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Home My Public Portal AboutA1989-10-04 HOUSING ADVISORY BOARD � _ % '.�--__Y � • t � A G E N D A � � � CITY OF LYNWOOD R L�4 �� CEIVED ' AOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOP ENT �YOFLYNyypOp I , ��TY CLERKS OFp��E ; ADVISORY BOARD gFp � g �g89 AM ; REGULAR MEETING 7ig�9il0illi12i1�2i3i S s �� ' WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1989 L�� . � 7:00 P.M. LYNWOOD CITY HALL, 11330 B�'„�LIS ROAD /�i( G�� CLAUDE LAW CHAIRPERSON PATRICIA CARR TRINA REEVES VICE CHAIRPERSON MEMBER ' CYNTHIA GREEN-GETER MARGARET ARAUJO MEMBER MEMBER � � � BLANCA LLAMAS I NEW BOARD MEMBER � i i CITY STAFF I • DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY PROGRAM STAFF VICENTE L. MAS CLARENCE WILLIAMS, � HCDA MANAGER � I OPENING CEREMONIES: ` A. CALL TO ORDER I B. FLAG SALUTE � , i C. ROLL CALL D. CERTIFICATION OF AGENDA POSTING BY CITY CLERK i E. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - SEPTEMBER 6, 1989 I F. SWEARING IN OF NEW BOARD MEMBER i G. PUBLIC'ORALS: (ITEMS ON AGENDA ONLY) � I i i i I I 1 � � I _ - ___ � {. . � � � HCDA AGENDA PAGE #2 I � H. OLD BUSINESS � l. PROJECT ACT/SO Comments: Mrs. Margaret Araujo requested that the Board invite a representative of the NACP Project ACT/SO to bring information as to who applied and who received the awards from the program that was conducted. She requested to have this matter agendized. Staff has made several attempts at reaching project director by phone. Unable to make contact. With Board approval, staff will draft letter to project requesting a statement of policy regarding discrimination. I. NEW BUSINESS 1. Report on Project Impact FY 1989-90 I 2. Consideration of proposal by Parks and I Recreation for after school recreational program J. STAFF ORALS i 1. Request for workshop with City Council. K. BOARD ORALS i L. PUBLIC ORALS � M. ADJOURNMENT I � Adjournment to regular meeting of November 1, 1989, I at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, I 11330 Bullis Road, Lynwood, California. ' � � I i I I I I � I I I 1 I � � 2 1 i I I I � _� � ; , .. MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVEIAPMENT ADVISORY BOARD I. A. Call to Order A regular meeting of the Housing and Community Development Advisory Board was called to order by Chairperson Claude law, September 6, 1989, at 7:12 p.m., in the Council Chambers of Lynwood City Hall, 11330 Bullis Road, Lynwood, California. B. Flag Salute All present participated in the pledge of alle- giance. - C. Roll Call Present: Claude Law Patricia Carr Trina Reeves Cynthia Green-Geter Margaret Araujo Nathaniel Davis I Also Present: Vicente L. Mas, Community Development i Director ' Clarence Williams, Acting HCDA Manager ! D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES � The HCDA Board reviewed the Minutes of September 6, 1989. Cynthia Green-Geter moved, Patricia Carr seconded that the Minutes be approved, with corrections. Approval was unanimous. E. PUBLIC ORALS: � I None. I F. NEW BUSINESS � Resignation of Nathaniel Davis. I � ROLE OF THE HCDA ADVISORY BOARD Chairman Law asked staff to further explain the role of the I Board. Vicente L. Mas, Director of Community Development, i states that in relation to the role of the HCDA Board mem- bers, he has been talking to staff and Board members indi- vidually,and comments have been made concerning what the role of the Advisory Board is. Staff has been asked to, on an individual basis, to provide clarification. Mr. Mas � wanted to know what the members of the board perceived their roles to be. i Mr. Nathaniel Davis sees his role as directly contacting and working in conjunction with City Council, advising them as stated in the rules and regulations. He cannot see where ; they are as effective as they should be. He believes they i should be working more with City Council. He feels, as i I i � 3 I , � � • • ] � ] Board Members when various activities are going, on within the City, that they as board members know it's not right, they should be able to speak out about the situation and be heard. Mr. Davis feels that they are not being heard, as pertaining to the rules and regulations. Mrs. Patricia Carr feels as though the part that they should play is to observe the things that are taking place in and around the City and about through the City. As far as con- sistency, she feels the role the Board actually plays is a little confusing to her because there is always a question as to where its position really lies and what actions we should take. She feels that there are a lot of things that she is interested in. There are certain Ordinances that have not been updated that she thinks this committee should review and advise the City Council on. She feels the posi- tion has several parts, but where the clarification of what role the committee plays, she has a question about it. Mrs. Margaret Araujo states that when she was appointed to the commission she thought she was appointed because of her involvement in the community. She could bring back informa- tion to the Advisory Board that could be taken to Council, things that concern the community, what was happening in the committee. But it seems as though everything the Board has been doing is after the fact, because the Council has already acted on it, have postponed it or have already made � a