Agenda - 03-17-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 1 Jean Bolducthanked the Commissioners for their funding of this department even 2 during the difficulty of the sequester. Shereviewedsome highlights from the following report, as 3 included in the abstract: 4 5 Though the following is not an exhaustive list, it does represent the Board’s primary 6 activities and accomplishments. 7 • During the late Spring and through the Summer, there was a growingcontroversy surrounding 8 the decision of one property management company(GSC) to discontinue its acceptance of 9 Housing Choice Vouchers. This was acorporate level decision based on many factors, having 10 nothing to do withOrange County’s voucher holders or the management of its program. 11 Nevertheless, activists and housing advocates took up the issue and beganmeeting regularly in 12 an effort to force GSC to reverse its decision. 13 Although we are always concerned about the pressure on our housing market, theVoucher 14 program itself was managing this within its normal course of activity. Wewere left, then, with a 15 disconnect between the actual problem and the perception ofthe problem. 16 Through the summer, Mr. Davis and I spend many Wednesday afternoons atEmpowerment, 17 Inc. meeting with the ad hoc group of advocates who were seeking toassist the affected 18 families. We spent a significant amount of time correctingmisinformation on many points, the 19 leading one being thatthese families were“losing their vouchers.” 20 This activity culminated in a press conference given by the mayors of Chapel Hilland Carrboro 21 to bring attention to the issue and to assistance funds they hadavailable to help families that 22 needed emergency funds for security deposits. Mr.Davis spoke at the August press 23 conference, which was well covered by local media,and we both took questions from reporters 24 during and following the pressconference. 25 26 Takeaway: The Orange County Community, including several segments of housingproviders, 27 advocates, political leadership and the general public would benefit fromlearning much more 28 about the HCV program and how it works in Orange County. 29 Following the mayors’ press conference in August, the Housing Authority, aspromised, hosted 30 an information session for landlords and the public about theprogram and how to participate as 31 a housing provider. It was held at the OrangeCounty Library in Hillsborough and had modest 32 attendance. We were disappointedthat none of the housing advocates were able to attend, 33 after repeatedly requestingsuch a meeting. 34 • As a beginning to our educational efforts, we have (in addition to the PowerPointcreated for 35 the Landlords meeting) created a brochure that was printed in January2015after review with 36 the County’s Public Information Officer. We are also lookingforward to taking advantage of new 37 information infrastructure soon to be availablewhen the County launches its new website. It’s 38 critically important that OrangeCounty’s Voucher program not “rest on its laurels” after many, 39 many years of beinga quietly well-run, effective program. 40 41 Takeaway: The Orange County Government has long supported the HCV programand now 42 does so at an even greater funding level following Federal Sequester. During2015, we would 43 like to raise the profile of the HCV program and its benefits totaxpayers to highlight the value of 44 that investment. 45 • In response to the increased pressures on the Orange County housing market, ourboard 46 voted at year-end to exercise its authority to increase the program’s paymentstandard to 110% 47 of the HUD Fair Market Rent (FMR) rate. We are able to makethis change without 48 authorization from HUD, but to extend further (up to 120%) wewould need written consent from 49 HUD’s Greensboro office. This will allow manyfamilies to stay where they are, despite rental