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CALL TO ORDER THE[Consent]
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING OF THE AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION, AND I'LL RECOGNIZE STAFF ON THE A HFC BOARD OF DIRECTORS.GOOD MORNING, MR. PRESIDENT MADAM VICE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
I AM THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OFFICER FOR THE, UH, HOUSING DEPARTMENT.
I'M HERE TO PRESENT YOUR AGENDA FOR THE A HFC BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING FOR TODAY, UH, OCTOBER 24TH.
UH, YOU HAVE FOUR ITEMS ON YOUR AGENDA.
THE FIRST ITEM IS THE APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM AUGUST 14TH, 2024 AND AUGUST 29TH, 2024.
THE SECOND ITEM IS THE CREATION OF A NONPROFIT ENTITY, A SUBSIDIARY OF AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION CALLED A HFC 12 100 METRIC NONPROFIT CORPORATION.
THIS WILL BE THE NONPROFIT PARTNER OF THE OWNERSHIP ENTITY TO OWN A, THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 12 100 METRIC.
THE THIRD ITEM IS THE ACQUISITION OF SAID PROPERTY, 12 100 METRIC, UH, TO BE ACQUIRED BY AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION, A HFC 12, 100 NONPROFIT AND A, UH, PARTNER ENTITY.
AND ITEM NUMBER FOUR IS, UH, THE EXTENSION OF AMENDMENT OF EIGHT EXISTING AGREEMENTS WITH NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, UM, IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $10,900,000, UH, FOR COMMUNITY INITIATED, UH, SOLUTIONS TO ANTI DISPLACEMENT.
AND I'D BE HAPPY TO OFFER ALL THESE ON CONSENT BOARD MEMBERS.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS OF STAFF? YES.
SORRY, NOT A QUESTION, JUST TO COMMENT.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY HOW THRILLED I AM TO SEE ITEM NUMBER THREE, WHICH IS PART OF WHAT THE CITY IS DOING TO PRESERVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UM, WE OFTEN DON'T TALK ABOUT OR CELEBRATE ALL THAT THE CITY DOES IN ENSURING THAT, THAT WE'RE PRESERVING EXISTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
AND SO THIS ITEM DEMONSTRATES OUR COMMITMENT TO AFFORDABILITY.
SO JUST WANTED TO EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE AND TO ALSO PUT A SPOTLIGHT ON, ON THIS PIECE.
UM, ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS, UH, MEMBERS? IS THERE ANYONE WISHING TO SHOWN BE SHOWN ABSTAINING ON? WELL, LET ME GET A MOTION.
IS THERE A MOTION TO ADOPT? THE CONSENT AGENDA IS READ, UH, BOARD MEMBER FUENTES, SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER ALLISON ALTER TO ADOPT.
AND, AND SECOND, THE CONSENT AGENDA.
IS THERE ANYONE WISHING TO MAYOR? YES.
WE DO HAVE SOME PEOPLE SIGN UP TO SPEAK.
I, WELL, I WAS TOLD THAT THIS WOULD BE FIVE MINUTES, SO, UM, PLEASE CALL ON THOSE FOLKS ON A HFC ITEM ONE.
MS. JOSEPH, PLEASE COME FORWARD.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.
WHAT WE REALLY NEED ON TOP OF, UH, THE PLAN THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE IS A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL URGENTLY.
MANY OF OUR, UH, CONSTITUENTS REALLY TRULY SUFFER FROM MENTAL ILLNESS AND THEY END UP IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM, TRAP IN THE PIPELINE THAT TAKES THEM FROM THE STREETS ALL THE WAY TO, UH, JAIL.
RIGHT? AND FORTUNATELY, WE ARE NOT GIVING THEM THE TOOLS, THE PSYCHOTROPICS, THE MENTAL HEALTHCARE THAT ACT THEY ACTUALLY NEED.
IT'S NOT JUST A PROBLEM WITH POVERTY, IT'S A PROBLEM OF EDUCATION, LACK OF COMPASSION.
AND WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU IS TO ACTUALLY TAKE IT A STEP FORWARD INTO THIS MATTER.
CLINICAL PROFESSIONS PROFESSIONALS SHOULD HAVE A SAYING ON THIS MATTER.
WHAT YOU WANT? ANYONE? WHEREVER YOU WANT TO BE.
I'M JUST WAITING FOR THE STAFF TO PULL UP THE PRESENTATION.
IT IS ZERO FOUR MAYOR 0 0 4 S PROJECT CONNECT.
AND MARY, JUST AS A TECHNICALITY, I DON'T SEE THE SLIDES IN FRONT OF ME LIKE NORMAL.
