City Council
City Council
Wed, September 9, 2026
Agenda items
Vote records
Discussion summary
Transcript
Meeting summaryAI-generated
Charlottesville City Council & CRHA Board Joint Meeting — September 9, 2026
This was a special joint meeting between Charlottesville City Council and the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA) Board, held to review CRHA's ongoing projects and the collaborative relationship between the two bodies. CRHA Executive Director John Sales was absent due to illness; Board Chair Bridget (last name unclear from transcript) and CRHA staff member Kathleen led much of the presentation.
Planning Commission Reappointments
Council moved to reappoint Cal Schwartz and Rod Hartless to the Charlottesville Planning Commission.
Vote: Moved by an unidentified councilor, seconded; passed 5–0.
CRHA Executive Director Search Update
CRHA Board Chair Bridget reported that Executive Director John Sales has announced his departure effective December 4, 2026, and the board has launched a search for his replacement. An RFP for recruiting firms was issued the prior week, with a 30-day response window. The board is simultaneously developing a job description for a nationwide search. The current timeline targets selecting a recruiting firm and posting the job by end of September, with candidate screening and interviews in November. Because Sales departs December 4, an interim director will likely be needed, though the board is reluctant to appoint one prematurely to avoid staff disruption. The board is also consulting with HUD about whether executive directors from other housing authorities could serve as interim if needed.
A key discussion arose around compensation: council members and CRHA board members noted that the current salary package is likely below what is needed to attract strong candidates, based on the cost of living in Charlottesville. The board has not yet formally requested a compensation study from recruiting firms. City Manager Sam Sanders offered to have the city's HR department conduct a preliminary compensation review to help frame the package — an offer the board accepted.
Funding ask: CRHA asked the city to help cover recruiting firm costs, estimated at approximately $75,000. City Manager Sanders said he would explore available city reserves or the Strategic Investment Fund and bring a specific funding action to the next council agenda.
CRHA Board Governance: Term Limits and Resident Commissioner Eligibility
The board raised two governance issues requiring possible city action.
Term limits: Under current code or board guidelines, board members are limited to approximately six years of service (two three-year terms). Board Chair Bridget, the longest-serving commissioner, would be term-limited out by next summer. The board asked whether terms could be extended — potentially to two four-year terms — to preserve institutional knowledge during the complex redevelopment period. City Attorney Maddox noted the charter specifies terms "not to exceed four years," meaning single terms cannot exceed four years, but the number of terms could potentially be revisited. Council directed staff to review the relevant code and bring back a proposal, also noting this connects to similar issues on other city boards (e.g., the Police Athletic League oversight board).
Resident commissioner eligibility: Currently, the two resident commissioner seats require residents of traditional public housing. CRHA has struggled to fill both seats because some qualified applicants hold Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) or live in project-based voucher (PBV) units rather than traditional public housing. The board asked that residents of CRHA-owned, project-based voucher properties be allowed to qualify. HUD liaison Delphine (last name unclear) clarified that HUD regulations require at least one resident commissioner who is either a public housing resident or an HCV recipient — but explicitly exclude project-based voucher residents for that mandated seat. A second resident seat beyond the HUD minimum can include PBV residents if the housing authority chooses. Council expressed support for expanding the eligible pool while staying compliant with HUD rules. Staff will bring both the term limit and eligibility changes back as one action item.
CRHA Redevelopment Projects Update
South First Street, Phase 2: This project is well underway, with 113 units (a mix of apartments and townhomes ranging from 1–5 bedrooms) under construction. Twenty-three units are ready, with 11 families already being processed for move-in. Twenty additional units are expected by November 2026, and the remaining 70 by May 2027, weather and supply chain permitting. All units are fully subsidized through project-based vouchers and will serve families at or below 30% AMI. A new community center is complete, solar panels are being installed, and dedicated high-speed internet will be available throughout. A group of 12 resident women who met for over three years and helped design the development was highlighted; council expressed interest in formally recognizing them at a future meeting.
Sixth Street, Phase 1: A 47-unit apartment building on the site of a former garden near Kindlewood, with a mix of 1–3 bedroom units, all fully subsidized. Amenities will include a clinic (in partnership with UVA), teen lounge, fitness center, business center, and on-site property management and resident services. Balcony installation is underway. Phase 2 (townhouses) has not yet begun; resident representative Olivia Johnson emphasized the importance of keeping that phase on track and not allowing redevelopment momentum to stall.
West Haven Master Plan: The oldest CRHA site, with planning ongoing for several years. Phase 1A has received 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) funding; a 4% application for Phase 1B is in progress. Phase 1 will include 150 deeply affordable units — 82 in a senior/elderly building and 68 in a multifamily building. Relocation of current residents is expected to begin in late 2027 or early 2028, a complex process involving federal notice requirements, temporary housing, school coordination, and return planning for families who wish to come back. A key design feature is a new pedestrian connection to West Main Street, addressing the historically isolated location of the community. Resident planners have been involved in design for three years.
Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) Preservation
CRHA described its "City Housing Program," through which it has preserved approximately 80 units of naturally occurring affordable housing by purchasing properties from landlords who want to keep rents affordable. Units are currently rented approximately $1,500 below fair market rent.
Silk Purse Acquisition: CRHA is negotiating to purchase 11 properties (13 units) from landlord Jeremy Kaplan, who owns approximately 70 scattered-site properties across the city, the majority in the 10th & Page and Venable neighborhoods. Kaplan has expressed a desire to ensure the units remain affordable; a comparable vacant unit recently sold on the open market for $671,650. CRHA is requesting $3 million from the city for this acquisition. Units cannot service a conventional loan at their current below-market rents.
Urbana Terrace Apartments: A 48-unit garden-style apartment complex off River Road, asking price $9.6 million, with current rents of approximately $1,500/month (2-bedroom, 1-bath units). CRHA is requesting a $5 million city investment (approximately $104,000 per unit) toward this acquisition.
Councilor Snook pressed CRHA on the long-term operating budget implications of expanding the portfolio, particularly given that CRHA has historically required city subsidies to meet operating obligations. CRHA staff acknowledged significant uncertainties — especially with declining federal HUD funding — and committed to producing three-to-five-year financial projections on new properties. Council generally supported the acquisitions but wants better visibility into the long-term fiscal picture.
Dogwood Portfolio Update
The city-funded Dogwood housing portfolio (acquired with a prior ~$5 million city investment) currently includes 80 units. CRHA is preparing to sell one property back to a prior owner under a first-right-of-purchase agreement, and is disposing of a property on Harris Street for conversion to commercial use — reducing the portfolio by 4 units. CRHA anticipates submitting a LIHTC tax credit application to fund extensive renovations of the remaining Dogwood units, which, if successful, would repay the city a portion of its original investment.
Parallel Track: Scattered Site Renovations
For CRHA properties not undergoing full redevelopment (scattered sites including Mickey, Madison, Riverside, and single-family homes), CRHA has been conducting major renovations funded by a $1.5 million competitive HUD grant received in 2024. Work includes appliance replacement, exterior door and hardware upgrades, security improvements, porch lighting, electrical upgrades, and — significantly — central air conditioning installation, which these units previously lacked. A "hotel unit" model is being used: families temporarily move out, renovations are completed in approximately 20 working days, and families return. Residents participated in selecting colors and materials.
Broader Concerns and Council Support
When asked what keeps them up at night, CRHA board members cited the complexity of managing a leadership transition in the middle of major redevelopment; declining HUD funding and staffing at the Richmond HUD office (which has lost most of its staff); and the need to keep redevelopment moving without pausing. Resident representative Olivia Johnson stressed that residents have waited 30+ years for redevelopment and that any slowdown would severely damage trust.
CRHA also flagged the need for rent relief and eviction diversion assistance for residents facing financial hardship. Council noted that $10 million has been allocated across various city housing assistance programs, and a prior evening's meeting had covered those programs in detail.
Councilor Payne noted that CRHA has significantly fewer staff per unit than comparable local organizations (Habitat for Humanity, Piedmont Housing Alliance), that wages and benefits need improvement to reduce turnover, and that the planned nonprofit arm — while important — typically takes three to five years to generate meaningful fundraising returns.
City Manager Sanders confirmed that city staff meets monthly with CRHA leadership on redevelopment coordination. The board suggested a follow-up check-in in December as Sales departs to help plan for the transition and potentially welcome a new executive director.
Key Takeaways
CRHA is seeking roughly $8–9 million in new city investments across two NOAH acquisitions (Silk Purse at $3M, Urbana Terrace at $5M), plus ~$75,000 for an executive director recruiting firm — the latter to come to the next council agenda as a formal action item.
CRHA's executive director is departing December 4, and a nationwide search is underway; the city's HR department will assist with a compensation analysis to ensure the salary package is competitive.
South First Street Phase 2 is nearing first move-ins, with 23 units ready and the full 113-unit project on track for completion by May 2027 — a major milestone after decades of redevelopment planning.
Governance changes are coming: council directed staff to draft amendments expanding CRHA resident commissioner eligibility and potentially extending board member term limits, to help fill two vacant board seats.
Long-term financial sustainability remains an open question: with HUD funding declining and the portfolio expanding, council asked CRHA to produce multi-year operating projections to better understand the city's ongoing fiscal exposure.
AI-generated summary from voice-to-text transcript. Not the official record. Verify important details with the source documents linked above.
