Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
:1 <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Earl McKee, Chair <br />Orange County Board of Commissioners <br />CC: Audrey Spencer - Horsley, Director <br />Orange County Dept. of Housing, Human Rights & Community Development <br />Board Members, OCHA <br />FROM: Jean Bolduc, Chair <br />Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners <br />DATE: February 3, 2015 <br />SUBJ: Annual Report <br />This year has been a productive and challenging one for the Orange County Housing <br />Authority's Board of commissioners. With the retirement of longtime staff member Tara <br />Fikes, our board has worked well with Interim Director James Davis and we look forward <br />to working with the current Director, Audrey Spencer - Horsley. <br />Though the following is not an exhaustive list, it does represent the Board's primary <br />activities and accomplishments. <br />During the late Spring and through the Summer, there was a growing <br />controversy surrounding the decision of one property management company <br />(GSC) to discontinue its acceptance of Housing Choice Vouchers. This was a <br />corporate level decision based on many factors, having nothing to do with <br />Orange County's voucher holders or the management of its program. <br />Nevertheless, activists and housing advocates took up the issue and began <br />meeting regularly in an effort to force GSC to reverse its decision. <br />Although we are always concerned about the pressure on our housing market, the <br />Voucher program itself was managing this within its normal course of activity. We <br />were left, then, with a disconnect between the actual problem and the perception of <br />the problem. <br />Through the summer, Mr. Davis and I spend many Wednesday afternoons at <br />Empowerment, Inc. meeting with the ad hoc group of advocates who were seeking to <br />assist the affected families. We spent a significant amount of time correcting <br />misinformation on many points, the leading one being that these families were <br />"losing their vouchers." <br />This activity culminated in a press conference given by the mayors of Chapel Hill <br />and Carrboro to bring attention to the issue and to assistance funds they had <br />available to help families that needed emergency funds for security deposits. Mr. <br />Davis spoke at the August press conference, which was well covered by local media <br />