I I I CAN'T HELP YOU WITH THAT RIGHT NOW.
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OKAY.THANK YOU, MAYOR COUNCIL, I'M ENOVIA JOSEPH.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SOME COMMENTS SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO ITEM FOUR, WHICH IS PROJECT CONNECT.
I'M HAVING A LITTLE DIFFICULTY UNDERSTANDING HOW THE DELL VALLEY COALITION RECEIVED FUNDING FOR PROJECT CONNECT.
AS YOU'RE AWARE, THAT'S IN TRAVIS COUNTY.
IT'S NOT IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
SPECIFICALLY, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANTS ACTUALLY LOOKS AT A HALF MILE WITHIN THE CORRIDOR.
SO ONCE AGAIN, YOU ARE DEFRAUDING THE TAXPAYERS.
FRAUD IS TRYING TO GET SOMETHING OF VALUE THROUGH WILL FOR MISREPRESENTATION AS THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE DEFINITION 2017.
I JUST WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE THAT EL WIND SAMARI IS DOING GOOD WORK, BUT YOU'VE ONLY ALLOCATED $1 MILLION.
SO WHAT'S PROBLEMATIC ABOUT THIS $10 MILLION MAYOR, IS THAT THERE ARE NO MEASURABLE OUTCOMES IN BACKUP FOR TAXPAYERS TO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A GOOD RETURN ON INVESTMENT.
I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND AS WELL THAT GOODWILL, I ACTUALLY ASKED THEM ABOUT THE FUNDING THEY RECEIVED AND YOU CAN'T JUST WALK INTO THAT FACILITY AND GET INFORMATION ABOUT IT.
SO THERE'S A LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AS IT RELATES TO TEXAS REAL GRAND LEGAL AID.
I'M NOT SURE WHO THEY'RE SERVING.
THEY DON'T EVEN TELL THE POTENTIAL CLIENTS THAT THEY CAN FILE A MOTION FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME SO THAT THEY CAN SEE IF THEY CAN ACTUALLY TAKE THE CASE.
AND SO ONCE AGAIN, THERE'S A LACK OF TRANSPARENCY.
AND THEN LASTLY, IT SAYS RENTER TENTER, TENANT STABILIZATION.
BUT THAT PROCESS IS NOT TRANSPARENT.
THE ONLY THING THAT IS ONLINE IS A LOTTERY THROUGH EL AND SAMARI TO.
I'M NOT SURE YOU WANTED ME TO SPEAK ON ALL THREE OF THE ITEMS AT ONE TIME.
MAYOR, DID YOU SIGN UP ON MULTIPLE ITEMS? SO IT'S ITEM FOUR WAS PROJECT CONNECT.
ITEMS TWO AND THREE ARE SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO 12 100 METRIC BOULEVARD.
YOU'RE, YOU'RE ENTITLED TO SPEAK ON THE DID DID SHE SIGN UP ON ALL THREE ITEMS? YES.
MR. JOSEPH UP AND YOU'RE ENTITLED TO SPEAK THOSE ITEMS IF YOU'D LIKE.
CORRECTION, WE HAVE MR. JOSEPH SIGN UP TO SPEAK ON ITEMS TWO, THREE, AND FOUR FOR HFC, NOT ONE CERTAINLY.
SO ITEM TWO AND THREE SPECIFICALLY, THAT'S THE NEXT SLIDE.
IF THE STAFF PULLS IT UP, I'LL SHOW YOU SPECIFICALLY I'M LOOKING AT THE BYLAWS FOR THE AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION FOR 12,100.
THAT IS SPECIFICALLY IN THE VICINITY OF 1 2 0 4 1 BITTER HOLLOW, WHICH IS ST.
ALBERT THE GREAT CATHOLIC CHURCH.
IT'S THE PROPERTY THAT'S RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET, 384 UNITS.
I HAVE OPPOSITION TO THIS ITEM BECAUSE IT'S 50 TO 80% AREA MEDIAN INCOME.
IN OTHER WORDS, THOSE WHO ARE 30% AREA MEDIAN INCOME, THE AFRICAN AMERICANS WHO ARE ON THE STREETS OF AUSTIN WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO LIVE HERE.
I'LL REMIND YOU, MAYOR, THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE OVER SIX TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE HOMELESS IN AUSTIN THAN OUR WHITE COUNTERPARTS AT SPECIFICALLY THE JULY 1ST, 2022 ECHO REPORT.
I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHAT I FIND MOST PROBLEMATIC ABOUT THIS IS MANDY DE MAYO.
SPECIFICALLY, YOU'LL SEE ON IN SECTION TWO OF THE BYLAWS THAT THE MEETINGS DON'T HAVE TO BE POSTED.