What happened at this meeting
By Motion: Appointment of Member(s) to the Charlottesville Planning Commission V. U pdate on CRHA projects and existing collaborative projects between the City and CRHA
# Summary: Appointment of Planning Commissioners and CRHA Update
City Council unanimously approved the reappointment of Ms. Adam Schwartz and Rod Hartless to the Charlottesville Planning Commission. Mr. Sander introduced a joint meeting with the Charlottesville Housing Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA) to strengthen city-authority relations, during which CRHA leadership presented an executive director search timeline targeting September postings and November interviews, with Commissioner Bridget raising concerns about competitive compensation that Mr. Sander acknowledged recruiting firms would address during engagement. Council discussed expanding CRHA board eligibility to include Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) recipients as resident commissioners—a change supported to address current recruitment difficulties, with Delphine clarifying that HUD regulations permit HCV recipients but not project-based voucher residents in these roles. Staff reported the CRHA nonprofit filing is on track for establishment before year-end, though staffing capacity challenges and organizational structure decisions remain, and noted the housing authority's 80-unit portfolio faces sustainability concerns due to decreased HUD funding, maintenance costs, and the planned disposition of properties that would reduce units. Council members emphasized the need for three-to-five-year financial projections, board member training through programs like NAHRO, and creative financing strategies to transition CRHA from "triage mode" toward robust operations serving their mission of building exemplary, integrated communities for vulnerable populations.
City Council unanimously approved the reappointment of Ms. Adam Schwartz and Rod Hartless to the Charlottesville Planning Commission. Mr. Sander introduced a joint meeting with the Charlottesville Housing Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA) to strengthen city-authority relations, during which CRHA leadership presented an executive director search timeline targeting September postings and November interviews, with Commissioner Bridget raising concerns about competitive compensation that Mr. Sander acknowledged recruiting firms would address during engagement. Council discussed expanding CRHA board eligibility to include Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) recipients as resident commissioners—a change supported to address current recruitment difficulties, with Delphine clarifying that HUD regulations permit HCV recipients but not project-based voucher residents in these roles. Staff reported the CRHA nonprofit filing is on track for establishment before year-end, though staffing capacity challenges and organizational structure decisions remain, and noted the housing authority's 80-unit portfolio faces sustainability concerns due to decreased HUD funding, maintenance costs, and the planned disposition of properties that would reduce units. Council members emphasized the need for three-to-five-year financial projections, board member training through programs like NAHRO, and creative financing strategies to transition CRHA from "triage mode" toward robust operations serving their mission of building exemplary, integrated communities for vulnerable populations.
Agenda items (7)
Procedural (7)
1ProceduralBy Motion: Appointment of Member(s) to the Charlottesville Planning Commission V. U pdate on CRHA projects and existing collaborative projects between the City and CRHA
The city will appoint new member(s) to the Planning Commission and provide an update on housing authority (CRHA) projects and partnerships between the city and CRHA.
What happened
# Summary: Appointment of Planning Commissioners and CRHA UpdateCity Council unanimously approved the reappointment of Ms. Adam Schwartz and Rod Hartless to the Charlottesville Planning Commission. Mr. Sander introduced a joint meeting with the Charlottesville Housing Redevelopment and Housing Authority (CRHA) to strengthen city-authority relations, during which CRHA leadership presented an executive director search timeline targeting September postings and November interviews, with Commissioner Bridget raising concerns about competitive compensation that Mr. Sander acknowledged recruiting firms would address during engagement. Council discussed expanding CRHA board eligibility to include Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) recipients as resident commissioners—a change supported to address current recruitment difficulties, with Delphine clarifying that HUD regulations permit HCV recipients but not project-based voucher residents in these roles. Staff reported the CRHA nonprofit filing is on track for establishment before year-end, though staffing capacity challenges and organizational structure decisions remain, and noted the housing authority's 80-unit portfolio faces sustainability concerns due to decreased HUD funding, maintenance costs, and the planned disposition of properties that would reduce units. Council members emphasized the need for three-to-five-year financial projections, board member training through programs like NAHRO, and creative financing strategies to transition CRHA from "triage mode" toward robust operations serving their mission of building exemplary, integrated communities for vulnerable populations.
2ProceduralThis is an in-person meeting with an option for the public to participate electronically by registering in advance for the Zoom webinar at www.charlottesville.gov/zoom. The meeting may also be viewed on the City's streaming platforms and local government Channel 10. Individuals with disabilities who require assistance or special arrangements to participate in the public meeting may call (434) 987-1267 or submit a request via email to ada@charlottesville.gov. The City of Charlottesville requests that you provide 48 hours’ notice so that proper arrangements may be made.
This meeting is held in person with an option to join online via Zoom by registering at www.charlottesville.gov/zoom, and it will also be streamed on the city's platforms and Channel 10; residents needing accessibility accommodations should call (434) 987-1267 or email ada@charlottesville.gov with 48 hours' notice.
3ProceduralThe presiding officer shall ensure that individuals address their comments to City Council at appropriate times, in accordance with the meeting agenda and Council’s Rules of Procedure.
The meeting leader will ensure that people address their comments to City Council at the right times according to the meeting schedule and council rules.
4ProceduralNo person who is not a member of the city council shall orally address it until leave to do so has been granted by the city council or until invited to do so by the mayor. (City Code sec.2-71)
Members of the public cannot speak to City Council unless they receive permission from the council or are invited by the mayor.
5ProceduralRemarks and actions that disrupt the progress of the Council meeting, and remarks from persons other than councilors, the City Manager, the City Attorney, or a presenter for an Agenda Item are not permitted.
Disruptive remarks or actions are not allowed during council meetings, and only councilors, city staff, the city attorney, or agenda item presenters may speak.
6ProceduralThe presiding officer shall call an individual to order, including a councilor, when that individual goes afoul of these rules. The following are examples of remarks and behavior that are not permitted: i. Interrupting a speaker who is addressing Council at the speaker's microphone, or interrupting a speaker who has otherwise been invited to address Council during Community Matters or a Public Hearing ii. Interrupting a councilor who is speaking iii. Shouting, and talking (either individually or in concert with others) in a manner that prevents a speaker or a Councilor from being heard or that otherwise hinders the progress of the meeting iv. Blocking paths for emergency exit from the meeting room; engaging in any conduct that prevents a member of the audience from seeing or hearing councilors during a meeting; standing on chairs or tables within the Council meeting room v. Threats or incitement of violence toward councilors, City staff or members of the public vi. Engaging in conduct that is a criminal offense under the City Code or the Virginia
The meeting leader can stop anyone—including councilors—from interrupting speakers, shouting, blocking exits, threatening others, or engaging in other disruptive or illegal conduct during the meeting.
7ProceduralDuring a City Council meeting the presiding officer shall have control of the Council Chambers and the connecting halls and corridors within City Hall, and any other venue where a Council meeting is being held. In case of any conduct described above, the presiding officer may take measures deemed appropriate, including but not limited to suspending the meeting until order is restored, ordering areas to be cleared by the Sergeant at Arms, or requiring any individual to exit the meeting room and adjacent premises (connecting halls and corridors.)
The meeting leader has authority over the council chambers and connected areas in City Hall and may suspend the meeting, clear areas, or require individuals to leave if conduct becomes disruptive.
Additional votes recorded in minutes
Adopt meeting agenda
aye 1
voice voteaye
Reappoint planning commissioners Adam Schwartz and Rod Hartless
aye 1
voice voteaye
Adjourn meeting
aye 1
voice voteaye
Verbatim transcript available
304 transcript segments indexed
I'm ready. Okay. I'm ready. Let me see. I call the Charlottesville City Council meeting to order. It is a special meeting with the Charlottesville Housing, Redevelopment, and Housing Authority. Call the meeting to order.
Ms. Robinson, will you please call the roll? Yes. Councilor Clasure? Here. Vice Mayor Oshrim? Here. Councilor Payne? Here. Councilor Snell? Here. Mayor Wade? Here. Is there a motion to adopt the meeting agenda?
I'll move to make the motion. Are we supposed to let CRHA have their roll call first? Yes, I'm sorry. Yes. Ms. Bridget? Commissioner Hicks? Here. Commissioner Goldblatt? I'm sorry. Commissioner Rosenblum?
Here. Commissioner O'Rourke? Here. Kathleen Glen Matthew? Vice President? Okay, we have them. Thank you. Is there a motion to adopt the meeting agenda? I so move. Second. Okay. All in favor, please say yes.
Yes. All opposed, please say no. The agenda is adopted. Is there a motion regarding the planning commission seat appointment? I make a motion that we reappoint planning commissioners Ms. Adam Schultz.
Schwartz. Call Schwartz. Sorry. And Rod Hartless. Second. Okay. All in favor, please say yes. Yes. All opposed, please say no. The motion passes five to zero. I'm sorry, to do a little- No, we're fine ...
home. Got to do it last. I was keeping from last night. Was it last night? Yeah. Mr. Sander, would you like to introduce the next section of the meeting? Sure. This joint meeting was a request previously, from the CRHA board, I think two years ago, maybe, as a desired, planned joint meeting to occur between the CRHA board and city council.
It is something that we have tried to identify as regular activity. Members of my team, James as well as Steve, have interacted on a regular basis with the director of the housing authority. I previously had that responsibility when I was the deputy.
The intent was to maintain that connection, to build that strength and relationship between the city and the housing authority, because we interface on so many things. So this meeting each year is a joint meeting, and it's an opportunity for the housing authority to present an update on the various activities that you all have undertaken, primarily because there's a lot of investment being initiated between the city and the housing authority.
So it just gives a chance for questions as well as updates. So I will turn it over to you, Chair. Yes. So do you want to start with John's update, or do you want me to do mine first? Go ahead. Okay. So we'll start with an update on the executive director search, and John is actually under the weather, and we urged him to not join us all here today.
So Kathleen will be doing her best to cover for him. But as far as the executive director search, myself and Gillette are the committee, and then we're reporting back to the board. We have successfully issued an RFP to recruiting firms.
That went out last week. And they do have 30 days to get back to us. In the interim, we are working on developing the job description so that we can turn that around pretty quickly for a nationwide search.