decision on the particular issue. She states that even I though the board goes out to research and find out informa- I tion about certain projects they have reviewed, when the information is brought back and submitted for recommenda- � tion, no one is listening to the board. So all the research, i time and effort spent was futile. For example, she has been � asking about Project ACT/SO for about three months now and she got tired, and decided to go to Council and give it to i them verbally, because she got tired of making recommenda- I tions and asking if they could please ask council to bring back information. Mrs. Araujo states that it seems like the Board is just here and no one is listening and taking them seriously. The Council makes up its mind on what it is going to do, before or after, without even looking at what � the Board has recommended. And she doesn't know if it's I because staff isn't givinq Council the Board's recommenda- , tions or if it is because Council doesn't even consider the I Board's recommendations. Mrs. Araujo feels that Council i should take them more seriously and look at their recommen- dations since they are Community people and have more time to spend on an issue. She feels that the Advisory Board is I just there. I Ms. Trina Reeves, agrees with other Board members. She is also confused as to where they stand. However, when she was � appointed to the Board she thought that they would advise � the Council and recommend that different organizations be i observed by the board, and then recommended to the Council. The Board would then choose the organizations that would i best suit the city, and these groups would receive funds or � allocations. She doesn't remember, in any situation, where I the Advisory Board has helped the City or has been to the � City's advantage. She feels no one is listening to them. � For example, she remembers one incident, from reading the � Journal, that it was said that Board agreed that funds be I given to the Aids project, $5,000, but the Board had disap- + proved that. She wonders if that it was any other board, would their name have been used in something that was not � true. She doesn't agree with Council using the Board's name i I I 4 I .. _ . � � � 3 like that, especially when the Board didn't have a chance to � meet with Council to let them know how they felt and to tell ; them their views on a certain organization. Council did not ;` even give them the chance to say if they wanted this partic- ular organization or not. She doesn't remember any situa- tion where they were able to come to council and come to an agreement on any given issue. She is confused as to where the Board stands with Council. ' Mrs. Cynthia Green-Geter views their roles as Commissioners, � as an Advisory Board as double fold. She understood when they were first appointed to this Advisory Board they were to observe, to scrutinize and to advise the City Council, through staff as to the Boards opinion on the utilization of Block Grant funds. When she was first appointed to this ' Commission she expended time and energy, and doing a lot of �' readin Reason bein g• g, she wanted a good clear understand- ing of what the expectations were and she wanted to be able . to serve the Council as best as she could. Otherwise, she feels that it wouldn't make any sense for her to be on the Advisory Board. From her reading, she has excellent recall, she read about economic development, and business develop- ', ment in the community. And she feels that since they have ; been on the Board it has been her observation that they have ; reviewed several proposals. She has learned many things i about the interaction of the various components of the City. She has learned about different service organizations that I are here to address the needs of our young people, through I counseling and academic events. And as a board member she � has seen two things happen, from her observation, she has � seen the Board in the first six months completely transcend I population wise, and that told her everyone had to relearn procedures and all the new people had to learn role play- I ing at the same time. She also saw, as board members at various times, she thinks board members had to depend too much on a staff person, to do what they need to do as I citizens because as a citizen and a tax payer of the commu- I nity, not only do the Board serves to advise the City coun- cil, but the board serves its community at large. And so as � a result of this, it is incumbent upon them to provide independent and creative thinking and utilization of oppor- � tunities that present themselves. She feels that as a board � member she should be present at City Council meetings. She i thinks that if in fact we are going to serve the City Coun- ! cil, you are going to have to know what the City Council is doing. If you are going to serve the community, you have to � know what is going on inside the community in order to be effective. She states that she has also seen a transition � of staff persons and the changing of their roles. Cynthia states she knows she has read exactly what the roles of this board is supposed to be, and she feels that the Board has ' served this purpose in a technical way. However, though we I may not be satisfied with out own performance because we know what we have and have not