1 1 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 2 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 3 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 4 x--------------------------------x 5 IN THE MATTER OF: * 6 THE REGULAR MEETING * TRANSCRIPT 7 OF THE HOUSING AUTHORITY * OF 8 OF THE CITY OF NEWARK * PROCEEDINGS 9 Commencing at 5:00 p.m. * 10 x--------------------------------x 11 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 12 500 BROAD STREET 13 NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 14 B E F O R E: 15 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEWARK 16 NORMA GONZALEZ, President 17 FAUSTO BAEZ, Commissioner 18 BRIAN LOGAN, Commissioner 19 ALIF MUHAMMAD, Commissioner 20 IMAM DAUD HAQQ, Commissioner 21 PATRICK COUNCIL, Commissioner 22 23 24 ANTHONY HOFMANN, C.C.R. 25 LICENSE NO. XIO1854 2 1 PROFESSIONAL STAFF: 2 3 VICTOR CIRILO, Executive Director 4 KATIA OLIVEIRA, Executive Assistant 5 ELIO MENA, Counsel 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 I N D E X 2 PAGE 3 Opening Statement 4 4 Special Presentation 6 5 Public Participation 6 By: Kim Barnes 12 7 By: Myrna Brown 14 8 9 Items for Approval 18 10 11 RESOLUTIONS PAGE 12 H-1 through H-5 42 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Good evening, 2 everyone. Today is Thursday, September 22 and I'd 3 like to welcome and call the Housing Authority City 4 of Newark Board meeting of Board of Commissioners. 5 I'm calling the meeting to order. 6 Director Cirilo, could you please read 7 the Open Public Meetings Act? 8 MR. CIRILO: Thank you, Madam Chair. 9 As required by N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 known as the Open 10 Public Meetings Act, notice of the meeting was 11 provided in the following manner. On December 3, 12 2021 notice of this meeting specifying the date, 13 time and location was transmitted to the Star 14 Ledger, El Especialito and to the Clerk of the City 15 of Newark. 16 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. 17 Could we please have a roll call. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Alif 19 Muhammad. 20 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Here. 21 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Patrick 22 Council. 23 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Present. 24 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Imam Haqq. 25 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Present. 5 1 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Fausto Baez. 2 Vice Chair Brian Logan. 3 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Present. 4 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Norma 5 Gonzalez. 6 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Present. 7 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, we have a 8 quorum. 9 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Director 10 Cirilo, I would like to ask us to start these 11 meetings now with a prayer. 12 MR. CIRILO: Yes, Madam Chair, 13 Commissioner Imam Haqq has volunteered to lead us in 14 prayer today. 15 Commissioner Haqq. 16 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: All mighty God 17 allow us to give you praise and thanks for blessing 18 us with a good day today. We praise that you would 19 continue to give us the good afternoon and that you 20 will give us a good meeting. We ask that you show 21 your blessings on all those who are present here 22 today and that you will help us always to come to 23 the best conclusion and best solutions for all 24 people here in the City of Newark. We ask you to 25 bless the Commissioners and all those who are 6 1 Commissioners and all those who give their time to 2 serve this great cause and we ask for the best. 3 Amen. 4 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. 5 Could we now please stand for the Pledge of 6 Allegiance. 7 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance 8 was recited.) 9 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, 10 everyone. 11 Since we already had roll call and we 12 have a quorum, we have a special presentation today 13 for two of our Commissioners. 14 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, would you 15 like to join me up front for the presentation. 16 Let the record show Commissioner Baez 17 is present. 18 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Good afternoon. 19 MR. CIRILO: We don't have anything 20 prepared. As I say, the best way to make these 21 special presentations oftentimes is when we do it 22 from the heart and today we wanted to honor two 23 distinguished Commissioners who served the Housing 24 Authority for a lengthy amount of time. As we all 25 know, this housing authority, Madam Chair, and 7 1 Commissioners has been in existence since 1937, 2 1937, a long time. So a lot of folks have come and 3 gone and served as Commissioner Haqq mentioned in 4 this voluntary position serving the public and 5 serving your fellow citizens and neighbors. 6 Chairman Osborne served the Housing 7 Authority from 2011 to 2022, ten years. So big 8 round of applause for his service and a lot of 9 gratitude on behalf of the Newark Housing Authority, 10 Madam Chair, and the Board of Commissioners and the 11 staff and residents for his wonderful service and 12 unfortunately he could not be here. He is going 13 through a difficult time. Let's keep him in our 14 prayers as he fights some medical issues that he's 15 going through. Hopefully, he can join us in the 16 future, but today he couldn't be with us so, again, 17 let's keep him in our prayers as we move forward. 18 Madam Chair, any comments? 19 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: We want to just 20 thank him for his service. 21 MR. CIRILO: Thank you very much and 22 we do have in attendance Commissioner Costa. 23 Commissioner Costa served as Vice Chairwoman 24 recently. We do have your name plate here, 25 Commissioner Costa. The Commissioner first time I 8 1 met the Commissioner was about seven years ago, 2 eight years ago and I was at a different housing 3 agency and she realized some of the difficulties 4 that Newark Housing Authority was going through at 5 that time with respect to unit turnover, rent 6 collection, et cetera and she asked me one day can 7 you give me like an hour. I remember sitting down 8 in a conference room and she said can you explain to 9 me the unit turnover process and how it is handled. 10 So I sat down with her and I realized not only was 11 she very interested in understanding the principles 12 of her role as a Commissioner, but really the basics 13 of property management. I was very impressed. It 14 was very impressive and I remember that she's always 15 acted very classy, very professional. She was 16 always -- Commissioner Costa is always a 17 professional in whatever role, very classy in the 18 way she handled herself and in the way she served in 19 her role as a Commissioner. So, Commissioner Costa, 20 today we want to thank you on behalf of the chair. 21 We have for the Board of Commissioners, the 22 residents, the staff for your service to the Newark 23 Housing Authority. You are missed and you will be 24 missed and I hope that you're not a stranger and 25 that you stay around. I know that you also served 9 1 on the Branch Brook Park organization as a member of 2 that Board and so you served a dual purpose. She 3 will be serving on the Board of the Newark 4 Affordable Housing Coalition which is a non-profit 5 created through the RAD process. So we thank you 6 for continuing your service in that capacity. 