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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAHAB minutes 111219 Orange County Affordable Housing Advisory Board Minutes Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at 6:00 PM Southern Human Services Center 2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Members Present: Douglas Boemker, Keith Cook (Chair), James Eichel, Tammy Jacobs, Ellie Kinnaird, Allison Mahaley, Mae McLendon, Adejuwon Ojebuoboh, Noah Oswald, Blake Rosser, Arthur Sprinczeles, Jenn Sykes, Cain Twyman Members Absent: Jennifer Moore Public Present: Olivia Fisher and a Daily Tar Heel reporter Invited Speaker Present: Annette Moore, Director, Office of Human Rights and Relations Staff Present: Emila Sutton, Housing and Community Development Director and Diane Beecham, Community Development Specialist I. Call to Order/Introductions — The Chair, Kevin Cook, called the meeting to order at 6:12 PM. II. Presentation by Annette Moore, Staff Attorney and Director of Office of Human Rights and Relations — Ms. Moore stated that the Office of Human Rights and Relations (OHRR) enforces the Orange County Civil Rights Ordinance, which is substantially equivalent to the federal Fair Housing Act. The OHRR has a contract with the federal government to enforce the federal law and to investigate complaints of discrimination in Orange County. There are approximately 40,000 complaints a year, most of which are determined to have no cause. The majority of complaints that have been found to have cause are disability cases, followed by race-related and national origin cases. Also, an emerging issue is the increase in sexual harassment in housing discrimination cases, such as landlords sexually harassing tenants or the maintenance person trading repairs for sex. It is reported that 98 percent of sexual harassment cases go unreported. Ms. Moore stated that the OHRR is very good at investigating complaints and so they are taken very seriously. As a result, when the OHRR does send out a complaint, the landlord will often want to immediately settle/resolve the case because they know the OHRR will continue to pursue it and get results. Ms. Moore stated that the OHRR is going to embark on an eviction diversion project and would like to work on it with AHAB. Evictions tend to be cyclical; once a person is evicted it is very likely to happen again. The purpose of eviction diversion programs is to insert services and programs to stop the cycle. First, the OHRR want to do a "deep dive" into the evictions in Orange County: who is being evicted, who is doing the evictions and where the Page 1 evictions are occurring. Then talk with the people who are being evicted and as a result of these discussions develop a proposal for a project to submit to the BOCC. The project will include an education component and some type of cost-benefit analysis to determine the cost savings as well as health benefits. Ms. Jacobs stated that the goal is to get people to gain self-sufficiency. It will take a variety of programs and services to stop evictions, often including intense case management. Ms. Mahaley said that AHAB had discussed the issue of evictions last year and is interested in doing something about it. Should AHAB get involved now by setting up a subcommittee? Ms. Moore responded that some preliminary questions/issues need to be addressed first including the goals of the project; timelines; what programs are already in existence; and what other boards should be involved. Ms. McLendon said that she thinks that a subcommittee should be formed at this stage because AHAB is too big to do it at the Board level. Also, we may need to use other resources such as the Demography Center at UNC or the UNC Social Work program that may be better utilized by a smaller group. Also, by getting the Board involved at this point, there are resources that it can bring to bear such as engaging with the people that are being evicted but are not going through the court system. Ms. Sutton said that there are resources that can be useful for this project, such as NC360. It is now being rolled out and the State is looking at Orange County as a possible pilot county for this roll-out. A representative should come to the Board to explain the program. There have also been a lot of studies done, such as in Philadelphia which looked at the cost of evictions, who are the people being evicted and what can be done about these evictions. In Greensboro, a study showed that 75 percent of the people evicted went straight to homelessness. Ms. Moore stated that her office is also interested in studying the issue of housing choice vouchers and why landlords are reluctant to accept vouchers. They