We have met with all of John's leadership team. We're working on meeting with FAR. We've also met with the attorneys. I've met with HUD, and we've been in contact with the... I'm going to forget it. It's the Virginia- Association ...
whatever they are- Yeah ... of Housing Authority- Yeah ... and Community Leaders. Yes. I can't remember. Development. Yeah. So we are connecting with resources as we find them. Based on our current timeline is, by the end of September, we would select a recruiting firm and post the job, and then hopefully be doing candidate screening and the interviews in November.
John's departure date is currently December 4th. So we will likely get into a situation where we're going to need to appoint an interim. But we are reluctant to do that until we have to, just due to potential disruption with the staff and just having to manage through multiple changes.
So there'll be more to come from that. We are also consulting with HUD on if there are EDs that could lean in as interim from other locations, if we needed that. Any questions there on where we are? We're trying to move as fast as possible, but are committed to getting the right person.
In every conversation we've had, has been reiterated the importance of a people first leader, but an understanding of the business and the complexity there. So- I'm sorry, Bridget. Yeah. As part of the search firm that you all have done, where they look at the compensation package, I don't know.
It may be fine, but sometimes you realize you may be low or high. Yeah. I have some opinions about some of our compensation studies just because I live here. And then I look at the places that we compare to because of where we are geographically, and that's not what it costs to live here.
Mm. So, that's just my personal opinion. We have not explicitly asked for a compensation study, but, it is something that we can investigate. I think we have been told anecdotally it would need to be a higher- Mm ...
package than it is currently. But- You're probably going to find out as you get candidates or don't get candidates. Mm-hmm. And they'll probably let you know to the firm- Yeah ... about how to s- Yeah Thank you.
I can sort of rip on that for a second. One of the things we found over the last six years going through various applicants for city manager and city attorney and so on, is that, first of all, any recruiting firm, when you start talking with them about whether you want to engage them, will have a discussion with you about what they think the appropriate rate or what the appropriate salary would be, and therefore- Yeah ...
obviously, what their fee would be- Yeah ... because it's tied to that. And, one of the things, I'm sure if you talk to two or three, there may be some senses, a consensus of what that is. But, I guess I would say, without knowing kind of what range you're dealing with, I hope you wouldn't just say, "Okay, these folks are here.
I think we can do it for X number of dollars less than these other folks, so let's go with the low bidder." Yeah, no. Mm-mm. I don't think that we would at any point. Yeah, I don't. But it is a good call-out.
I think the one thing as far as the progress I failed to mention, we also have sent out a survey to key stakeholders, so we're trying to tap in wherever we can, just to make sure that we gather everybody's feedback as we write the job description.
So a few things, asks for you all. Thanks for bringing up the costs, because Because we wanted to ask, our first ask is to ask council for assistance with the cost of the recruiting firm. We obviously don't have bids yet, but we estimate it will probably be about in the 75,000-ish.
We can make a more specific ask when the bids come back, but we did want to just float that. Yeah. So, Sam, how does that work? Is there any allocation for things like this? How would this work? So, I think ultimately we'd go back and take a look at what available resources are there.
As I've identified, but we don't really have a pot. Mm-hmm. It's kind of mingled in different places. So the question would be, I don't remember where our citywide reserve exists. That's really the account that we pull from when there's something spontaneous that comes up that we did not anticipate as a part of the budget.
Mm-hmm. Because of what we did with the vibrant community, we reduced that this year. Mm-hmm. So I would have to check with Chrissy to see where we are. But I think we can make it out of that and I can have that as a follow-up.
Yeah. I would say, although I've been critical of dipping into what we've called the strategic investment fund for things that are neither strategic nor are initiative- Yeah ... this is something that is strategic.
And I was about to say that. That would be something also to take a look at, is if you would deem that as of interest by a majority of you, then out of your strategic initiatives fund would be an option as well.
So that's something that you will- We'll bring it back ... we won't necessarily let the- Well, you're going to have to take an action anyway, so- Yeah ... I would imagine you'd want us to tell you as soon as possible.
So, I would be able to get that on the next agenda. Yeah. And we can talk about options as to where to pull it from or split it. You can. So, like Laura asked. So we do have a board work session this Saturday to look at our bylaws, and currently the city code limits board service to six years.
We do not have a lot of tenure on our board. I'm the longest, and based on the current code, I would not be allowed to serve anymore as of next summer. So, for continuity, we think that it might be helpful to extend that timeline for people being allowed to serve.
And, Mr. Maddox, help me if I'm misstating this thing. I thought at one point we had sort of decided that if we're going to have a two-term limit, it would be for four-year terms. And if we're having less than four-year terms, we wouldn't have a term limit as sort of a general proposition, or am I just sort of hallucinating on this?
I can't speak to your hallucinations. But I will say, I'm a little bit curious what code section you're referencing when you say six years. You happen to have that offhand? I don't have it offhand, but I have it in my computer.
But you don't want to wait for me to dig through that. No. So- And what I'm saying is that I can't give you a definitive answer right now, but it might be something that we want. So we have two, you could do two three-year terms, and then- Yeah.
It's the board guidelines. Yeah. So I think that if we have something like that, and if the board, if council has the authority to, I'm sure we do, to change that, I would like to see if we can do it on a case-by-case basis, not like- For all the boards.
Right. At least for now until we get an overall review it overall type of thing. Yeah. I'll tell you what my hesitation was, is that if you're talking about two three-year terms, not a single six-year term.
That's correct. Okay. Because I was looking at our charter here and it says not to exceed four years, and I didn't want to disagree with you so publicly, but it's something we can certainly look at, and it's a possibility.
Yeah. So if it's something that we have to do, see if we can-- I guess it's not as urgent as taking it at the next council meeting, but if it's something that we need to do as far as take a vote or something, just bring it to us.
So just to make sure that we don't miss what it is that we're wanting to consider to bring back as a recommendation. You're approaching six years? I'm approaching six years next summer. You're approaching six years, so the request would be, and it's two three-year terms?
Correct. So the change could be how do we make it possibly two four-year terms. It could be. It just seems like we've lost some, especially over the past- Yeah ... like we've lost the people with tenure because their term, and it's complicated.
The Housing Authority is complicated, so. Well, I think it's sort of the same issue with the Police Athletic League oversight board, as I recall. Mm-hmm. In that two or three-year terms at this point, and we talked about, at least I've talked a little bit with Jeff Frazier about whether that ought to get extended because he's about to time out as well on that board.
Which is why I was sort of thinking- Yeah ... let's have a sort of general policy about this. We have more authority with one of those boards than we do here because for whatever reason CRHA has laid out in the charter for terms not to exceed four years.
I guess we can make additional terms on top of that available, but any single term could be no longer than four years. Yeah. I mean, theoretically, it could be two four-year terms. That's what I was hearing.
Yeah. That might be the option, but we'll confirm that. And I guess we have to take that into consideration with this. Back when the school board was a three-year term appointed, I think there was a sense that you could serve a total of nine years, three three-year terms.
So it's sort of historically been around that eight to nine years as a amount of time that's appropriate. The other thing on the board service requirements that we have been talking about is allowing resident commissioners to be project-based HCV recipients.
I know that we've had some applicants, and Michael might be able to speak to this more, but they weren't public housing residents. And so then they would have to be an at-large member on the board. And so it's unclear to us who's the decider of that.
But we did want to raise the desire to allow it. So I have no idea. It was an ordinance. There was an ordinance that was created after HUD had taken over, and they were putting the residents back on the board because the five city councilors were the city, was the housing authority board, and they changed that to having two current public housing resident, a Section 8 resident, a city councilor, and two regular common- Residents ...
private citizens. But we could never fill the seat properly with a Section 8 resident. And so we ended up still just having two current public housing residents, a city councilor, and whatever the other charter is.
Right. Yeah. But it was an ordinance that was changed, and I think it was probably around '96, '97, something like that. You're exactly correct. Yeah. Would you ever doubt it? Yeah. Yeah. Sounds exactly- It's actually funny.
So, I- 19.99, but really good. Yeah. What's your request again? Just- Yeah. So we would like for a voucher, an HCV recipient to be allowed, but only if they're project-based. So not if they're in one of the non-project based units that could be kind of anywhere, but if they are living in the same areas as public housing recipients.
To be part of the two commissioners who are representing the public housing residents. Right. Section eight would cover that. Yeah. It's in the OR. Yeah. So- Okay ... what are your thoughts? I mean, I- So then the question would also just be then for city council to accept a section eight HCV recipient as an applicant.
Which we know that there have been people who applied, and they were told that they weren't qualified- Right ... because they were section eight, not public housing, so that would have to be renegotiated.
Yeah. Counselors, what are your thoughts? I would say I think it could be beneficial, because recently for those two resident commissioner seats, we haven't had applicants who qualify under the public housing only definition, that was covered.
CRHA has public housing units, and then it has units that are paired with vouchers that aren't technically public housing, even though they're CRHA units in CRHA developments. So as long as we're still keeping it to residents of CRHA properties, I think it would be-- Just help ensure those residents, commissions get what they need.
So somebody getting a housing choice voucher but not living in a CRHA property would not qualify still. Is that what you're suggesting? Yeah. Looks like they- Yeah. Yes. Yeah. No. It would expand the opportunity- Yeah ...
for more people to participate, hopefully fill those seats, while still hewing pretty close to the original intent. Yeah. Yes. And you're expanding the pool. We- That's really what you're trying to do ...
yes. Yes. But the pool of people who are still represented. Candidates to consider. Correct. But also as redevelopment and more units come online, it's more representative. It allows better representation of what our communities actually look like.