7 Madam Chair, would you like to make 8 this presentation and read the service award being 9 presented to Commissioner Costa today. 10 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, 11 Director. 12 Commissioner Costa, we just want to 13 thank you for everything you did and it really comes 14 from the heart, but on behalf of the Newark Housing 15 Authority, the Board, the previous and current 16 Board, we provide you with this service award 17 presented to Martinique Costa with great 18 appreciation for your loyal service and commitment 19 to the residents of Newark on behalf of the Board of 20 Commissioners, staff, residents, the City of Newark, 21 wishes and many blessings to you and your future 22 endeavors. Thank you so much. 23 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Thank you. Thank 24 you very much. 25 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: If you could 10 1 just give us some words. 2 COMMISSIONER COSTA: Thank you, 3 Chairwoman. Thank you, Director. And I'd like to 4 say thank you to the Commissioners. Thank you to 5 Director Cirilo, Chairman, to be able to think 6 outside the box and make sure this Housing Authority 7 has income for future generations because we all 8 know that HUD is out of the business of public 9 housing. So it takes a lot of creativity to make 10 sure that our kids, grandkids still have somewhere 11 to live affordably. I do want to say thank you to 12 especially all the TAs and residents for allowing me 13 to serve. Many of the TAs here have known me before 14 my son was born. We raised our family together. 15 They have invited me into their families, all 16 community events and I appreciate it because that is 17 where I receive the most mentorship and to the 18 directors and staff, thank you for all the 19 mentorship you've given me and staff on all levels 20 please never underestimate what you do for our 21 residents and our City because if COVID showed us 22 anything, Newark is our greatest power is that we 23 have each other. We were able to come through it, 24 come out of it. Some people suffered through some 25 horrible things, but I do think the City has shown 11 1 coming together we are a model nationally so thank 2 you everyone. Thank you, Commissioners, Chairman, 3 Director and I will be around. I do miss this 4 place. Newark is my second home. Newark Housing 5 Authority is my second home, but I appreciate 6 everything everyone does. Everyone has a way to 7 contact me so stay in contact. 8 MR. CIRILO: Can we take a picture? 9 Is there a way we can fit everybody in a picture? 10 Commissioners, thank you for your 11 service as always. It's a thankless job, but you 12 take the time to do it and we appreciate that. 13 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you so 14 much, everyone. And once again, congratulations to 15 Martinique Costa. 16 So next we will go into the public 17 participation and I would like the E.D. to read the 18 rules and regulations. 19 MR. CIRILO: Sure, Madam Chair. In 20 accordance with the Open Public Meetings Act the 21 Housing Authority opens every public meeting for 22 comments of the public. Each person choosing to 23 speak at the meeting will be limited to five minutes 24 to speak on any subject on or off the agenda. All 25 speakers must state their name and address for the 12 1 record. However, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 2 10:4-12 nothing in the Act shall construed to limit 3 the discretion of a public body to permit, prohibit 4 or regulate the active participation at any meeting. 5 Therefore, please be advised that the Housing 6 Authority of the City of Newark will not entertain 7 any comments from persons who communicate obscene 8 material, make statements which are considered bias, 9 intimidation in which a person intends to intimidate 10 any individual or group because of race, color, 11 religion, gender, handicap, sexual orientation or 12 ethnicity or makes comments intending to harass or 13 speak in any offensive language. The person who 14 makes these statements will relinquish their 15 allotted five minutes for public discussion. Any 16 person who persists in speaking out of turn or 17 interrupts the peace and order of the meeting will 18 be escorted off the premises. 19 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, 20 Director. 21 I would like to call up the first 22 speaker, Ms. Kim Barnes. 23 MS. BARNES: Good evening. Kim 24 Barnes, 147 Riverside Court, Newark, New Jersey, but 25 before y'all start my time I would like to say 13 1 something to Pastor Rouse. As a TA president we 2 send our condolences on the passing of your 3 grandmother and you knew I knew her personally. She 4 was a pioneer for me growing up so we sincerely send 5 our condolences to you. 6 MR. ROUSE: Thank you. 7 MS. BARNES: Back to matters at hand. 8 First and foremost, I would like to say that we 9 would like for John Lema of Newark Housing Authority 10 security to continue to provide my site with food 11 and do not pull him out of that site. 12 Now, getting back to matters at hand, 13 I would like to say and this is nothing personal, 14 this is just a suggestion. That we have dinosaur 15 rules and I think that we need to meet with the 16 tenant Commissioner with the TAs so we can sit down 17 and have some new ideas of what going forward what 18 we can send to HUD that can be changed or amended 19 because going back over the years and constantly 20 doing our research, we are still doing the same 21 thing constantly over and over again. It needs to 22 change. I would like for the tenant Commissioner to 23 be able to sit down with us. He may work at night, 24 but you need to get with us. We need to start 25 changing some of these rules and regulations and 14 1 then, again, I also state that we need to have 2 tenant participation and concerns when it comes to 3 making these resolutions because we are supposed to 4 be a part of the decision making process and we are 5 being left out. We need to be there. 6 The annual plan and now we are going 7 to be converted over to the RAD program. Either we 8 are going to follow the 964 or the 982. That needs 9 to be distinguished how these four sites is going to 10 be ran. I have been looking up the HUD guidelines. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I hear you. 12 MS. BARNES: Alif and the rest of you, 13 I do my research because I am not making myself look 14 like a butt. I will make y'all look like a butt 15 first. That is all I have for tonight. 16 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you. 17 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, Ms. 18 Barnes. 19 Next speaker, Myrna Brown. 20 MS. BROWN: Good evening, everyone. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Good evening. 22 MS. BROWN: My condolences to the 23 Rouse family. 24 MR. ROUSE: Thank you. 25 MS. BROWN: I'm going to start off 15 1 with, first of all, all Commissioner I need to be 2 aware if y'all aware of the 964, 982, the 903. 3 That's the policy of the HUD guidelines for any 4 housing authority in the country that has to follow 5 certain things. Like she just said, the annual plan 6 is where the Resident Advisory Board that you have. 7 You have two. Let's recognize the other one that 8 the previous E.D. decided to do to put us separate 9 because they didn't want us together. It is okay, 10 but we can still work together. You have to know 11 our guidelines too and our rules and regulations. 