As the city’s cherry blossoms reached peak bloom, CLPHA welcomed more than one hundred members from across the country for our Spring Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C.
A highlight of our conference was keynote remarks from Toluse Olorunnipa, 2023 Pulitzer Prize Winner, Co-Author of His Name is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and Struggle for Racial Justice, and Washington Post White House Bureau Chief. Olorunnipa gave a moving presentation about the life of George Floyd and his 2020 murder at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer. He underscored how not only Floyd’s, but also his ancestors’ varying access to wealth and affordable housing throughout the generations changed the trajectory of the family, noting that “housing is key to how systemic racism operates.” He also stressed how understanding stories like Floyd’s can lead housers to take action to improve outcomes for low-income individuals with similar life experiences. “A good test of our public policies will be whether the next George Floyd gets the assistance they need,” said Olorunnipa. Following his remarks, Olorunnipa sold and signed copies of his book and took photos with attendees.
From left: Sunia Zaterman, CLPHA Executive Director; Jeffery K. Patterson, CLPHA Board President & Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority CEO; Toluse Olorunnipa, 2023 Pulitzer Prize Winner, Co-Author of His Name is George Floyd, and Washington Post White House Bureau Chief; La Shelle Dozier, CLPHA Board Vice President & Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency Executive Director
We kicked off the meeting with remarks from Shaun Donovan, CEO and President of Enterprise Community Partners and former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). Secretary Donovan announced that he will serve as co-chair of the steering committee for CLPHA’s ten-year roadmap for public housing sustainability, alongside La Shelle Dozier, CLPHA Board Vice President and Executive Director of the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.
“We need new resources, a new spirit, and new ideas for public housing nationwide,” he said of the roadmap. Reflecting on his tenure at HUD, Secretary Donovan noted that we must also preserve and expand tools and resources that work, such as RAD, MTW, and the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, while also using what we have learned from them to take advantage of our current period of funding opportunity. He asked the audience, “How do we rally the community with the same resources and the same tools? What is the opportunity to build a bigger tent?” CLPHA looks forward to working with Secretary Donovan and the steering committee in the coming months to marshal the necessary political support, policies, resources, and services to recapitalize our nation’s distressed public housing portfolio.
From left: Jeffery K. Patterson, CLPHA Board President & Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority CEO; Sunia Zaterman, CLPHA Executive Director; The Honorable Shaun Donovan, Enterprise Community Partners CEO and President and Former HUD Secretary; La Shelle Dozier, CLPHA Board Vice President & Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency Executive Director; Gerard Holder, CLPHA Legislative Director
On Thursday afternoon, we were pleased to welcome three reporters, Kriston Capps of Bloomberg CityLab, Rachel Cohen of Vox, and Caitlin Reilly of Roll Call, for a discussion on how housing issues are playing out in media coverage of the 2024 election cycle. The panelists shared their observations about how housing, and especially homelessness, is rising in prominence as a political issue and noted that while housing bills have bipartisan approval in Congress, Democrats are generally much more supportive. They also discussed their views on the conflicting media coverage around the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program, which many members feel has not been fully accurate or representative of the successes PHAs have had with the program.
Next, leaders from the Syracuse Housing Authority (SHA) gave a thoughtful and engaging presentation on their involvement in their city’s plan to remove a 1.4-mile section of Interstate 81 and replace its footprint with a “community grid” that would rejoin neighborhoods and improve downtown livability. The original construction of I-81 cut through Syracuse’s Ward 15, a historically black neighborhood served by SHA, and affected 70% of Black Syracusans. SHA discussed how they are working with partners from across sectors and seeking funding from local, state, and federal sources to support the racially equitable transformation of this historically disenfranchised neighborhood and build a more livable, connected community.
Friday morning’s sessions began with a panel featuring staff from the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino, King County Housing Authority, Oakland Housing Authority, and Seattle Housing Authority sharing lessons learned from implementing the EHV program. The panelists agreed that having a strong partnership with their local Continuum of Care (CoC) was crucial, though some PHAs did experience issues with their CoCs such as slow pace of referrals and differing viewpoints on which populations should be prioritized for EHVs. Despite the challenges associated with starting, staffing, and navigating the complex requirements of a new program, all panelists’ PHAs saw full lease-up of their initial tranche of EHVs.
Our spring meeting concluded with remarks from Richard J. Monocchio, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS) of HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH), and our standing panel of PIH staff. PDAS Monocchio covered a variety of timely topics, including HAP and admin fee proration, inflation factors, and addressing housing discrimination based on credit scores, source of income, and criminal histories, and building costs. He also noted that in the next term he would like to expand MTW flexibilities across the board. Following his remarks, PIH staff discussed additional topics pertinent to housing authorities, including FY24 and FY25 appropriations, HOTMA, EHVs, HIP implementation, NSPIRE implementation, BABA, and HCV utilization. As always, our members appreciated the ability to chat face-to-face with staff from HUD headquarters and ask questions about the programs and policies that matter most to them.
CLPHA thanks our attendees, guest speakers, and sponsors KeyBanc Capital Markets, Nan McKay & Associates, Du & Associates, and CVR Associates for helping to make our spring meeting a success! We look forward to seeing everyone at our Summer 2024 Meeting, hosted by Home Forward. The summer meeting will be held June 12-14 in Portland, OR.