Well, and CRHA is now a different mix of property- Right ... than they did 20 years ago. Oh. Delphine has a question online. Yes, I just wanted to specify that there's a HUD rule on this point. Every housing authority must have at least one resident on its board who is either a resident in the LIPH system, so public housing, or HCV recipient.
PBV does not count as far as HUD is concerned. I just wanted to specify that because the regulation is very specific in terms of who qualifies as a resident commissioner. So who does not qualify? I'm not sure I heard that clearly.
PBV does not qualify, HCV does. Place-based. The place-based vouchers. I think PBV- Project-based, I'm sorry. Project-based vouchers. Place-based. Project-based vouchers are hard units. The assistance is attached to the unit.
HCV are vouchers that are given to a tenant, and the tenant can go use the voucher anywhere the tenant chooses. The assistance goes with the tenant, not the hard unit. With regard to the regulations that mandate that each housing authority have a resident commissioner on its board, the regulations specify that a resident of public housing qualifies, or a resident who's a recipient of an HCV.
The regulations also state that PBV residents do not qualify as resident commissioners for purposes of the regulations. So we would need to have one seat that's public housing or housing choice voucher- Correct ...
and then the second resident seat, that's public housing- Yes. HUD- ... project-based or HCV? HUD only mandates you have one. If you choose to have more than one resident commissioner, that's fine, as long as at least one of your resident commissioners is HCV or LIPH.
And then two public housing. But if there's no resident commissioners- We would need to have- ... you can't have a board. We have to work to build that. It's mand- And that is current board, the two current residents of public housing must be- We only have one.
Right. And we have only had one for two years. So whatever the proper formulation is, it will be expanding the pool. Yes. And I trust your council and our council can figure out the right language. Yeah.
So we can take both of these items, the terms extension, and the clarification of pool eligibility, and bring that forward as one action item to resolve the request. Yeah. Because, in my mind, as long as your board supports it, and its expanded pool allows you to have a full board and participation and insight and input, I would be supportive of it.
So, they're going to work together to do. Good. Okay. So we will now switch over if there's no more questions around any of that. Can I ask one question? Yes, please. It wasn't a direct ask, but when you referenced taking a look at the compensation package, are you indicating a desire for assistance there, or are you just acknowledging that you know you're going to need to take a look at that?
I just want to be clear that I'm not missing- I am not asking for assistance at this time. We are taking a look at the structure and the standing up of the nonprofit, and then just making sure that organizationally we are staffed and set up correctly for our next ED to be set up for success.
So there may be a future ask, but I don't know that at this time. Is the scope for the recruitment of the firm, does it include consideration of compensation to give you advice on that? We did not specifically ask for that.
No. I don't think so. I don't think so. You might want that as well, maybe. Okay. The times that we've used a headhunter firm before, they would say to us, "You're going to have to have a pay range of between this and this in order to get what you want." So you could wait until you recruited someone and see what that might be.
That might be an add-on or a request in the future. Okay. The reason I'm asking is because one thing that we could do, and I'm going out on my limb because I can, we have an HR department, so we could loan a review of how we have packaged and take a look at that.
That would be at least be an indication, and it might be something to talk to your firm about. Okay. Yep. I think that that would be helpful to understand and also important for us to be somewhat aligned, not misaligned.
And we were just coordinating with CRJ's HR person. Okay, perfect. I'll make that note. Thank you. I think there was still interest in having an organizational assessment, looking at staffing levels throughout the organization, looking at if the wages and benefits are competitive.
But that would be after a new ED is hired that we would begin that kind of assessment to see do we need to hire additional staff members or things like maintenance positions, increase salaries in order to minimize vacancies and turnover.
Is that in your package? That is not today. I think we understand that we are misaligned currently for the way that housing authorities are supposed to be structured, so we are aware of that, and looking at how that can be remediated or things in place for the next ED to hire a deputy and departments be distributed more evenly than they are currently.
But, so we are aware that that needs to happen, be a larger organizational-- Like, we're trying to fix the problem most pressing at this time, and then go from there. Anything else on that before we move to...
Molly, Kathleen and I giving our best shot. The last page of your thing here is specifically talking about, for example, the nonprofit- Yep ... and the stuff. Has anything happened on the... I know we voted to allow you to do that.
Has anything happened with that, beyond that? Yeah. So the filings have been submitted to, Kathleen just sent me an email today, to the state. So, I mean, it's moving forward. It should exist before the end of the year.
But then people have got to have capacity to do something with it for it to actually fulfill our needs. And right now, we don't have anyone that can be 100% dedicated to it. We've been having a lot of conversations with Kathleen about that, but we need to figure out the budget for staffing overall and how we can support what we need and not set ourselves up for something that's unrealistic.
I guess what I was... I was all in favor of you coming up with having it as a nonprofit. The only question that I had had at the time was sort of operationally, how would the nonprofit and the governmental entity, so to speak, relate to one another?
Would the boards be similar, dissimilar? Would there be employees of both or either, or? Yeah. Have you figured that out yet? Yeah. So initially, it's the same board, same ED. You're going to be leveraging similar resources, but we really feel strongly that at least someone's, at least one person's primary responsibility needs to be towards the nonprofit for us to be able to be successful.
Ideally, three. Yeah. I mean, ideally more than that. Yeah. But today it would just be- Have to start ... side of desk, and we feel really important. To get anywhere, it needs to be somebody's primary focus.
So we're trying to figure out how we can make that work. And is the figuring it out at this point Both the organizational structure and where the money would come from. Correct. Yes. Correct. Lots of holes you've got in the air there.
It's this really fun volunteer job that I've taken on. And we'll mourn up. So yeah, I feel like we've done a lot in three weeks, but we still have a whole lot left to do. Well, I imagine a lot of this will move forward once you've got an executive director in place.
I didn't know what you'd already done. Yeah. Okay, thank you. All right. We have a presentation from John Sales, who unfortunately couldn't be here, but he's been following a little under the weather.
First, he just wanted to talk about some of our redevelopment projects. We currently have two major public housing redevelopment projects that are under construction right now, South First Street, phase 2, and Sixth Street, phase 1.
We encourage people to drive by, because things are happening really fast there. It's pretty exciting. The Housing Authority is continuing to work with the planners at West Haven who have been working for quite a few years now.
We've received 9% LIHTC funding for phase 1A, and we're working on an application for 4% for 1B. The current plan is, we have a lot of questions around relocation, and the plan is to look at starting the process in late 2027 or early 2028, as there's a lot of moving parts with that, and we want to make sure a solid plan is in place.
By process you mean construction process? Also, just where families will be relocated to, and managing that process, which also involves working with the schools. We have a lot of large families in West Haven, so it's a pretty complex process, so.
I guess just trying to clear, when you say the current plan is to begin the relocation process- Mm-hmm ... what is the beginning of that process? I'm just trying to get your terminology. There's a whole federal requirement for contacting families.
There's a series of letters it has to give to them with several notices preparing them for the process. We have to also have a plan in place to have locations and a plan for places for them to go to. They can be offered vouchers, but we would prefer to already have options available for them.
So we're looking at that with some of our current sites that are being worked on. We're also looking at-- We've learned a lot from our other relocation efforts about how to do better. And so we're looking at that as well, with having relocation staff who are looking at wraparound services.
Sometimes it could be elderly or disabled families that are being moved. Thinking about how if they are going to be affected going to different schools, how that transportation's going to happen, and working with the school on that as well.
So it's a lot more complicated than it seems. Because not only are we relocating them, but we're also making plans and continuing to talk to the families about how to bring them back, if that is their wish.
So when do you think the first shovel goes in the ground? Ideally, we're going to be having phase 1A starting... Gosh, what is the latest you guys have heard? It's been kind of a moving target. Possibly late '27.
Yeah. It's going to be- Early '28. But there's- Simply- We have to hire contractors as well. A lot of stuff, no question. I'm really asking for my information, not to put you under the gun on something.
And so if that starts with construction roughly at the end of 2027, when would the building that thus started expect to be finished? We're talking about a year of construction, or how is the phasing going to work out?
Huh? It'll be more than that. And let's see. Did we have... We're going to break some of that out a little bit. Is that coming? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I'll shut up. I just want to make sure I get you the correct information.
Yeah, I think we get into the West Haven stuff later on. Yeah. And not be redundant. Then I'll withdraw my question for the moment. Yeah. But I have a relevant- Yeah ... question about the relocation process and the contacting families.
For families that English might be a second language- Mm-hmm ... what are the translation requirements or policies that you all have in place? We have a language program, and we have one full-time and one part-time staff.
And our relocation coordinator would be working with them from the very start on having a translator available. But also figuring out if they were a family that were given the opportunity to learn how to read and write, or if we also need assistance with that as well.
Thanks. Great. So for phase two, that's what I'm encouraging you to drive by right now, because it's been amazing how fast things are happening. We have 113 homes. It's a mixture of apartments, townhouses.
The range is one to five-bedroom units. The new community center is finished, and it's really exciting. We've already had some all staff meetings there, and it's going to be a space that we've needed for a long time.
The solar is being installed. We're going to have property management offices there, and we also have, down across from the church, near Elliott, space for resident services, which is also needed a lot, as we're spread all over the place right now.
We're going to have dedicated high-speed internet everywhere, and as people move in, they'll be getting assistance for connecting to that. We have 23 units ready, and we're working on paperwork, inspections, and everything on that to start moving people in, as well as 20 additional units estimated to be November 2026, knock on wood, and the remaining 70 units May 2027, notwithstanding any issues with supplies and construction challenges.
All units are fully subsidized by vouchers. So these are the project-based vouchers, and they'll continue to serve families under 30% AMI. So, one thing to just call out, so we've gotten the 23 units.