12 We have to sit at the annual plan and when you have 13 these resolutions and make amendments which y'all 14 have done in 2020. It is in the HUD reg now. Board 15 members was there to put their input in. 16 We live in these situations that y'all 17 make suggestions for us. We should have input 18 because we are the better source that can help y'all 19 tell y'all what we need, what's best for us. On 20 that note, I need to know what HUD region we are 21 following one, two, three. Who is our HUD rep for 22 this agency, its different regions. I don't know if 23 we are in region two with New York, but I would like 24 that information because I have that person's name 25 here as well. Also, maybe y'all need to go research 16 1 read 903.1 in the HUD regs. The 964. Go to 903.13 2 it tells you what is a Resident Advisory Board and 3 what is the rule in development of an annual plan. 4 That will help you help us. That is where we are 5 going to come in and y'all see what we are saying 6 here tonight is actually facts. It is nothing that 7 we can do. As I always do, I have facts and I was 8 going to do something. I am going to help 9 knowledge, teach y'all too. They want to teach us, 10 we'll teach y'all too. Just Christmas I have a 11 little gift for y'all, everybody. I am going to put 12 a little package together for you. Okay, I have 13 nothing else. 14 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you, 15 Ms. Myrna. 16 MS. BROWN: One more. I have enough 17 time. Back to the Commissioner for tenants, Mr. 18 Baez, I'm going to say this. You was appointed by 19 somebody, but let's get this rule correct. The 20 tenant votes who they want to represent them in that 21 seat, that's the law. I am just saying, no 22 personal, I am just putting that out there for those 23 that may not know or don't want to know, but you 24 always have to represent the Section 8 program that 25 is under this agency. So we have to come together 17 1 so whatever Commissioner up there I don't care who 2 it be, they have to represent and be there to 3 support the Section 8 program as well because we are 4 under one umbrella. It is one stick, but when you 5 open that umbrella up, we are all together. 6 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 8 Gonzalez. 9 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, sir. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Ms. Brown, can 11 I ask you something. Are y'all meeting down here 12 yet? They have a place for you guys to meet yet? 13 MS. BROWN: No, but I need to do a big 14 general meeting. I have a lot of stuff. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: We need to get 16 that together. Thank you. 17 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, 18 Ms. Brown. 19 Next speaker, Mr. Dellon Garraway. 20 Mr. Garraway. 21 MR. CIRILO: He's not coming in today. 22 We spoke to him and addressed his issue. 23 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. 24 Thank you, everyone, for your participation and, 25 Director, I would like to move to the items for 18 1 approval on the agenda. 2 MR. CIRILO: Yes, thank you, Madam 3 Chair. We have the Board reports first. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 5 Gonzalez. 6 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, sir. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I have some 8 questions about the report to the E.D. 9 MR. CIRILO: Yes, absolutely. 10 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Because we 11 were hacked for the last couple months we are all 12 discombobulated so we are trying to figure out where 13 we are going and what I am trying to figure out is 14 this report just for one month or is it for June, 15 July and August? 16 MR. CIRILO: Sure. Before you is two 17 reports. You should have July and you should have 18 August. 19 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I have just 20 August. 21 MR. CIRILO: We went back and we 22 recreated these reports from the data and 23 information that was recovered. There are some 24 glitches that we are working through. I don't know 25 if Mr. Francis our new director of information 19 1 technology is here. Mr. Rouse, he can speak to some 2 of the potential discrepancies that may exist. 3 What we did, what his team did was 4 pull the data as best as possible. There were some 5 issues with managers not having their input on data 6 that is supposed to come into these reports so we 7 are hoping that we can have a clearer picture in the 8 next month or two. However, we have a 9 responsibility to present to you what we have in 10 place at this point in time and, Mr. Francis, do you 11 want to speak a little bit on how we had to go back 12 and recreate these reports. 13 MR. FRANCIS: Good evening, everyone, 14 as-salamu alaikum. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: As-salamu 16 alaikum. 17 MR. FRANCIS: As Mr. Cirilo said, the 18 information that you are looking at reflects gaps as 19 a result of the incident that we had. We were able 20 to go back and collect some information, some 21 archived information, but it is not complete 22 because, again, the managers and all responsible for 23 reporting was unable to and so we got as much 24 information as we can, put it together and you are 25 looking at the results of that information with the 20 1 gaps that occurred as a result of the hacking. We 2 have plans and we are moving forward on trying to 3 get the information that is current and that will be 4 reflected in a more accurate report. 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Can I ask a 6 question? 7 MR. CIRILO: Yes, sir, Commissioner. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Winston, I 9 know we had everything in storage. It was a cloud 10 or whatever, is that true, we had all the 11 information in storage? 12 MR. FRANCIS: Well, we had information 13 in storage, yes. 14 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: So like there 15 is a lot of questions like if I want to ask about 16 the finances, is everything back yet, is everything 17 back on? 18 MR. FRANCIS: For the most part 19 everything is back. We are not restoring historical 20 data and archived data and it is all coming 21 together, but it is a time-consuming. It is a 22 tedious effort. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: She called me 24 and she had to get in and she said she had to 25 reconstruct all kinds of reports so I don't want to 21 1 have a meeting on something until everything is 2 there. I appreciate what you are trying to do 3 because what I like about you, you answer questions 4 and you stop me from asking. 5 MR. FRANCIS: I think it is a good 6 idea to wait until we collect the information so we 7 can give you an accurate report on what is going on. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I appreciate 9 that. 10 E.D., we went up in the Mod. Is that 11 real? We went up to one fifty-eight. We had 12 dropped down to like ninety. 13 MR. CIRILO: Thank you, Winston. 14 Which category, Commissioner? 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: The Mod. 16 MR. CIRILO: What page are you on? 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: The vacancy 18 rate on the bottom all the way. The Mod we went up 19 a hundred and fifty-four vacancies. Could we have 20 went all the way down to ninety or a hundred, 21 something like that? Is that real or you think 22 maybe there are some things missing? 