Minutes_Housing Commission 5 28 13MINUTES OF HOUSING COMMISSION MEETING
NOTE: These minutes are unofficial notes. There was not a quorum at this meeting.
DATE: 28 May 2013
TIME: 4:00 PM
PLACE: Housing and Community Development Department
350 West 6th Street, Suite 312, Dubuque, IA 52001
Chairperson Holz, following staff assurance of compliance with Iowa Open Meeting Law, called the
meeting to order at 4:04 pm.
Commissioners Present:
Jim Holz
Amy Eudaley
Ricardo Woods
Rick Baumhover
Judie Root
Commissioners Absent: Lisa McAllister Sister Dorothy Schwendinger
Patricia Foster Anna Fernandes
Staff Present: Alvin Nash Teresa Drury
Teresa Bassler
Public Present: none
Review and Certification of Minutes of 9 April 2013 Commission Meeting
Commissioner Root moved to approve the minutes. Commissioner Woods seconded.
All others present in favor.
Correspondence/Public Input
None
Old Business
None
New Business
Change to Administrative Policy- Subsidy Standards:
Teresa Bassler went over the proposed changes to the bedroom sizes of households. Because of
our funding shortage, we want to recommend not having separate bedrooms for children of
opposite sexes. Commissioner Root asked, "What if there is male age 16 and a female age 15; do
they still share a room ?" Teresa Bassler answered by saying, they don't have to be in the same
bedroom, the female child could room with the mother and/or the living room is considered a
sleeping room. Commissioner Baumhover asked, "What age would that go up to ?" Teresa
Bassler responded by saying it is strictly by sex, not age. Children are defined as anyone under
the age of 18. Commissioner Woods asked if this was a permanent change. Alvin Nash
responded by saying that this is not intended to be a permanent change. Teresa Bassler mentioned
that we have made this change in the past and when we found more money we went back to the
way it was.
Chairperson Holz brought up the wording in in the first paragraph of Section C and how it seems
vague and we might need more specific exceptions. Alvin Nash explained that since it says
"reasons may include but are not limited to..." We would go through the normal appeal process.
Chairperson Holz asked, referring to Section C, "What is a "remaining" family member ?"
Teresa Bassler gave an example of when a Mother and an adult child live in same the household
and the Mother passes away; the adult child is considered the remaining household member and
the voucher would transfer in to his or her name.
Commissioner Eudaley mentioned a repeat sentence in the document and suggested it be taken
out. Alvin stated that it was in the original document and he would check with Janet Walker to
see if it needed to be in the document. Commissioner Eudaley suggested we change the word
handicap to disabled/disability throughout the document.
Commissioner Woods motioned to approve the changes. Commissioner Root seconded. All
others present in favor.
Meeting expectations of Commissioners:
A list of the Commissioners attendance was distributed and meeting expectations were discussed.
As a reminder; one more commission member is needed to fill a vacancy.
Notification letter to HUD regarding insufficient funding:
Alvin explained what was in the letter that we sent to HUD. We have a freeze on the issuing of
vouchers which causes us to be underfunded. Approximately 10 participants leave the program
each month and as they leave we cannot replace them. Also, in the letter was ways to reduce our
costs. Alvin reported that we qualify for an $83,000 short fall
Information Sharing
Complaints Received
Commissioners received a summary of the complaints the Housing Department has received
since the last meeting.
Wall Street Article
A limitation as to how long a family can be on Section 8 was the main issue in the article.
Chariperson Holz asked if this was a pilot program or have other housing authorities placed this
time limit on voucher holders. Teresa Bassler stated that a waiver from HUD would be needed.
Adjournment
There being no further business to come before the Commission, the meeting adjourned at 4:51
pm.
Minutes taken y:
eres
Recording Secretary
Alvin Nash
Department Director