I believe it was 11 families that were moved out, we are working with for moving back in. So folks have received boxes and will be living there very soon. They look amazing. And they're beautiful. Yes.
Really just stunning. Go by. Go visit. I've got a few pictures here. We've been trying to keep some historical records. This is when construction first started over at South First Street. Point of reference, this is Mount Zion Church here.
And to where we are now, it's just been tremendous to see everything happen. The other one, another angle. I've got a lot of pictures. There are a lot of pictures in there. Stages here. Oh, here's another street angle as well.
All right, so moving on to 6th Street, phase one, that is in the location where the garden used to be next to Crescent Falls across from Kindlewood. It's a 47-unit apartment building, and they'll have a mixture of one to three-bedroom units.
All 47 are fully subsidized. It's a combination of vouchers and public housing contracts, and will continue to serve families under 30%. We have been working really hard with some great partners, like Jackie Martin at UVA.
I was just at a meeting with her and the residents about a clinic that they're going to have on-site. We're going to have a business center, a teen lounge, a fitness center. There's going to be a community space there.
Our property managers will have a suite, and there'll also be resident services staff in the building. We also have solar with this project that we're working on, and of course, high-speed internet. Is that property managers across the entire- Yeah, we're trying to make sure we have everyone on-site as much as we're able to.
Because we kind of had to get creative while things were in the works. This is a picture of what the footprint looks like right now. This is where the garden was. We did have to take down a couple of buildings initially when work started.
Our teen center is currently in a little building here, so it's going to be really exciting to move them over. This is a more recent picture, and even more has happened since this picture was taken. I was just out there, and they were starting work on getting ready to attach balconies.
Oh, here we went back in time just a little bit to show when they were doing the demolition on some of the townhomes. And going back just a little bit more here as well, just that you can see in comparison to some of the other buildings.
But I do encourage everyone, like South First Street, to drive by. It's been really exciting to watch. So West Haven master planning, we have one of the planners in the room with us, Ms. Johnson. It's been happening for many years now.
And for anyone that doesn't know, that is our oldest site, and it's so important that we get this right. The planners have been working with the redevelopment team. A lot of challenges sometimes coming to consensus, but they've worked really hard to do that.
You might hear a lot of things, we're talking about neighborhood scale community, so we're increasing amounts of housing opportunities and having a mixture of townhomes, apartments, and more usable community space.
So more green space will be offered. Some of the key features include a connection to West Main. When this community was built, it was kind of dug out and sunk down, and it's been really hard for residents to access Main Street and to feel part of the community.
The phase one that's initially starting includes 150 deeply affordable units. All of them are going to be subsidized with a combination of public housing and housing choice vouchers. 82 of the units initially will be a senior and elderly building, and then we'll have 68 units in a multifamily building.
And here's a drawing with many of the residents' signatures on it that helped design it. It's a pretty exciting day when we first submitted this. And here's more of a 3D image of the site plan. And a lot of thought's been put into also what it's going to look like as some of the buildings are built on Main Street.
And you may have heard a lot of conversations about that, with concerns of how tall some of these buildings will be. I'm going to pivot to the parallel track. That's what we call, when we work with communities that won't be undergoing redevelopment in the near future, we've called it the parallel track.
It's where we're looking at doing major renovation work, and it's all of our scattered sites, Mickey, Madison, Riverside, and some of our single homes. Since 2024, we've been working on several projects, and all these have included some participatory budgeting conversations with residents around our capital fund.
We have done appliance replacement, exterior door replacement, including the hardware, security installation, which in some cases includes looking at how doors open and close. Porch light replacement, a lot of electrical upgrades, and the big one is central air installation, which these communities did not have before.
We've begun going unit by unit. We have one unit that we call the hotel unit that's been completely renovated, that we have families' belongings go into a storage pod, and we have them move in, and very quickly- Yes ...
the team comes in and works on their unit. And we've been averaging 20 working days to complete, and then we get them all moved back in. So Kathleen, just quickly, maybe a minute or so ago you mentioned opening and closing the doors.
What do you mean by that? We've had a lot of challenges over the years with just, we really are supposed to make sure everything's uniform, especially for inspections. But just odd-sized doors from many years ago, and finding screens that fit them, and just making sure that residents are able to secure their doors.
Yes. As well as lighting. Lighting's been a really big thing. The community's given us a lot of feedback on that. Are residents allowed to have those Ring cameras and things like that? Can they install them?
They often do. We've had a few in the neighborhood. Yeah. But just as long as they're not wiring them directly in. Right. Yeah. So, these renovations were made possible by a $1.5 million competitive grant we received in 2024.
And it was one of those long shots that actually came through, and it was really exciting when it happened. Mm-hmm. From HUD, and we also have had some private partners who helped make things. Our private partners have made it possible for us to spend more a square foot than we would've normally been able to.
So, these are some of the selections that were made by the resident planners. They spent a lot of time looking at different colors and different materials, and it's beautiful what they've been putting together.
This is from a renovated unit over at Nikki Drive. That's off of Hydraulic, near Whole Foods, for anyone who hasn't been over there. And it's really come together well, and all these colors were picked by the community.
And here's some of the work in the bathroom that's happening, and the closets. And here's the kitchen, which was really dramatic. Yes. Uh-huh. So, let me see if that's showing up so you can see it. I'm trying to make it a little bit bigger if I want to.
There we go. You all see that? All right. Here's a general picture of some of the funding that's been going into the parallel track, as well as we've added in the grant funding as well. And you can kind of see how the breakdown happened with that.
So, with city schools, something that's constant for them is replacing and fixing the roofs- Mm-hmm ... and painting certain sections of the high school. I'm not sure if that's an issue with you, but I just did a quick review.
It may be up there, of maintenance of the roots and things like that. We also have a lot of metal roofs, which has had a pretty strong impact- Mm ... and saved some funding as well. We've been gradually trying to make things more uniform and always looking if there will be future opportunities to install solar panels, you know what- Everything.
Great. Roofs can be a lot, and they always seem to come at the same time. Yeah. It's okay if I move on? Yeah. Let me shrink that back down a little bit. So, I want us to talk about what is affordability fortification.
So, we've been calling it the NOAH program because that's a term that's used nationally, but it's Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing. These are at risk of being lost as the landlords are selling them and other groups purchase them, and we're trying to keep them affordable.
So, we've been in partnership with the City of Charlottesville and have successfully preserved and fortified about 80 units, and it's just been tremendous. We've been calling it our City Housing Program.
Housing Authority has taken over ownership management of the units without large rent increases, which has fortified the affordability of the units to the current residents. We're really grateful to the city's investment in the portfolio.
It's allowed us to acquire the units without large rent increases. The property owners that are reaching out to us to acquire their properties are also hoping to preserve affordability of the families they have living in the units.
We have toured a six-unit, three-bedroom opportunity in Price Springs just this past week. Seventy-five percent of the individuals living there have been in their homes for 10 plus years. Mm. And so it costs about $550,000 to develop new construction through our LIHTC program.
But that takes years to plan, and it's impossible to be deeply affordable without having subsidies attached. So we're trying to look at different ways to be creative with our public housing portfolio and project-based vouchers and see how we can subsidize and keep things affordable in a more creative manner.
So, it's much cheaper to make a current unit deeply affordable than to build a brand-new one. Construction costs continue to increase, and the cost disparity between is going to keep going up. So whenever we're able to take an existing unit and invest in keeping it affordable and repairing it with our team, it's been very desirable.
I have another question. Mm-hmm. How do you find those units? How does that become clear to you that there's one available? A large percentage of them is often the landlords. We've heard about the landlords wanting to sell that, and there's a situation like that right up here.
But we have landlords that have people that they've been serving for a long time with their rentals, and they're looking at ways of how not to displace these families because, on the market, these units are going to go for a very different amount.
Mm-hmm. So, we have something here that's called the Silk Purse Acquisition. It was solely owned by Jeremy Kaplan. He owns a lot of properties in Charlottesville. It includes 70 individual scattered site parcels throughout the city, and the majority of them are single-family homes in 10th, Page, and Venable neighborhoods.
We've been in negotiation with him since 2025, and after he let us know he was interested in disposing of a portion of this portfolio to us, and his goal has been to ensure the units stay affordable. There's not a lot of other groups in town that can give assurances of that.
We want to be able to see those families stay in their homes as well. We can't afford to lose those units. Sometimes as we're purchasing NOAH properties, we're finding some of our voucher holders are in those properties as well.
So, we've looked at it as 100% chance that the affordability units will be lost if they're sold on the open market. Mr. Kaplan recently sold one of his vacant units on the market for 671,650 in October of 2025.
So, it kind of gives you a sense that his problem isn't selling them. It's just in how to protect the individuals who are currently living there. And if a landlord doesn't have a voucher holder as a rentee, how do they know to reach out to CRHA if they're interested?
This seems like it is a long-term relationship and organic. Sometimes it's been community partners, sometimes city staff. We've been just trying to get the word out there. We've been on the news a little bit about it, too, with Dogwood, and sometimes the residents in the unit as well might have heard that the housing authority is buying property and shared that.
But a lot of it's word of mouth. Well, I think it's also naturally occurring affordable unit is the technical term for it, but it's also a misnomer, because naturally occurring is market rate. But this is where the subsidy doesn't come from the government or an organization that is associated with the government, like CRA.
It's not a public housing subsidy, it's a subsidy by the landlord. Landlord, yeah. So someone who consciously keeps their rent below market rate is probably plugged in- Already ... already to this sort of ethos.
If they're not advertising at market rate on purpose. I was specifically thinking about when we had VCF meeting here, and there was a landlord who spoke about his four units that he keeps at an affordable rate- Mm ...
but he was feeling threatened that he could no longer do that, and I wondered like, who is this guy, and does he know about CRA? But, I guess, yeah, the community connections. I wondered if there was some more formal marketing that happens to expand that reach, or how other authorities do it.