23 MR. CIRILO: We are still looking at 24 this data. I can't ascertain this is a hundred 25 percent on point, but we continue to try to get 22 1 this. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Could you tell 3 me how Pastor Rouse is doing with his three hundred 4 seventy-nine vacancies that he talked about ninety 5 days ago because I think Khalif had a hundred and 6 thirty or a hundred and fifty and I think Pastor 7 Rouse had three hundred forty something. He had 8 over three hundred. I just want to know how did 9 y'all turnover, did you y'all turnover anything? 10 How is it going? 11 MR. CIRILO: Sure. I can't really 12 speak to that. I can have them speak to that if 13 that is okay with Madam Chair. We can have a 14 Director come out and talk about any recent activity 15 on that front. 16 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, if 17 Reverend Rouse and thank you, Director. Yes, 18 Reverend Rouse, if you would like to come up and 19 give us some information on that. 20 MR. ROUSE: Yes, thank you so much to 21 Madam Chair and Director and Board of Commissioners. 22 We have been moving along with turning over units. 23 Local 617 and 32, our regular maintenance guys have 24 been going in and turning over units. I could not 25 right now have -- I am just getting back off 23 1 bereavement. I don't have the exact number where we 2 are, but we have turned over units. We have sent 3 them to occupancy to be assigned and they have 4 assigned quite a few and they have been leased up 5 even during this time. 6 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I see the 7 number is down, in other words, we were at three 8 months ago we were six forty. I see the number down 9 to five, but I didn't know if Khalif was doing or 10 you. 11 MR. ROUSE: We are working together. 12 That's what we do. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: E.D., what 14 about Khalif Thomas, how did he do in his hundred 15 and thirty-nine? 16 MR. CIRILO: Sure. Madam Chair, if I 17 can yield my time to Director Thomas. 18 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Director 19 Thomas. 20 MR. THOMAS: Good afternoon. Just as 21 Director Rouse stated, we have been working together 22 and we also dropping our vacancy rate as well as far 23 as unit turnover. 24 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: How is 25 Woodland going? 24 1 MR. THOMAS: Good. We just got eleven 2 units out of forty-seven. It is only eleven units 3 we are currently working in because there is an 4 issue, not an issue. We have to get infrastructure 5 up there because Public Service had replaced every 6 gas line and we are waiting for the City to come up 7 there. 8 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: You have 9 thirty-seven ready. 10 MR. THOMAS: We can't rent them 11 because the electricity isn't on. There is eleven 12 occupied right now and twenty-six is ready. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: What is your 14 idea in God willing how we going to be? 15 MR. THOMAS: The quicker we get the 16 inspector up there, the quicker we get in there. We 17 are waiting on the lights and gas to be turned on. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Do you have a 19 staff yet? You were a one man Army. 20 MR. THOMAS: I have a staff. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: E.D., I just 22 need to know how we doing with the Section 8, what's 23 the amount? 24 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Excuse me, 25 Commissioner, I just wanted to thank Director 25 1 Thomas. Let's take one question at a time, thanks. 2 Does anyone -- I just wanted to say 3 thank you, Commissioner Alif, but I wanted to give 4 the opportunity to my other Commissioners to see if 5 they have any questions to Director Thomas while he 6 was up there or Reverend Rouse. 7 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes, Madam 8 Chair. 9 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Commissioner 10 Council. 11 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Absolutely to 12 bring the stuff full circle because it seemed like 13 we was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. So 14 I was a little confused over everything that was 15 happening. One, even on the report the gentleman 16 just gave, as he sat down and you talked about 17 information being all over the place. One, when you 18 talked about gaps from when the system was down, I 19 am not going to use the other terminology, but you 20 have to understand that you can never go back and 21 try to look at any kind of actuals because you will 22 never capture what is actual. So you have to take 23 the worst care scenario and move forward from there 24 and if that is the case, then we have to know what 25 is the strategic plan now to be able to remedy all 26 1 of these efficiencies that was in the report. 2 That's important. 3 Then we have to know the total number 4 of vacancies prior to the total number of vacancies 5 now and the strategy to move forward and how we are 6 making people accountable and responsible for 7 changing these systems that are in place. That's 8 the question that I have. 9 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, 10 Commissioner. 11 MR. CIRILO: I can answer that. Thank 12 you, Commissioner Council. Accountability, we spoke 13 about accountability and evaluation and also 14 supervision. I do have our chief of human resources 15 here. She can talk about a new plan to build in 16 accountability methods at the Newark Housing 17 Authority as a whole, not only in operations and, 18 Madam Chair, if we can yield a couple minutes for 19 her to present the work plan that we have in 20 process. 21 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, 22 Ms. Carter. 23 MS. CARTER: Good evening, Madam 24 Chair, Executive Director and Board of 25 Commissioners. So first let me start off by saying 27 1 my office hired a new employee, an engagement 2 development and training specialist, Mr. Anthony 3 Clark is here with us this evening so we will be 4 focusing on those areas. We will have an evaluation 5 plan that we are going to put in place. This is a 6 new response to the recent situation. Coming off of 7 COVID we want to make sure that we increase our 8 scores and deliver better services to the clients. 9 We need our staff to operate at a higher level. We 10 do have staff that we acknowledge are doing a great 11 job, however, we need to encourage those who aren't 12 to step up so we will implement an evaluation 13 system. We have identified eight already. We are 14 going to go through a training. We are going to 15 train our staff, our managers on how to create smart 16 goals, how to have difficult conversations, how to 17 sit down and actually measure what success looks 18 like. 19 We are looking into a management 20 system. Budget pending approval we will have a 21 learning management system. We are also going to 22 make sure that our managers are trained on 23 preventative maintenance, routine maintenance, how 24 to do inspections, unit inspections. We are going 25 to make sure our assistant managers are trained on 28 1 recertifications, how a voucher looks so we are 2 going to have our consultant do those trainings. We 3 are going to make sure our maintenance staff, they 4 are trained on how to turnover units. So we are 5 going to use a vendor that we are currently looking 6 into the Essex County School of Technology to help 7 with some plumbing, carpentry, electrical and HVAC 8 work to give them the basics that. We are going to 9 have a unit where some of our guys who are more 10 experienced could come in and teach them in one of 11 our units to say this is how we do it at the Newark 12 Housing Authority. 