done. She feels that the � Board needs to follow up and not depend on staff. i Mr. Claude Law states that he also agrees with the Board, �� because when he decided to become a Board member, each Board member decided to do research in reading and that they were I all citizens involved in the City of Lynwood. He states that we are all concerned about the different projects that are funded by the HUD money, and is disturbed and hurt by ' the projects that are not funded, for example projects � dealing with the senior citizens, and the Community Legal i Services. He feels that the money from HUD is there to I service the community. As Advisory Board member of the HUD Board to the City Council, he is distressed because recom- � mendations made by the Board are not considered by the City i Council. It really bothers Mr. Law that they have to go to the state capital to ask for assistance. � ; 5 i I I I , . � � Mr. Vicente L. Mas, informed the Board that their role was to deal with issues on the agenda only, unless the City Council changes this, staff and the Board are circumscribed to operate within this policy. Margaret Araujo said the Board was wasting a lot of time dealing with issues that don't concern them. Mr.. Mas stated that if the HCDA Board wanted to become further involved it would be a matter City Council would have to consider. Mr. Mas further stated that the Board could petition Council to consider changing the scope of their involvement but that might require an adjustment of the roles and functions of other advisory bodies. Therefore, the type of involvement Board members had indicated may not be feasible. Mr. Mas states that one of the problems is what he believed to be the lack of understanding of what the role as a body is. You play a role as citizens and that role is defined by state law and state constitution, while your role as a Board member is defined by the municipal code and by the action or ordinances and resolutions that the City Council adopts. He wants to make sure the Board is clear in their roles. He further emphasized that their personal advocacy roles on the �, Board are superseded by the scope of the authority granted to them by the Council. I Mrs. Cynthia Green-Geter states that board members under- I stand the definition of their roles, but the point is that � as their ability to fulfill that role we have done that, but then at the same time there has been a break down of commu- nication and she sees that as being a two way street. Mr. Mas states that he wanted to address all the issues and ! concerns and improve communication with staff and Board and get a better understanding of the role of the body, the role � of staff, and the role of the City Council. I Mr. Nathaniel Davis made a motion requesting a workshop with � City Council, seconded by Cynthia Green-Geter. Approval was unanimous. Mr. Claude Law states that they know what their roles are as advisory Board members, but he is also looking at the i community and it is his concern that the things that are not � being taken care of in the community. Mrs. Cynthia Green - Geter states that these issues chan ing the scope of develo ment and � g � P , getting the Board involved � in other areas, will come out in workshop with the City Council. Pat Carr commented that the Board is limited to discussion of Block Grant Programs only and asked to make recommendations on projects once a year. She questions what i is the Board suppose to do in the months, following Project/Grant awarding? Mrs. Carr said the Board sits and � collects its $25 a month, and personally in her opinion she I doesn't see anything wrong with a workshop, such as Redevel- opment, which was suggested by Mrs. Green-Geter to discuss certain issues that concern the Board. She further stated that she thought the Board and the community was being � cheated by not utilizing the services of the Board for other �� services as well. ! � � � i I 6 I I .':::.4 . .. . � � . � .. . � � ' Mrs. Margaret Araujo said she would like to sum up the discussion by stating what needs to take place (if granted workshop with the City Council) is the expansion of the roles of the HCDA Board. Ms. Araujo feels that the Board members already know what their roles are. She also feels that as Community leaders they have become too involved in issues that do not pertain to the Board. Mr. Mas commented that he agrees with Mrs. Carr regarding the fact that the Board's role is to deal with Block Grant Funding on a fiscal and programmatic basis and it's not necessary to meet once a month to deal with the scope of activities. And staff has recommended, through the,system, that Board be limited to a quarterly meeting to review the financial statements and programmatic reports and so forth. Mrs. Green-Geter comments that four or five meetings is not enough time to secure the productivity and the actual utilization of the funds that will affect this community. Four or five meetings would not justify the need of our community and the people we represent on this board. She also disagrees with limiting HCDA board meetings to four or five meetings a year, due to the fact that it is incumbent � that follow up be done on the different projects, and funds � that are utilized in the community. Mr. Mas states that what he was referring to is the narrow scope of this. He states that, in the