But makes sense. Definitely something we could make sure we're focusing on. We have not done a lot of marketing as an agency, but it's something we could definitely do more with. Thank you. Great. So when we're talking about the Silk Purse acquisition, we have a request of $3 million with that, and we're looking at 11 properties consisting of 13 deeply affordable units.
We're really trying hard to keep it affordable, but I know the housing market has a lot of pressure right now as well. That's why we need the city as a partner. We've been really grateful for that partnership.
It's due to this partnership that we've been able to keep these rents very low. Each unit is rented at approximately 1,500 below fair market rent. We have our own team that's helping work on it. We're also looking at, we have property management already in place, so we didn't have to recreate the wheel with that.
The rents are almost comparable to public housing rents. The units cannot hold a loan. When you're looking at their current rent roll it's not going to pencil, so we would have to triple them to go out in the general market to get a loan.
So we've been really grateful for this partnership. How come, if there's 70 units, how come it's these that are available for purchase at this time? You mean if we didn't purchase them, or? No, so it says the Silk Purse has 70 individual scattered parcels, and- You know why he chose those ...
how come these units are part of the- I believe because they're all around 10th and Page. Mm-hmm. So of the citywide. Right. Yeah. And then, yeah, no. The landlord- Here's a slide ... may have also chosen specific properties.
Yeah. So I saw on the map, it says the majority are in 10th and Page and Venable. So there's presumably more in the neighborhood that aren't part of these. More within the city, you mean? Well, if- Or you're saying more than this list?
Yeah. From what, I mean, the majority of 70 is going to be more than- The 70 across- Yeah ... all wide area, not just 10th and Page and Venable. Right. And then it says the majority of those 70 are in 10th and Page and Venable.
Mm-hmm. So- Like that. Yeah ... are there ones that aren't in the neighborhood that aren't in these 11? I don't know. I was making an assumption. Yeah. That that was why, is that these were the ones on 10th and Page.
We'd have to- I think when they, we were meeting with them and- I think they're all ... looking at what could be doable on, like these were the ones up here that were assessed. And- Yeah. He also may not be selling all 70.
Yeah. And I'm just curious about the- We can take that as a follow-up. Yeah. I don't know the- Get you an answer to that. It's not urgent, but just curious. See. Swipe. And then once they're purchased, there's the slight rehabbing piece, so the relocating of whoever's living there, if they are- Not necessarily.
It just depends on what condition they're in. We're trying not to have to relocate anyone. But if a unit was in very poor condition, that might have to be something considered. We have had, with some of our NOHA properties, we've had to head unit, individuals who are already on our waiting list and have transitioned into public housing or a project-based voucher.
That's sometimes everything's aligned for that. But it really just depends on the state of the unit. Yeah. I recall that Mr. Sales said that he beefed up the property manager staff- Mm-hmm ... type of thing when he purchased the Dogwood Dale.
Yeah, Dogwood portfolio. Yeah. Great. Here's just the map of some of these parcels, so we'll get more of a visual of kind of how it fits into different foot prints as well. So, we also, another opportunity that we wanted to put out there is Urbana Terrace Apartments.
This is a 48-unit garden-style walk-up apartment complex. So there are stairs to the units. There's two- Two bedroom, one bath units. They currently rent for about $1,500 a month. The asking price for this is $9.6 million.
We put in a request to the city for five. Let's see, the cost per unit would be $200,000. And also, as you see here, asking for a city investment of 104,166. And here's some pictures. Is that in the city?
Where? Is that in Rose Hill? Where is that? Off River Road. In- Yes. Oh, yeah. So as you can see, this isn't in bad shape inside. Mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. Always good to see pictures of the listings. Get a better sense.
Oh, here's the front. So, the city housing portfolio currently includes 80 units, and they range from one to three bedrooms. We are preparing to sell one property back to Woodward, because they had a first right to purchase agreement and so we're working with them on that now.
We've also engaged in disposing of property on Harris Street, which is going to be preserved and converted to commercial usage. Both of these dispositions would reduce the Dogwood portfolio by four units.
The housing authority anticipates submitting a tax credit application to repay the city and complete extensive renovations that are needed for all units at Dogwood. We have a lot of work that needs to happen there.
And assessment would occur in 2028 for this, once funding was secured. So, if that happens, the city would get money repaid to us. Now, would that be the $5 million or whatever that we put in a few years ago to make Dogwood- For this unit I don't think we know the exact amounts.
Yeah. Depending on- We can follow up on that. So, in theory, if this goes through, there would be another $5 million or something like that, that we might need to repurpose. I don't think it'll be quite that much.
Mm-hmm. But there will be funds, yes. Okay. Yeah. Or it could go back into more NOAH housing. This is- I don't see any lack of opportunity to- Yeah ... spend money. So, this is 801 Harris Street. So, you can see the properties that we were discussing here.
That's it. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Good job, Kathleen. Thanks. Making it so accessible. Yes. Since we saw this three hours ago. Three hours ago, yeah. But definitely, if there's follow-up questions, we will definitely work on getting you answers.
Mm-hmm. I have a quick question- Mm-hmm ... back a couple slides. I think I was looking at the map too close, so we've... You're for not for a second. For the fortification opportunity for Rovanna Terrace, it says city request $5 million and then city investment of $1.4.
That's per unit, right? That's per unit breakdown. Mm-hmm. Okay. Thanks. Everyone. So, outside of the search for the executive director, what are your biggest concerns? What kind of thing keep you up at night type of thing?
There's a lot happening with redevelopment. So, I guess they're tied back to the search, but there's just a lot of complexity there. It's a lot more than just running the housing authority. And then as more units come online, our mix is different.
And so, there's just the financing is still just very complicated across all of our units. But, it is tied back, I guess, to the search, but having a transition in the middle of all of this, and there's a lot that needs to happen with West Haven- Mm-hmm ...
in the next 6 to 12 months, that we have to keep moving. So, you all haven't found any different funding or relationship with HUD, with the current administration or anything? There's a lot happening.
I mean, yeah. Yeah. There's... But we just keep losing funding. Hmm. I mean- And we'll continue to keep losing funding ... and the resources in the local office have dramatically decreased. HUD staffing decreases.
Yeah. So- The local office of- HUD ... HUD. Where is the local office? Richmond. I went to visit the young lady, I think, was it last year? Went to Richmond to try to seek more funds in. Mm-hmm. And I think she was the only one on like a whole- Uh-huh.
Well, it's not a whole anymore- Oh, she's- ... organization. So she's gone. I did meet him at the library, but yeah. Yeah. But there's been a lot of turnover- Yeah ... there. But I think it's just mostly Keeping all of this moving forward.
So, is there anything additional? What can we do as council to support the important work that you all are doing? Money. Do- We need all the money. All the schools in Charlotte. No, I think Sam has been very helpful as I panicked and was like, "I don't even know what I'm supposed to do." There are going to be more moments of that as we go through this transition.
I'm learning my responsibilities are much greater than I realized after talking to HUD. So, and as we go through the search, I think tapping into people's networks, to help us find the right person. And then I think that we need to be supportive of whoever the new ED is as they come in, and making sure we're backing them up, but also trying to quiet some of...
There could be a lot of noise in Charlotte still- No ... around choices and decisions. Yeah. And so I think it'll just be important for us to try to help whoever the new person is manage that because it's a big job.
It's a hard job. So I have one other question about your board. How many positions do you have open? Two. Two. And what are those? The at large and resident. It's a lot of work and it's going to be even more work.
And is there compensation? I can't remember if this board- No. It's a labor of love. Commissioners, residents- The residents get compensated. Right. For the rest of us- That's nice ... it's for the love of the city.
Thank you. And can I just butt in from what we were just talking about as far as what we can maybe look at as a day-to-day operational thing, and I know the city's helped us out with this before, but some type of rent relief.
Some type of what? Rent relief. Rent- Rent relief. Yeah, sorry, I'm a little choked up. Yeah. With our eviction diversion plan and hot tenant receivables, if there's some type of program that people maybe fall apart for some assistance there.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, we got an update on all of that last night, the different housing programs and what we're doing with the $10 million that we have allocated in different pots, and so. Okay. Yes, Olivia. So, I think a couple of things from the residents' perspective side of it is redevelopment.
Redevelopment, to continue in that pause because it's been so long. We talked about redevelop- about redevelopment for over 30 years, and it just got put on the shelf, and this is the first time that they start seeing buildings, and so there is a trust there.
And if there is a pause or if nothing happened with what needs to be finished, it's going to be hard to get the trust of the residents again. So, 6th Street, phase two still need to be done and planned.
And then you have West Haven, phase one with one A and B, but then also phase two. Which also the residents are recommending that part of phase two at the very end of Tanton Page, create a SRO. So, there is a whole lot of other unfinished things that needs to be done, and I just think residents is afraid that what they're seeing at South 1st Street, the same quality and stuff, energy, they may not see that going forward.
And also the fact that to support residents. So, I think what the city and city council can do is to continue supporting residents first and making sure that residents are at the core of what needs to be finished.
And I think also highlighting the 12 women who helped to design South 1st Street could be something that you all help the board to make it become a success and to tell that story. Yeah. I don't know much.
I don't think I know about the 12 women, so I definitely would like to know more about that. So there were 12 women for over three years who met on a Sunday who helped to design phase two. They had a hand in phase one- Mm-hmm ...
but it wasn't the building, the structure, it was what goes inside of it. And then with phase two, they met and learned about zoning and critical slopes and roofs and windows, and every little nook and cranny.