13 This year we plan on focusing on 14 training and development our staff. When 15 individuals are hired we are going to do new hire 16 training both technical and soft skills. We are 17 going to make sure that each person has those things 18 so that we can begin to hold them accountable. If 19 anybody is promoted to the level of manager, we are 20 going to have training that they are mandated to go 21 through as well and there will be a certificate at 22 the end of it so we know they not only have the 23 technical skills, but they know how to manage people 24 as well. We are going to do some employee 25 incentives as well to try to help build moral. We 29 1 understand that we have to train and develop our 2 staff. We also will increase the moral so we can 3 increase productive, efficiency. We are going to 4 make sure the staff if they're doing a productivity 5 report we are making sure that staff are where they 6 need to be and keep them there. We are going to 7 stop with the transfer so that we can hold them 8 accountable throughout the year so they can build a 9 team and they can really take ownership of that 10 site. 11 Does anyone have any questions? 12 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: I do, 13 Ms. Carter, and then I will yield to my 14 Commissioners. It's more like a question or maybe a 15 recommendation. You may already have one, but have 16 you set up a training committee? Part of 17 individuals from the other departments so that they 18 can better assist you and the consultant. 19 And welcome Mr. Clark by the way, so 20 would you be -- 21 MS. CARTER: It is not a committee, 22 but Mr. Clark has sent out an e-mail asking for a 23 SWAT analysis and explaining what that is. On the 24 week of October 17 we should have the SWAT analysis 25 back and myself I will meet with the Executive 30 1 Director. We also have met with all of the 2 executive staff to ask them what training is 3 necessary, which training do they think they need. 4 We sent out e-mails, e-mails will be going out to 5 all the faculty to see what type of professional 6 development they are interested in, what skill sets 7 are they lacking. We've also been evaluating that 8 throughout our thirty, sixty, ninety day process. I 9 forgot to mention we sent out e-mails to all of our 10 staff. We are keeping a tracker now so it is 11 important that we maintain those things. So it's 12 not a team, but we are using an in-house team and 13 Mr. Clark is going to spearhead that from my office. 14 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: I thank you so 15 much and I really, really encourage the employee 16 participation. Please respond to those e-mails, 17 Reverend Rouse, Mr. Thomas, all the managers, please 18 become part of this because this is the time that 19 you are going to be able to provide input on your 20 departments. Thank you. 21 Commissioner Baez. 22 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I wanted to thank 23 you. It's a great idea and I think moving forward 24 to Newark, but I have a question. Is the resident 25 family service going to be included in it? 31 1 MS. CARTER: All of our staff, they 2 are part. So every staff member has gotten that 3 e-mail. Every director chief has gotten that 4 e-mail. We are really moving to the point that you 5 are going to expect what you expect so we are about 6 to hold everybody accountable so that is from the 7 top to the bottom. 8 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Thank you very 9 much. 10 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Any other 11 comments, questions from Commissioners? 12 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Madame Chair, 13 the point of performance evaluations, are they 14 occurring now? I know you talked about instituting 15 the thirty to sixty to ninety day evaluation and I 16 hope that is a tool to help measure folks out and 17 then, lastly, how are we going to be moving towards 18 connecting systems? 19 There is some systems of failure in 20 the organization. In order to strengthen the 21 organization, we have to connect the systems from 22 management to finance to BMW to BMR. Those systems, 23 if those systems fail, then there's no way to level 24 off the kind of work that should be happening and 25 the residents should be receiving in terms of 32 1 repairs, in terms of general cleanliness. What ways 2 are you going to be looking at that I know you 3 talked about the professional development, but how 4 are we going to connect these systems between other 5 internal entities that is going to strengthen what 6 happens outwardly in all of these complexes? 7 MS. CARTER: First thing, your thirty, 8 sixty, ninety days, yes, that has begun. This is 9 the tracker e-mails have gone out in regards to when 10 an employee started what their thirty, sixty, ninety 11 days will be, following up with them, making sure 12 that they handed those in. It is particularly 13 important with our union employees because if 14 someone is not making it after ninety days they are 15 permanent and you have to go through the 16 disciplinary process. However, if they are not 17 performing to the level we need them to perform, we 18 ask that managers let us know before the ninety days 19 so we can terminate them accordingly. 20 In terms of how we are going to -- 21 well, your second question was when is the last time 22 evaluations were done. I can't speak to that. I 23 know that it has been at least eight plus years, but 24 we are looking to change that. In terms of how they 25 are going to work together so we are going to get 33 1 with the Commissioners, the Board, Executive 2 Director that in turn is going to come down to his 3 executive level staff. Then we are going to set 4 goals for our department. That is going to lead 5 into what the overall goal is and we are going to 6 make sure we are continuously meeting with our 7 employees. 8 So evaluations is one thing and it can 9 help improvement. You can hold them accountable, 10 but you have to consistently meet with your 11 employees. You have to consistency give feedback so 12 we are going to train staff on how to do that, how 13 to identify what success looks like and when our 14 staff aren't performing to their highest ability, we 15 are going to have those conversations to reroute 16 them to offer training, to do performance 17 improvement plans and so we are all going to connect 18 in that way. Each of us are a piece of the puzzle 19 and so it is going to be about holding the staff, 20 directors and chief, the Executive Director is going 21 to hold the chiefs and director of those departments 22 accountable and we are going to have to report to 23 him about what is happening to him what is out 24 there, but it is not going to work just because an 25 evaluation system. We are going to have to do the 34 1 training to bring the skill level up. 2 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Commissioner 3 Council, could I just add to that before I lose the 4 thought. 