THAT THE ONLY REQUIREMENT IS FOR THERE TO BE A RESOLUTION.
I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER THAT ON JULY 18TH, 2024, YOU ACTUALLY SUBMITTED THE FIVE YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE $70 MILLION OVER FIVE YEARS FROM HUD.
AND THAT WAS ALSO SPECIFICALLY A, A CITIZEN PARTICIPATION PLAN.
SO ONCE AGAIN, I'M GOING TO TELL MANDY DE MAYO, IT IS TIME FOR HER TO RESIGN.
THIS IS COUNTERACTIVE COUNTERINTUITIVE TO THE INFORMATION THAT WAS SENT TO HUD.
SO I WOULD ASK YOU TO STRIKE THAT LANGUAGE TO BE TRANSPARENT AND TO RECOGNIZE THAT OUR TEXAS LEGISLATURE IS ACTUALLY LOOKING AT SOME TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT AS PART OF THEIR INTERIM CHARGE.
SO IF YOU'LL MAYOR ON IN SECTION TWO OF THE BYLAWS FOR THIS AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION, THIS 12 100 NONPROFIT THAT YOU ARE CREATING WITH MANDY DE MAYO AND TWO OF THE STAFF, I WOULD ASK YOU TO STRIKE THAT LANGUAGE AND TO BE TRANSPARENT WITH THE TAXPAYERS.
HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO EVEN KNOW WHEN THE MEETINGS ARE BEING HELD? IF YOU PASS THIS TODAY AS IT IS WRITTEN, THERE'LL BE A RESOLUTION.
AND WHERE WILL WE FIND THE RESOLUTION? HOW WILL WE KNOW THE MEETINGS ARE BEING HELD? WHAT TIME WILL THEY BE HELD? NONE OF THAT WILL BE DISCLOSED TO THE PUBLIC.
AND SO IT WILL VIOLATE THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
AND I WOULD ASK YOU TO RECOGNIZE THE NEED TO STRIKE THAT LANGUAGE AND TO DO RIGHT BY THE TAXPAYERS.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL GLADLY ANSWER THEM AT THIS TIME AND WOULD ASK YOU TO FIX THE TECHNOLOGY BECAUSE THIS WILL BE A LONG MEETING.
ALRIGHT, MEMBERS, THOSE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK ON THE HFC ITEMS. IS THERE ANYONE WISHING TO BE SHOWN ABSTAINING ON ANY OF THE ITEMS ON ITEMS TWO AND THREE? THE MAYOR WILL BE SHOWN AS RECUSING HIMSELF ON ITEMS TWO AND THREE, AND I FILED THE PAPERWORK IN REGARD TO THAT.
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VELA WILL BE SHOWN RECUSING HIMSELF ON ITEM NUMBER FOUR.IS THERE ANYONE ELSE WISHING TO BE SHOWN RECUSING THEMSELVES ON ANY OF THESE ITEMS? ANYONE WISHING TO BE SHOWN VOTING NO ON ANY OF THE ITEMS? COUNT.
UH, BOARD MEMBER ALLISON ALTER, YOU'RE RECOGNIZED FOR DISCUSSION.
I JUST WANTED TO SPEAK REALLY BRIEFLY TO ITEM FOUR, WHICH, UM, ALLOCATES $10.9 MILLION TO OUR ANTI DISPLACEMENT EFFORTS AS PART OF, UM, THE PROJECT CONNECT FUNDING.
THIS IS GOING TO EIGHT NONPROFITS TO REALLY HELP PEOPLE WITH THEIR IMMEDIATE NEEDS.
UM, AND I JUST, YOU KNOW, WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AND THE FOLKS WHO'VE WORKED ON THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS A REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF THE APPROACH THAT WE TOOK, UM, WHEN WE LAUNCHED PROJECT CONNECT TO ADDRESS, UM, SOME OF THE DISPLACEMENT PRESSURES.
UM, AND SO THIS IS KIND OF A, A SECOND TRANCHE OF YEARS, THREE TO FIVE AND AND I JUST THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT.
ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION ON THE CONSENT AGENDA IS READ WITHOUT OBJECTION.
THE CONSENT AGENDA IS ADOPTED WITH THE MAYOR RECUSING HIMSELF ON ITEM TWO, THE MAYOR RECUSING HIMSELF ON ITEM THREE AND BOARD MEMBER VALA RECUSING HIMSELF ON ITEM NUMBER FOUR.
SO THE CONSENT AGENDA IS ADOPTED.
UH, WE WILL ADJOURN THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING OF THE AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION AT 1114.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING IS NOW ADJOURNED.