And they also presented at city council- Mm ... and at the planning commission. And so some of those 12 has been dispersed, but there's some who are still living in phase one- Mm ... and there's some who's going to return to phase two.
So Joy, did you have in mind some kind of recognition at a city council meeting? I think so. Okay. I just think that they need to-- I lift them up wherever I go. Yeah. I think we need to too. I didn't realize.
And then you have some at 6th Street And then now you have the West Haven planners who have been meeting for the last three years. So, those are the kind of things that give me heartburn, is that I don't want to see redevelopment pause, slow down, and not finish.
Especially on 6th Street right now. With the building that you all saw there, that's phase one, but phase two, which is going to be the townhouses, has not even been talked about. And then, I think, the partner who is helping us to raise money, we still need to raise another $15 million to $30 million.
Not billions. Yeah. Actually, nicely- It's a billion ... for the stars. You know somebody. So again, there's a whole lot of other pieces, like fundraising, to make it deeply affordable that we still have to be talking about.
So those are the things that I feel like council, Sam and Sam, can support the board, and also support the residents. Right. So down here in the 6th Street, phase two, and phase one of West Haven? Phase one and two of West Haven.
Phase two, the end part of that is going to be, with single-room occupancy. Yeah. But also what I'm hearing is that right now it's not anything that we're doing to delay that, or is it? No, there's nothing that you are doing to delay that- You just want to make sure it stays on track ...
residents right now. And that fear and that anticipation that things are not going to be moving the way it's moving, that it might slow down. Yeah. So, in the event of you searching for an ED, redevelopment still have to keep moving.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Is, I think, is what I'm saying. Yes. That cannot pause. Was phase two of 6th Street paused or it just hasn't started? Is there some reason- 6th Street has started phase one- Right ... of 6th Street.
But phase two has not started yet. Is there some- Just haven't gotten to it yet. Just haven't gotten to it. It's not because it has stopped. Okay. Got it. It's part of the pipeline. We just haven't gotten- So it's on schedule, we just haven't hit that part of the schedule, and we want to make sure that we do.
Yes. Got it. And that when we do, we have everything we need to do the things we said we were going to do. Right. The clinic, da, da, da. Yeah. Okay, got it. Thank you. Ms. Johnson, you had said you used the acronym SRO.
Single-room occupancy. Ah, okay. I was thinking standing room only. To the classrooms. The resource hatches. Thank you. Yeah. That's... Well, agreed. While we're talking about the new executive director search, what other staffing concerns or not concerns, how's staffing?
I think obviously the demand on the staff goes up every time we bring on more units, and we're not increasing staff as we bring on more units. We talked about the staffing of the nonprofit. It's important that they are employed by CRHA for benefits, retirement.
But currently, it's not like somebody just has capacity to focus on the nonprofit. And that will be really important for our long-term success is having that raised money. So I don't think, I can't point to a specific gap right this second.
But right around John was overseeing, has been over, like all of the departments are reporting into him except for resident services, and that's actually not the typical model for a housing authority.
And so we need to, particularly with how big redevelopment is, we need a better distribution of duties than we have today. Mm-hmm. So that would be a staffing. And your property managers are in-house?
It's not a firm doing that. They're all in-house. Right. And- We are actually the only- Yeah ... one at this point that's doing that in-house. Is that by choice or is that your preference or? Yes. It's our preference.
Only one in Virginia? Well, in Charlottesville, PHA has outsourced theirs now. And I would add onto that, I think one of my concerns is just the, particularly now as federal funding is kind of stagnating.
Historically, the federal government has invested more, and we have ourselves locally as well, a lot in the capital projects and buildings, and we haven't necessarily matched that with increases in investing in CRHA's staff capacity.
So if you look at the number of staff that CRHA has Compared against the number of units they manage compared to Habitat or PHA, there are just far fewer staff per unit at CRHA than PHA or Habitat. And so I think there's a need to figure out a more sustainable way to fund staffing, and I think when you look at wages and benefits throughout the organization, particularly with our cost of living, I think there's a lot of room to increase those wages and benefits to reduce turnover in some positions.
And as was discussed, CRHA not technically being a nonprofit limits its ability to do some private fundraising compared to, again, Habitat or PHA. And hopefully that nonprofit, once it's created, will reverse that.
I want to echo Kathleen. We had a conversation with Kathleen earlier, and that, typically having a nonprofit reversal, in terms of fundraising, takes three to five years. Right? That's not a we create the nonprofit tomorrow, we have an extra $10 million.
Right? Which would be lovely and maybe let's shoot for that- Maybe that will happen ... right? Let's not turn away from that. But it's not, I think, a realistic option, especially if we don't have the resources to make it not a side desk project, but to make it a full-time thing for at least one person to run it, and also one person to be applying to all the grants, right?
So I think, yeah, in talking, Bridget and I have talked with a number of staff people over the last few weeks, and everybody is really committed and doing an astonishing amount of work, to keep everything going with John still here, right?
So I think to Michael's point about being understaffed, that's- So I think that- Yeah ... when you get that executive director's funds here- Yes ... but you have to work and cultivate, nurture those relationships.
You're probably looking at someone who can get out there and press the flesh, paying 80 to 110, 120,000 and have a support staff. Yes. I think if you don't do that, you're setting yourself up. Yes. Yeah.
There's funds out there, but you have to work. Right. Yes. And that's getting work. But if you have time, and they have to also take out the trash and whatever- Right ... then- Well, that's exactly- Yes ...
that's exactly it, and we definitely recognize that. And we'll get what we put into it, I think. I have to go to a Venable Neighborhood Association meeting, so will you take it from here? Yes. Sorry. Thank you.
Have fun. Thank you. Can I ask one question about all of these different projects. How are all of these units, assuming we go ahead and invest the money you're looking for, how are they going to affect your operating budget, your bottom line on an operating basis, even assuming we can get the construction and the purchase figured out?
You're saying like the Silk Purse and the- Yeah. Right. I don't have the answer to that. Well, yeah. Also just with the redevelopment, the big crunch is getting everything done and moving people in and not collecting rent.
It's once we start collecting rent that some of the gaps can get closed. Because I know that's the big thing right now with South First Street Phase 2 is once we can actually collect rent, then we can hire more staff.
But we have that big crunch of the huge amount of work that needs to happen without that funding. I guess what I'm concerned about as I'm looking at all of this is that CRHA wasn't really getting enough revenue to cover all of its obligations without infusions from us- Mm-hmm ...
before this. Are these sorts of expansions of the portfolio, are these going to help your bottom line? Are they going to put more stress on the bottom line? Are you going to be looking for more money from us than before?
Are we going to be able to make up some of the deficit that had been running before? I think TC might have something. So yeah. In a perfect world, as we increase units, we increase rent. Our daily operating comes a lot from collecting tenant rent.
The new buildings at South First Street Phase 2 are all project-based vouchers. So we are guaranteed a certain amount of rent depending on the individual's income there. So that could be a steady flow.
As we do the lot type properties, we also get a development fund from that, which we can use throughout to lighten the load. But, like the Silk Purse properties, seeing if they're-- I've not been to the properties Mr.
Sell's has, but if they're in good shape, we don't have to put a lot of capital money in fixing roofs or whatever there. Also, that would help to increase rent and revenue flows. So as we add units, hopefully, we can increase our operating budget as long as rent's getting paid.
We're obviously looking at hiring an executive director who's likely to get paid something significantly more than present. You're talking about deputy directors and nonprofit directors and whatever all else.
And knowing that CRHA has often come to us to say, "Hey, we're going to need 100,000 bucks or 200, 300," whatever it's going to be, to make things work And knowing that we're going to have to keep in mind what our long-term obligations are, both to the staff we've already got, and to our housing commitments, and to our transit commitments, and all these other things.
I'm just trying to figure out how much-- I guess my question is whether it is possible at this point, and it may not be possible. Whether it is possible at this point to say, "Okay, we anticipate that three years from now, we will get to the point where the temporary dislocations because of the moving around and everything will work out, and then we'll be okay." Or whether you're simply adding more units to an all-- That are-- It's almost like a- That would need further subsidies.
Yeah. Lose a little bit on each one and make it up on volume doesn't work. And I guess I'm just trying to get the sense of whether you have the ability to develop a plan along those lines, or whether there are just too many uncertainties to develop a plan along those lines, or even a general idea.
Yeah, there's a lot of uncertainties there, especially with HUD funding being decreased over the last couple of years. I'm not really sure how that's going to look going through. But we can try to pull that together and do some projections on these new properties and see where we'll be at, like a three-year projection.
We'll try to bring something like that to you. What has the Dogwood housing portfolio done to your operating expenses and maintenance? So, the Dogwood portfolio, it's needed a lot of work, a lot of those units have.
So it's increased some expenses there, and I know the city's helped us out with some rents and things of that nature. So it's really just that portfolio, without looking, has been doing a little bit better than break even, so it's sustaining itself mostly.
It's just when we have those large expenses, we don't have a reserve or a slush fund or anything to try to scramble anything. Can I just add one thing? I think also, one thing to consider in this is the cost that will be accrued if we lose those as affordable units, and then those families all don't have anywhere to go.
Right? Or they have a hard time finding rents that are affordable. They now have to get on the waiting list to get an HCV voucher or to get public housing assistance. Right? And so I think obviously the CRHA budget, we want to be on our P's and Q's and making sure that we're able to pay for things.
But I completely understand what you're saying. I think that there's this element also of cost that the city might incur that goes beyond what CRHA can predict. If 11 units go offline there for the Silk Purse, and I can't remember how many of the Ravena units, right?
But all of these families are now going to need to find places to live, and we know that finding an affordable place to live in Charlottesville is extremely difficult. I think you're misinterpreting the purpose of my question.
