidents who are out 17 their fighting on both ends to push us to make us 18 better, but also to push the residents to be better 19 as well. That is my expectation for everybody from 20 Ms. Barnes to Ms. Brown to anyone that comes here. 21 That is the expectation that we have to keep 22 swinging in both directions and ultimately we are 23 going to hit something. 24 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. 25 Thank you, Council, and of course even your 53 1 President Commissioner Norma Gonzalez I am a true 2 advocate of maintenance and home ownership in this 3 City. Thank you so much. 4 Please get us a report, Emanuel. You 5 did tell us that you were working on that 6 maintenance simultaneously. You said that when you 7 came on board a couple months ago now. You have Ms. 8 Ali and also HR is not here, but HR was also working 9 on some personnel. So thank you so much and now I 10 would like to go to your special presentation before 11 we go to our -- 12 MR. CIRILO: The Housing Authority has 13 a special presentation today on the agenda. We do 14 want to call former Commissioner Fausto Baez to the 15 front. Commissioner Baez. 16 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Commissioner 17 Baez, thank you so much for your service. I worked 18 with you for a couple of years. Thank you and we 19 are going to come down and take a picture. 20 MR. CIRILO: So everyone so 21 Commissioner Baez started his service at the Newark 22 Housing Authority April 30 of 2016 and so you went 23 through the transition from troubled status to 24 regular status so thank you for your leadership 25 during that time. I do know Commissioner Baez as 54 1 being someone that is really dedicated not only to 2 the his service on the Board of Commissioners, but 3 also in his community. He's the leader in the 4 Dominican American Community in the City and he's 5 always active. He is always at all these events 6 and, you know what, it is really nice to see folks 7 in the community always being involved, always 8 engaged. He served in this role as a volunteer 9 since 2016. Now, he's moving on to the planning 10 board so he's been appointed to continue serving his 11 City on the planning board and we wish him the best 12 of luck in that endeavor and we to thank him for his 13 service and we have a special plaque for him. 14 Presented by Chairwoman Gonzalez. If anybody else 15 wishes to say a few words about Commissioner Baez, 16 now would be the time. Thank you very much. 17 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Commissioner, 18 on behalf of the Newark Housing Authority City of 19 Newark this service award is presented to you today, 20 Fausto Baez with great appreciation for your loyal 21 service and commitment to the residents of the City 22 of Newark. On behalf of the Board of Commissioners 23 past and present, state and residents best wishes 24 and many blessings on your future endeavors. The 25 Newark Housing Authority City of Newark presented to 55 1 you today. Thank you. 2 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you so much. 3 Thank you. 4 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: I just want you 5 to give this to your special friend. 6 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you very 7 much. This is what I like so I would love to thank 8 each one of you. I definitely going to miss each 9 one of you. Thank you for being here. Just this 10 young lady right here dressed in red, it is 11 Christmas and I love you. Thank you Emanuel for 12 coming again and I want to say Councilman, thank 13 you. We have been in this field for a long time. 14 Actually, I want to say we started from the bottom. 15 Now, we are here okay so I just want to let you know 16 that I left the Board of Commission, but I still 17 live in Housing Authority and I am still here for 18 the residents. I am still going to fight for them. 19 You are still going to see me here. If you see 20 something coming up, please do and I will love, 21 Councilman, like you said that was a great move what 22 you are saying we need that for residents and we 23 also need just remember that I always say please do 24 look out for those kids, okay. So I requested a few 25 months ago somebody to come and check out my mold, 56 1 they did they come responding and they scrub just 2 with a sponge and it doesn't work with that so I 3 want to say thank you so much and I still in housing 4 and I am still going to be able to do a lot of 5 things for housing. Even though I am on the 6 planning board, I still going to do it. Thank you 7 very much everybody, I love you. 8 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you so 9 much, everyone. Thank you, everyone. 10 Now, I would like to entertain a 11 motion to go into Executive Session and to all the 12 employees and the members here I just want to say 13 thank you so much, happy holidays. I will see many 14 of you next week. Many of you we may not bring you 15 back to speak so if you have any other commitments 16 because of the weather, Director Cirilo said you 17 could go home except with the exception, of course, 18 Elio Mena, our attorney. 19 So could I please entertain a motion 20 to go into executive. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move it 22 for you. 23 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Second. 24 MR. CIRILO: On the motion to go into 25 Executive Session. 57 1 Commissioner Council. 2 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 4 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 8 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 10 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 12 (Whereupon, the Commissioner went into 13 Executive Session.) 14 (Whereupon, the Commissioners 15 reconvened into Public Session.) 16 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: It's 6:40 17 coming out of Executive Session. 18 MR. CIRILO: The next resolution reads 19 a resolution authorizing the settlement of 20 litigation with Roizman Development, Inc. and its 21 affiliated partnerships, JS 2002 Urban Renewal, L.P, 22 Hayes Associates 2003 Urban Renewal, L.P. and Prince 23 2004 Associates, L.P; and authorizing the execution 24 of a loan agreement with Branch Brook Park Housing 25 Association, Incorporated in the amount of one 58 1 million seven hundred seventy-four thousand and ten 2 cents to be used as a down payment towards the NHA's 3 exercise of its option to purchase three Low Income 4 Housing Tax Credit properties, West Kinney 1A, West 5 Kinney 1B and Stella Gardens, that have reached the 6 end of their fifteen year compliance period. 7 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, E.D. 8 Could I have a motion? 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move 10 it. 11 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Second. 12 MR. CIRILO: Madam chair, on the 13 motion. 14 Commissioner Council. 15 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 17 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 21 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Chairwoman Gonzalez. 23 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 25 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Motion to 59 1 adjourn. 2 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Second. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council. 4 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 6 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Muhammad. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 10 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: Commission Chairwoman 12 Gonzalez. 13 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 14 15 (Whereupon, the proceedings were 16 concluded at 6:45 p.m.) 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 60 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