5 Ms. Carter and E.D., we have to ensure 6 that all the staff members understand how HUD 7 performance measurements from HUD especially this 8 Commissioner's report that this is what raised. We 9 are going back to employee training, all the staff 10 members understand the mission and goals of the 11 agency, but to Commissioner Council, I also point 12 everyone, E.D. and Mr. Clark, they need to 13 understand how important these ratings on this 14 Commissioner's report was and when I looked at it I 15 know we haven't received the IT information that you 16 just said it is not reflected, but they need to 17 understand what the HUD measurements are, the 18 information that we as Commissioners get to look at 19 because I don't do -- we don't do the day-to-day of 20 the staff so I just wanted to add that. 21 MS. CARTER: That will be included in 22 the training, especially for all of our staff, 23 managers and assistant managers. I spoke with the 24 Executive Director about that about making sure they 25 know the importance of the work that they are doing 35 1 and how that ties into the report and the value we 2 receive in servicing the residents. 3 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Last question 4 on this note for Ms. Carter. Time frame. 5 MS. CARTER: So all of these things we 6 hope to roll out by January 1st. So you won't have 7 the evaluations on January 1st, but we will do a mid 8 year evaluation, but we are going to start that 9 training the week of the 10th. We will have our 10 in-house meeting with the directors and manages the 11 week of the 17th. I will meet with the Executive 12 Director to go over the SWAT analysis. October and 13 November will be our goal setting training, our 14 smart goals for our employees. Those are specific 15 measurable achievements and relevant time bound 16 goals. And then we will go into the launch of that 17 employee evaluation to begin to make those goals 18 come the new year in January. 19 MR. CIRILO: Thank you, Madam Chair. 20 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, 21 Director Carter. Please report back to us in the 22 second meeting in January just give us a brief 23 update. 24 COMMISSIONER CARTWRIGHT: Yes. 25 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 36 1 Gonzalez, I have two more questions. Can I finish? 2 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, sir. 3 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: The Section 8, 4 E.D., I'm trying to find out how the Section 8 is 5 doing for the last ninety days. We know that in 6 January they were really high like two hundred and 7 then it dropped down to fifty to forty and it 8 dropped down low, was coming back up. I am trying 9 to find out how did they do for the last ninety days 10 that we didn't have a report? 11 MR. CIRILO: Sure. I can't give you 12 any numbers because I don't have them in front of 13 me, but what I can tell you, Commissioner, the 14 lease-ups have improved on the Section 8 side. To 15 this morning I had a conversation with our financial 16 officer, Chief Financial Officer who reported that 17 we have or we are close to exhausting all of our HAP 18 authority. That means all of our money that has 19 been allocated for the Section 8 vouchers is mostly 20 gone. 21 So to your question, the department 22 has been very active in leasing up clients and, 23 number two, we were actually having conversations 24 with HUD because at this point HUD is saying that we 25 may have a shortfall which is a good thing from the 37 1 perspective of us helping or extending as many 2 vouchers as possible out in the market. 3 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: One last 4 question, E.D. You taught me a lot about 5 turnarounds and the time. What's your new schedule 6 now that we are on this new good track? What is 7 your idea of a turnaround now because remember we 8 had some turnarounds that was three hundred sixty 9 days and, you know, that you had broken down it 10 should have been like within thirty-day period for 11 certain sites and then maybe for the scattered sites 12 a little longer. Could you give us any insight on 13 your turnaround ideas now? 14 MR. CIRILO: Sure. So to your 15 question the market turnaround rate is about twenty 16 days. Housing authorities are expected to shoot 17 between twenty to thirty days. If we look at our 18 report can tell us that. We have average turnaround 19 days we are looking at, you know, it would take 20 these statistics as valid statistics. This report 21 shows a hundred and ninety-four days. So we are 22 still very far behind. It is not something that 23 cannot be accomplished. I can tell you that I've 24 gone to a housing agency where we had a hundred and 25 forty-five to a hundred and fifty days and we were 38 1 able to lower that to under thirty days. So it is 2 doable and I thank, again, our human resources 3 department because that's what it takes for us to 4 really understand how to lower those numbers and how 5 to become a high performing housing authority. High 6 performing housing authority, accountability. 7 Accountability, supervision, work plans. So short 8 answer one ninety-four. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Okay, because 10 we got smoke in this report. In the report it was 11 saying that we lost, in other words, the report says 12 two hundred fifty-seven people moved in and three 13 hundred sixty-eight so we are minus added a hundred 14 and eleven apartments in the report. So we lost -- 15 well, we didn't gain any. We got a hundred eleven 16 new apartments. So I understand what you are 17 saying. I just want to go by the report to explain 18 to you I know you are on it, okay. 19 Thank you, Commissioner Gonzalez, I'm 20 good. 21 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, sir. 22 I would like to move to the other item 23 for approval which is the June and July Board 24 transcripts. 25 MR. CIRILO: We have to ask for a 39 1 motion. 2 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: A motion. 3 MR. CIRILO: The Board reports. 4 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: The July and 5 August Board report as well as the June and July 6 Board transcripts, Director, roll call. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will make a 8 motion to approve the transcripts, but in July I 9 don't have a July report. 10 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I will second. 11 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I don't have a 12 July report, but the transcripts I have. 13 MR. CIRILO: There is a motion on the 14 August Board of Commissioners report. Is there a 15 second? 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will second 17 it. 18 MR. CIRILO: August Board of 19 Commissioner report. 20 Commissioner Muhammad. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council. 23 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 25 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 40 1 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 2 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 4 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 6 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. Now, 8 July. 9 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: So now the July 10 Board reports and transcripts, could I get a motion? 11 I will move it. 12 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Second. 13 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Roll call, 14 Director, please. 15 MR. CIRILO: Ma'am Chair, on the 16 motion. Commissioner Muhammad. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: No, until I 18 get a July report. I don't have a July report so I 19 say no. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council. 21 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 23 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 25 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 41 1 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 2 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 4 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 6 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Could we have a 7 motion for the -- do you want me to take this as 8 June first? 9 MR. CIRILO: June and July. 10 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: June and July 11 Board transcripts. Can I have a motion to approve 12 it? 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move it 14 for you. 15 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I will second it. 16 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 17 Commissioner Muhammad. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 19 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council. 20 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 21 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 22 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 23 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 24 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 42 1 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 3 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 4 MR. CIRILO: The motion passes. 5 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Resolutions, 6 please. 7 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, Resolution 8 01 reads resolution authorizing the execution of an 9 emergency contract and make any necessary 10 corrections and extensions of such contract with 11 Flutech, Incorporated to conduct carbon monoxide 12 testing, resurface the inside of the chimney with 13 high temperature sprayed Thermocrete and replace 14 deteriorated cleanout doors at the Newark Housing 15 Authority administration building located at 500 16 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102 in the amount 17 of sixty-six thousand dollars. 18 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move it 19 for you. 20 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Second. 21 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, on the 22 motion, Commissioner Muhammad. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council. 25 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 43 1 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 2 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 4 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 6 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 8 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 10 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Next 11 resolution, please. 12 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, Resolution 13 02 reads resolution authorizing the execution of an 14 emergency contract and make any necessary 15 corrections and extensions of such contract with 16 Barclay Water Management to install and maintain an 17 i-Chlor remediation system to mitigate the 18 legionnaire bacteria that exists at the Seth Boyden 19 elderly building on 120 Dayton Street for an initial 20 three-month period in the amount of nineteen 21 thousand sixty dollars. 22 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move it 23 for you. 24 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Second. 25 MR. CIRILO: On the motion, 44 1 Commissioner Muhammad. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council. 4 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 6 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 7 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 8 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 9 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 10 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 11 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 12 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 13 Next resolution, please. 14 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, the next 15 resolution reads resolution authorizing the 16 execution of a contract and make necessary changes 17 with Fowler Route Company for cashless laundry 18 concession services at Newark Housing Authority 19 senior sites for a term of ten years. 20 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 21 Gonzalez. 22 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, sir. 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I thought 24 there was an amendment to this one. I thought it 25 was ten years with a five-year, something like that. 45 1 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 2 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: E.D., is that 3 in there? 4 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 5 MR. CIRILO: Can we add an amendment 6 to the heading to read as amended. 7 MR. MENA: Yes, and the amendment was 8 my understanding and all of our -- if I may, Madam 9 Chair, our contract, the boilerplate language has 10 the standard termination for cause. So if at any 11 point during the term of the contract after 12 receiving notice any vendor, you know, fail to 13 correct the deficiency, we would have a right to 14 terminate. 15 In this situation the Board had asked 16 for the Housing Authority to be able to make an 17 assessment at the five-year term so we will be 18 incorporating that into the language of the contract 19 to put the vendor on notice that in this particular 20 situation we are being very particular about at the 21 five-year term we are going to be looking at it more 22 closely than usual to make sure our residents 23 continue to get the quality equipment when it was 24 put in brand new. 25 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Great, I just 46 1 appreciate it. 2 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: How many years 3 warranty -- 4 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Commissioner 5 Baez. 6 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: How many years 7 warranty are we going to have on this because if it 8 breaks down in five years, who is going to pay for 9 that because it's ten years. 10 MR. MENA: Commissioner Baez, I 11 believe the vendor indicated that in the 12 presentation in July during the work session that 13 the equipment is guaranteed by the manufacturer and 14 depending on the equipment it varies, but they 15 will -- they indicated in their proposal that their 16 response time I believe was twenty-four hours for 17 any repairs and whatnot and then the manufacturer 18 also has a separate warranty for the products. 19 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: All right. 20 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, 21 Elio. 22 Could I get a motion? 23 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I will move it 24 for you, Commissioner. 25 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. I 47 1 will second it based on the items we just discussed. 2 Director. 3 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, on the 4 motion, Commissioner Muhammad. 5 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council. 7 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 9 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 11 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Abstain. 