The purpose of my question is not to say, should we do this or not? Yeah. The purpose of my question is, what's it going to cost us five years from now, three years from now, to have done it? Right. I'm not saying that that's what you're saying.
I'm just saying, you could do another projection if you haven't done it. Right? What is the cost going to be? And compare that, and I don't think we are necessarily going to be able to run those projections, is what I'm saying.
And if you want something like that, I'm happy to work on that. Plus, we do have base budgets on the voucher properties that are going to be coming online and the new builds. And I would like to think that we can give three to five year projections to see what that would look like.
But it would be accurate each time CRHA finishes- Redeveloping ... LIHTC redevelopment- Yes. Yes, it ... is able to pair a voucher with a CRHA unit that is providing a new, stable source of revenue and increasing the financial health of CRHA.
Correct? Correct. Go ahead. Yeah. So obviously, you have less costs in the new units. We say that with the Preston Halls, for sure phase one. So, I guess one of the questions too, with acquisition of NOAH properties is, how many of those can be paired with vouchers to increase voucher deployment?
Because that would make them additionally financially sustainable. I don't know if the rents are low enough where it substantially increases your ability to deploy vouchers, but... Yeah, and if the subsidies go up for Section 9 public housing units, we have some of those also in the bank.
That if we had units that were in really good shape with our NOAH portfolio, it could be looked at for that. We will be coming to ask for money to finish building the... Does anybody else have any other questions?
It was already discussed, but I think making those changes to be able to, as soon as possible, get A resident commissioner will be very important, as well as all of us, myself included- It is ... community wide, recruiting and asking around for people who are interested in the at-large seat as well.
Because, it's just been too long since every seat on the board has been filled. We have never had every seat on the board filled, I don't think, in the entire time I've been on it. Right. So five and a half years.
I guess I have one more question, which was, you had mentioned that the structure of the chain of command, the reporting, is off-kilter right now, which makes me think about other housing authorities.
Is there a vision for yourselves that another housing authority is leading the way on and you're trying to model, or are there- Not specifically, but just generally, there's the ED, and then at least one deputy, and departments are divided more equally.
And we aren't doing that today. So some of it is self-inflicted. But I think that for someone to be set up for success, particularly with the amount of redevelopment that we have, in that ED position, that we need to have a better distribution of duties.
And generally speaking, is there a housing authority that's just doing it super great from the development side to the staffing side, and is there one locally or, not locally, but- Not ... nationally that you've- Not.
Yeah. No. Okay. You know. I'm always curious, yeah. We're better than most in all right, like- Okay ... to begin with. I would offer that that's part of the request that I'm reacting to from our original conversation, that the desire would be for retaining a vendor that can not just focus on the recruitment, but also the assessment.
And then they can be tasked with- Yeah ... looking wherever they need to look for models that might be possible for replication. And then that in itself generates what funds are going to be needed to pay staff, as well as a reorganization of the reporting structure.
All of that could potentially look at setting up the nonprofit operations. Yeah. I just worry that you're... It's so easy to get... I just want to say that as far as the structure of the board, where Charlottesville is unique in having two current public housing residents on it and/or a Section 8.
As Ms. Daphne said, the regulation says one, but because of the residents and working with city councils and agencies, we were able to create an ordinance that says two current public housing residents.
So if you travel around the country, and I travel around the country, most of the time it's only one resident who sits on the board of how many. So Charlottesville is very unique in how their board is structured, and they're also unique in the redevelopment of having resident participation.
So we're actually doing better than... It could be so much worse. Yes. Yeah, I would love to know your vision. What does a vision of a highly success-- When you rub the magic genie lamp and you're like, "This is how we should be kicking butt in Charlottesville as a housing authority.
We are the leaders in the nation of what a-" Well, I think if they have a full board, that's the first, but they have to have also training. I think that's where Daphne comes in. Mm-hmm. I think the board training is essential.
I know when I served on the board, I served on the board for two, three terms. They couldn't find somebody to fill the residency. I was able to go to NAHRO training. I was able to go to- I did as well ...
other trainings. Yeah. I was able to go to see commissioners training, how it should be done. And I think that's the piece that I see missing from this board, is that they're not going to a lot of trainings that can show them how or even give them an insight on how things are done.
To envision what- To envision. So I've mentioned them, but it hasn't- Yeah. Okay. It hasn't come up in quite some time. I think it's not just attending the meetings, and I don't know what other people's onboarding, like, "I got to ride around to all the sites, and I went in different units, and I did training with Delphine, and I went to NAHRO training." And I don't think that's been...
My assumption is that it's not been everybody's experience because that was years ago when I did all of that. But there is a level of engagement needed beyond just board meetings. We have a lot of committees and different things where we are not participating as- Relatively, yeah ...
fully as we should. So, that is something when we're seeking board members, right? Like It's not insignificant commitment, I guess. I mean, it- Yeah. It is. And so, that probably doesn't help us find people.
But it's not a full answer, but I think in part, an existing vision is if CRHA can complete the planned resident-led- Yes ... new developments, and then with the nonprofit arm, build a strong internal fundraising capacity.
That both of those things together will provide more of a stable revenue base, and that that will make CRHA more financially sustainable and help set a basis for beginning to increase the amount of staff and services, and increase the amount of property acquisitions long-term.
So I think that's an immediate vision of where to- One thing I think John has done well, and that we'll need to look for in the next CD is someone that is creative in figuring out way, right? Public housing in and of itself, it's not like it funds itself.
We need money to help us do that at all. And so, what we get from HUD continues, under the assumption it continues to go down, being really creative and figuring out what we need to do to create sustainable financing is going to be really key in our next CD.
It's not a simple equation. Okay. You probably weren't expecting so many answers. No, I find it's very hard for organizations to have a vision. My vision for Charlottesville is every single person has a home, and I envision a Charlottesville where everybody's riding a bike and it looks like Amsterdam.
That's what I envision. I'm like, "What's your vision for Charlottesville?" "Amsterdam." So, I don't know from a-- And that's because a vision is really broad, but if you come down to a short-term vision, we're financially sound, we've got the projects finished, we've built trust with our residents, and we are moving on in a really robust capacity, not just a like, "Ugh." You get out of triage.
You get out of triage, right? And so then you can start building the operational plan. "Okay, we're going to go to trainings." Yeah. You're answering it. I just didn't know. I was asking, is there a real model?
Is there an Amsterdam for housing? Yeah. You're saying that doesn't really exist. And so- I think there was a point where people thought that public housing was an Amsterdam for housing, and it is just 100% not.
Yeah. But we did write a mission in our vision. We strive to build exemplary communities that integrate essential services, empowering our most vulnerable population to thrive in the city of Charlottesville.
We wrote that- Yeah ... a couple of years ago. I believe it. The essential services is the part that we have to really fund, right? The staffing that makes it beyond a house. So yeah, I think I applaud your tenacity in doing so, and your endurance for that against all odds.
So I'm excited to help support getting out of triage. Yeah. Well, affordable housing triage feels like a moving target these days, but we'll just keep building. Yeah. Good idea. Well, and into that point, we didn't discuss it much today, but CRHA, beyond the housing, the Resident Services department does a ton and is really one of- Yes.
Yeah ... essentially one of our social services providers. Yes. For a population that speaks dozens of different languages and facing all kind of different situations. So there is a tremendous amount of work happening on that side, too.
The only other question I can think of is I know in the past, we've had more structured mechanisms by which CRHA and the city met on a much more regular basis. And I'm curious if there are any thoughts from either staff or city staff or CRHA staff or CRHA board members if something like that is needed, or if that structure was actually helpful and constructive, particularly as a new executive director comes on.
Will we need more formalized connections beyond once a year? Well, I will note at the executive level, myself and Steve King have been meeting with John Sales on a monthly basis to stay on top of redevelopment projects, keep them moving, keeping them on schedule, and talking about what's upcoming, so.
And I have connected with Sam as we received John's resignation, and I've given some updates, and then Michael, you're obviously connected. So I don't know if through this process you guys want more regular updates.
It doesn't have to be in person necessarily, or if that's sufficient and you're fine passing it along. We can work on developing further updates. But as James mentioned, the meeting with John has been occurring, that sense of transition from it being me when I was a deputy.
But, I wanted to make sure that it was going to happen. So James has taken it and then I've added Steve as well, because we've gotten more complicated with things in our list. And we also have direct coordination happening between neighborhood development services and staff within CRHA Specifically around troubleshooting issues on the projects to keep moving with.
I guess on both sides is the feeling that that's sufficient. Just because I know there was that period where there were, I think, monthly meetings with a broader group of stakeholders, and again, I don't know if the feeling from that is that it was useful and constructive or if that was kind of too much.
I just don't know what kind of people thought at the end of that. I think that keeping consistency there is essential, especially with redevelopment, to help keep things on track and to be communicating.
And we're really hopeful with that relationship to help onboard the new executive director as well, because we had someone before who had worked with the city and knew a lot of people, but we could very easily have someone that has no connections at all in the community.
I mean, maybe it makes sense to touch base again in December as Don is on his way out so that we can kind of have a game plan for hopefully welcoming in one of the candidates, hopefully a candidate that we have in mind.
But for keeping those meetings going, even if Don isn't here and we have an interim, I think is important. Anything else we're missing? Any other points that you would like to add before we break out?
Anyone back there? No. Anything from staff? Do we have a motion to close hands? So moved. Boy, she's fast. I have been second? So hungry. Could I could be. Thank you all so much. This was- Did we vote?
Oh, we need to deal with that. Unfavor. No, do we need a motion, Maria? Yeah. Any opposed? Blue motion. Motion. Okay. Is there a proposed second? Second. Aldering Frazier. Yeah. I think Virginia chairs could- Thank you all so much.