want to study the data and determine if this has a disproportionate impact on families with children. The third project is a study of home mortgage lending rates to see if the lending rates for minorities are the same as lending rates for non-minorities. Interestingly, it has been found that the higher the income for minorities, the bigger discrepancy in lending rates. III. Approval of Minutes — On a motion by Ms. Sykes and seconded by Mr. Oswald, the Advisory Board unanimously approved the minutes of the September 10, 2019 AHAB meeting. Page 2 On a motion by Ms. McLendon and seconded by Ms. Kinnaird, the Advisory Board unanimously approved the minutes of the October 8, 2019 AHAB meeting, with the exception that the absence of Allison Mahaley be changed to an excused absence. IV. Message from the Chair— Mr. Cook stated that it will be exciting for the Advisory Board to be working with the OHRR and that it will make a difference. It is expected that the Director will bring forward to AHAB on how to approach the project. Mr. Cook stated that the AHAB may want to look at mobile homes more closely as a source of affordable housing, as opposed to just bricks and mortar-type housing. Ms. Sutton responded a disadvantaged of investing in mobile homes is that they depreciate so quickly. A potential solution is to invest in manufactured housing. Congress is also looking to ease restrictions on manufactured housing so to make it easier for them to be used. Ms. Jacobs stated that the Advisory Board needs to decide on how it is going to structure its participation with the OHRR. Specifically, is the Board going to work on it as part of their regular meetings or will the work be done in a subcommittee of the Board? We need to decide how we are going to use our time and formalize the process. V. Updates from Board Members — Ms. Cain stated the Carrboro Affordable Housing Commission is looking to fill the housing policy expert position on the Board which does not need to be a Carrboro resident. She will also be on the Weekend Watercooler radio show hosted by Jean Bolduc. Mr. Eichel stated that a new Community Housing Trust executive director has been hired to replace Robert Dowling, who is retiring. Her name is Kimberly Sanchez and she will be relocating to the area from Florida. Ms. Kinnaird said that she attended two meetings of the Habitat Weaver Street/Sunrise Road proposed development with the surrounding neighborhood. Habitat has owned the land for 15 years and has tried to develop it at least three times but there is a strong sense of NIMBYism from the neighborhood and they have been successful so far in blocking any development on the land. Ms. McLendon stated that St. Paul AME Church has purchased 20 acres of land off of Purefoy Drive and Rogers Road and will include affordable housing in Phase I of the development. A major fundraiser is scheduled for November 23rd Page 3 There is the upcoming RSVVP event which raises funds for the IFC's food pantry by donating 10 percent of the participating restaurants' proceeds on the day of the event. Ms. Sykes said that there was a joint meeting of the Hillsborough Town Council and Planning Board to discuss modifying the Accessory Units zoning ordinance to make it easier to get a permit for them, particularly on non- conforming lots. Mr. Sprinczeles said that he read an article about very tiny homes development in Seattle to combat homelessness. These homes are smaller than the regular tiny homes, about the size of a storage unit and do not have bathrooms. VI. Updates from the Housing and Community Development Department — Ms. Sutton stated that she attended a community meeting of over 200 area stakeholders as part of Chamber of Commerce's Big Bold Ideas campaign and affordable housing was one of the top three priorities for collective action. VII. Old and New Business — Mr. Cook stated that a community AHAB meeting needs to be set for March or April in southern Orange County. Possible locations for this meeting include RENA, Northside Elementary School and the Chapel Hill library. A speaker from NC360 should be invited to the December AHAB meeting. The new CHT Executive Director should be invited to an AHAB meeting sometime after January. Ms. Mahaley stated that she agreed with Ms. Jacobs that the AHAB should formally vote to be involved in the eviction diversion project with OHRR. On a motion by Mae McLendon and seconded by Arthur Sprinczeles, the Advisory Board unanimously vote to approve working with OHRR on a project that deals with evictions in Orange County. Vill. Adjournment — The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 PM. Submitted by Diane Beecham, Community Development Specialist Page 4