12 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 13 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 15 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 17 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Next 18 resolution, please. 19 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, the next 20 resolution 04 reads resolution authorizing the 21 write-off of collection losses in the amount of five 22 hundred forty-two thousand three hundred eighty-nine 23 dollars and twenty-six cents from the tenant 24 accounts receivable balance for the quarter ended 25 June 30, 2022. 48 1 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 2 Gonzalez. 3 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes, sir. 4 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: E.D., what 5 about the million eight that the City is giving us, 6 why do we have to write this off? 7 MR. CIRILO: Sure. Those funds will 8 be directed at families that remain with the Housing 9 Authority. This is monies that are written off for 10 folks that walked away without paying the rent or, 11 you know, had some other situation that results in 12 the non-collection of rents, but to answer your 13 question that is directed to those that wish to 14 remain in good standing with the Housing Authority. 15 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Did we get the 16 million eight yet? 17 MR. CIRILO: The department of 18 operations has put together all those applications. 19 They are being sent to the City of Newark office of 20 housing and economic development for follow up. 21 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 22 Gonzalez, I will be glad to move it for you. 23 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you. 24 Could we move. 25 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: I'll move it. 49 1 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: We have 2 Commissioner Muhammad and Commissioner Baez who 3 seconded it. 4 Roll call. 5 MR. CIRILO: Thank you, Madam Chair. 6 On the motion, Commissioner Muhammad. 7 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 8 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council. 9 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 10 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 11 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 12 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 13 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 14 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 15 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 16 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 17 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 19 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Next 20 resolution, please. 21 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair. 22 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: The last 23 resolution. 24 MR. CIRILO: The resolution reads 25 resolution authorizing the Executive Director to 50 1 execute a Police Shared Services Agreement and make 2 all the necessary changes with the City of Newark to 3 patrol Newark Housing Authority properties and 4 provide a higher level of public safety to Newark 5 Housing Authority residents in the amount of four 6 million dollars a year for a period of three years 7 in a total amount not to exceed twelve million 8 during that time, whichever comes first. 9 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Commissioner 10 Gonzalez, I'd like to say something. 11 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 12 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: E.D., could 13 you explain to the public that we actually bringing 14 in Newark Police officers, that the concept is to 15 bring in Newark Police officers. 16 MR. CIRILO: Sure. Thank you, 17 Commissioner. Madam Chair, with your approval the 18 objective here is to work with the City of Newark 19 Police Department and the administration. They have 20 been talking to the Housing Authority for the last 21 several years about bringing in police officers more 22 urgently as of late because of the increase post 23 COVID of activity throughout the City. We have sat 24 down with the administration, their professionals, 25 the public safety department and put together a plan 51 1 where we can incorporate part of our budget utilized 2 for public safety to bring in police officers to 3 those sites that have experienced the highest amount 4 of activity in the last twelve months. We had a 5 professional put together a plan based on statistics 6 acquired from the Police Department ranking every 7 site in order of criminal activity and calls coming 8 into the Police Department. So we are looking to 9 allocate the police officers in those areas, the top 10 areas, the top five and top six that have the 11 highest amount of activity. 12 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Thank you, 13 Director. 14 If no more questions, I would like to 15 move this resolution. 16 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: I'll second 17 it. 18 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, on the 19 motion, Commissioner Muhammad. 20 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 21 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council. 22 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 23 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 24 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 25 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 52 1 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 2 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 3 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 4 MR. CIRILO: Chairperson Gonzalez. 5 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 6 MR. CIRILO: The motion passes. 7 That concludes the agenda, Madam 8 Chair. 9 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: This concludes 10 today's agenda. So thank you everyone and this 11 meeting is adjourned. I need a mover, I'm sorry. 12 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Motion. 13 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Second. 14 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Roll call. 15 MR. CIRILO: Madam Chair, on the 16 motion to adjourn, Commissioner Muhammad. 17 COMMISSIONER MUHAMMAD: Yes. 18 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Council. 19 COMMISSIONER COUNCIL: Yes. 20 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Haqq. 21 COMMISSIONER HAQQ: Yes. 22 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Baez. 23 COMMISSIONER BAEZ: Yes. 24 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Logan. 25 COMMISSIONER LOGAN: Yes. 53 1 MR. CIRILO: Commissioner Gonzalez. 2 CHAIRPERSON GONZALEZ: Yes. 3 MR. CIRILO: Motion passes. 4 5 (Whereupon, the proceedings were 6 concluded at 6:01 p.m.) 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 54 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 I, ANTHONY HOFMANN, a Certified Court 4 Reporter, and Notary Public within and for the State 5 of New Jersey, certify that the foregoing is a true 6 and accurate transcript of the stenographic notes of 7 said witness(es)who were first duly sworn by me, on 8 the date and place hereinbefore set forth. 9 10 11 12 ___________________________ ANTHONY HOFMANN, C.C.R. 13 LICENSE NO. XIO1854 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25