past, there has been � a tremendous turnover of the composition of the HCDA Board I and that has created a tremendous void in the continuance of the program. ! Mrs. Green-Geter states that frustration has contributed to � the turnover on the Board, and thinks that that frustration I can be eliminated. ' Mr. Mas states that if the City Council decides to go with � the workshop everything can be resolve at that time. � i Mr. Law states he doesn't feel the need to discuss any j projects until after the workshop with Council. He also wanted to know the status of the press release that was requested. � Mr. Mas stated that the Board has to direct staff on the I type of public notices or press releases it wants. � BOARD ORALS: I Mrs. Araujo states that while reading the Wave newspaper she i noticed that it had all of the Agenda that was going to be discussed at the Council meeting, and she had never seen that before. She felt that, as a citizen, they took an ; interest in her by putting the agenda in the paper. ; Several Board members expressed the view that they would I like the Agenda put in the paper regularly. So the citizens ' can know what is going on with items in the city. � Mr. Mas suggested that the format for the press releases be � the following: a short explanation of what the HCDA Advisory Board meeting will be, the role of the Advisory j Board, the date of the meeting and what is being proposed for the Agenda. Mr. Mas feels these items should be ' published on a monthly basis. In the same manner the City ' Council Agenda is being published. j i r I I � I I . � � Mrs. Green-Geter put Mr. Mas sugqestion into motion, Mrs. Araujo seconded. Approval was unanimous. Mrs. Araujo is requesting that Reverend Harris, from Project Impact, be invited to the next meeting of the board to provide information as to how much money is spent on trans- portation for students to participate in out of city activi- ties. Mr. williams replied, the money being spent is from some other source, it is not coming from Block Grant funds, and travel is not a part of the expense. Mrs. Araujo rescinded her question because Mr. Williams answered her it. Mr. Mas stated that, as members of the Board, they could at any point in time have the prerogative to review records. The Board just has to call staff to set up a meeting to go through the records. Mrs. Araujo wanted to know when does Project Impact and �� Project AC/SO contract with the city expire? i Mr. williams answered stating, from July 1 of one year I through June 30 of the following year. That is HUD's fiscal i year. Mrs. Green-Geter expressed concerns about the after school �' program, she wanted to know if Block Grant Funds could pick ' up part of the expense, due to the fact that funds ran out I for this program before the end of the school year. Mr. Mas stated that as long as they have monies that can be I allocated they can be used for public service projects. Mrs. Green-Geter made a motion that, if they in this school � year, the After School Program comes up again with the City � Council she would like to see the program funded throughout � the whole year. She wants to bring this item with informa- tion Council to the City Council, and see what City Council � has done with this particular program and how much money it � would take for the remaining of the school year. She also I wants to discuss ideas of the After School Program with Jim i Givens, member of Parks and Recreation and have him write a I proposal requesting funds to fund the program. Ms. Araujo I seconded the motion. Approval was unanimous. Mrs. Araujo is requesting that the City purchase, Paul I Newman Drug Prevention video cassette tape series which is � used to assist parents in instructing their children on drug � prevention. The series will be housed in the library and � will be used on a check-out basis. She would like for staff � to see how this program can be funded. � Mrs. Cynthia Green-Geter commented on the Youth Commission ' and encouraged Board members to go by and encourage the young people. They had a special workshop this evening at f the New Campfire building. The young people are excited, � but they need encouragement, from the adults, to let their � voices be heard in a productive way. � Clarence Williams stated that if the Board has any items between now and the next meeting that they would like to see � on the next agenda, please call him. ; I 8 , �: - . i • Mrs. Araujo commented on the Unity Fair that went on in Parks and Recreation stating that it was a positive step in bringing change and improving the Community, because of the various cultural activities and participation of non-resident City employees. STAFF ORALS: Mr. Williams informed the Board that Annette Porter is no longer secretary/recorder for HCDA Board because she is attending school. Mr. Mas stated at a prior Council meeting, Council appointed a new Board Member to fill the vacancy that exists and staff will be contacting the individual in hopes to induct him/her as an Advisory Member, at the Board's next meeting. � ADJOURNMENT: I Pat Carr motioned for adjournment, Margaret Araujo � seconded to adjourn the meeting. Approval was unanimous. � 1 . I CLAUDE LAW, DATE VICENTE L. MAS, DIRECTOR i CHAIRPERSON OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT � I I � I I I � � f I i i I � i I 9 � I