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7 <br />1 <br />increases due to renovations. Itexpands the affordable options for those assisted by the HCV <br />2 <br />program but will tendto reduce the total number of families overall that we can help. <br />3 <br />• We have also taken administrative steps to bring onto our books some of the voucherholders <br />4 <br />who have moved to Orange County with the permission of their authorities.Most of these are <br />5 <br />families with vouchers issued from the Durham HousingAuthority. This process is called <br />6 <br />“absorption” and means that instead of simplyaccepting a “pass-thru” payment from Durham <br />7 <br />with those vouchers being counted byHUD as Durham vouchers, they become Orange County <br />8 <br />vouchers and areadministered in the future just as any other we issued. This is important for us <br />9 <br />to dobecause it helps to more accurately reflect the number of families who are here and <br />10 <br />receiving assistance from our program. It also reduces the administrative burdenthat is created <br />11 <br />for the two agencies who are cooperatively managing one voucher intwo jurisdictions. <br />12 <br />• Our struggle to operate as a board cannot be overstated. Following the retirement of one <br />13 <br />board member and the loss of two others due to lack of attendance (one new board member <br />14 <br />never appearedat all), we were forced to cancel several monthly board meetings for lack of <br />15 <br />quorum. How to confront this problem and our attemptsto mitigate its consequences took an <br />16 <br />unfortunately significant amount of time for Mr. Davis and me. <br />17 <br />18 <br />Takeaway: <br />In the future, if faced with this type of issue, we will reach out to theChair of the <br />19 <br />County Commissioners (and staff) for assistance much sooner. <br />20 <br />• We have begun efforts to secure an HCV participant as a board member (as requiredby <br />21 <br />HUD) and hope to have a recommendation for the Board of Commissioners’review and <br />22 <br />approval in the first quarter of 2015. With a more complete complementof board members in <br />23 <br />2015, we hope to do more. <br />24 <br />We welcome your feedback and guidance as to how we can better serve Orange County inthis <br />25 <br />important capacity of providing citizen oversight for the Housing Choice Voucherprogram. We <br />26 <br />look forward to a productive and progressive year ahead. <br />27 <br />28 <br />Jean Bolduc said families affected by the changes to section 8 housing were all <br />29 <br />successfully relocated,and no one was abruptly displaced. She said it was still difficult, but it <br />30 <br />was not as bad as the publicity made it seem. She said it has been made clear that there is <br />31 <br />work to be done in educating the public and the landlords about the pros and cons of the <br />32 <br />program, and there is a need to get more landlords involved. She said Orange County is lucky <br />33 <br />to have a very well-run section 8 program, and she expects this to continue. <br />34 <br />Chair McKee thanked her for the report. <br />35 <br />Commissioner Rich asked about the struggles to get a quorum on this board. She said <br />36 <br />there might need to be discussion about solutions to this issue. She suggested that perhaps <br />37 <br />there need to be other people appointed to the board. <br />38 <br />Chair McKee said this has been a sporadic problem forall boards, and there have been <br />39 <br />letters issued to remove people for non-attendance in the past. <br />40 <br />Commissioner Jacobs said staff keeps attendance and provides a periodic report. <br />41 <br />Jean Bolduc said this attendance can be reported to the clerk on a quarterly basis. <br />42 <br />Commissioner Rich said she would like to get this for all of the boards. <br />43 <br />Commissioner Dorosin said he has real concerns about thesection 8 program’s <br />44 <br />continuing viability in a high wealth community. He asked if the landlords are not taking <br />45 <br />vouchersdue to perceived stereotypes about the people who use them, or if it seems to be a <br />46 <br />problem of cost now that the economy is back up. He said he is concerned that this is an issue <br />47 <br />of money. <br />48 <br />Jean Bolduc said the money is a difficult challenge, but both of these issues are factors. <br />49 <br />She said the board has increased the payment standard from 100 percent to 110 percent of fair <br />50 <br />market rent. This means the value of all of the vouchers goes up, but the number of families <br /> <br />