City of Lawrence, Kansas

HOMELESS ISSUES ADVISORY COMMITTEE

April 9, 2013 Minutes (Lawrence City Commission Room)

Members present: Brad Cook (Bert Nash Homeless Outreach Team), Hubbard Collinsworth (at-large), Becky Peters (Family Promise), Laurie Hooker (LDCHA), Lt. Matt McCluer (Salvation Army), Trent McKinley (LPD)

Members absent: Cary Strong (Lawrence Business Community), Kadie Jorgensen (LMH), Michael Brouwer (Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Re-Entry Program)

Staff present: Danelle Dresslar, Rhonda Peterson

Public present: Pat Benabe, Rachel Schwaller, CJ Brune, Vivian Baars (Salvation Army), Loring Henderson (LCS), Crystal Camis (Willow Domestic Violence Center), Saunny Scott

The meeting was called to order at 8:33 a.m. by Chair Cook.

ITEM NO. 1 Introductions

The members of the HIAC, city staff and guests introduced themselves.

ITEM NO. 2 Approval of the Agenda and the March 12, 2013 Minutes.

Motion by Collinsworth to approve the Agenda and the March 12, 2013 meeting minutes of the HIAC; seconded by McCluer.

Motion passed unanimously.

ITEM NO. 3 Discuss June HIAC meeting

Dresslar said she is scheduled to be in Galveston, TX on June 11 for a conference. She said the committee can move the June meeting; the city Commission room is available the week before, or if there is a different time that works for everybody she can look at other options for times.

Dresslar added with regard to the May 7 meeting, she has a meeting scheduled at 11:00 a.m. in Manhattan, so the meeting needs to be concluded by 9:30..

McCluer asked on what date the May meeting is set. Dresslar responded May 7, and she had sent an email out to all of the committee members after the date was approved and changed at the previous meeting.

Cook asked to clarify that Dresslar wanted to change the date of the June meeting from the 11^th to the 4^th. Dresslar responded yes, and this should be the last time the dates will need to change.

Cook asked if anyone had any concerns with that date change for June’s meeting.

McKinley said he may be in a conference for two days that week.

Cook said the committee would plan to meet on June 4. Dresslar said she would send out a reminder for that meeting. She understands if members are unable to attend the meeting as it is not the regularly scheduled day.

ITEM NO. 4 Housing Vision Reports

Cook said that he would like to add an item to the agenda and have it presented first as he has to leave the meeting early. Rachel Schwaller is here to make a presentation on transportation.

The committee and Dresslar said that would be fine.

A. Non-Housing – Transportation

Rachel Schwaller introduced herself and said she is in attendance to talk about bus transportation for the Lawrence Community Shelter (LCS). After the shelter was moved to its new location, the shelter was told a bus stop would be provided for the clients who use the shelter so they could continue to have access to the services downtown. LCS is given annually $8000 from the city to divide between seven community agencies in order to purchase single bus passes and work clothes for its clients. Schwaller said this has proven to be woefully insufficient. She feels the bus pass allocation is also an unnecessary expenditure of the funds that are given by the city because buying bus passes is a waste of money given that the buses are run by the city.

Schwaller said between January and February 2013, a volunteer offered rides for clients from the shelter to anywhere they needed to go within the City of Lawrence. The agency kept a detailed spreadsheet of where these clients wanted or needed to go. Schwaller said they have been able to look at these numbers so that they are able to give accurate data, which can be seen in the handout. Schwaller said out of 445 individuals who received rides, 69% of these trips can be readily identified as necessary for these individuals, meaning they are requested by the client for trips such as a work interview, appointments at a medical center, or the food pantry. Schwaller said in addition some requested to be dropped off at the curb not specifying their destination. Necessary stops also included Bert Nash, Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH) and the LMH emergency room. These agencies compromise 17% of this type of necessary trip. Other types of rides included education needs such as trips to libraries and schools, and work needs including job interviews. These types of trips made up 12% of the total trips. Rides to governmental offices were also included, such as the social security center, non-profit organizations such as Just Food, Willow DV Center, and Penn House. Schwaller said in addition, other basic necessity trips were needed to locations such as to Laundromats and grocery stores and other places that provide common needs that every basic person utilizes. These types of trips made up 27% of the destinations in that period. The rides have increased in number due to the fact that the shelter is now isolated from the main part of the city.

Schwaller stated the most beneficial and simplest, straightforward solution to this issue is to make the bus stop at the shelter a free stop for those boarding there. It is the responsibility of our community, of which the Transportation Department is an integral part of, to provide safe, timely and reasonable access to all of Lawrence for all of its citizens. At this point, more information is needed to pursue this option. Mr. Robert Nugent, who is the head of the Transportation Department, was approached by proponents of the free bus stop on this issue. Schwaller indicated Nugent dismissed the idea of a free stop very quickly. Schwaller said the hope is that this proposal will be taken on by the HIAC, and will additionally have the support this evening by the Coalition for Homeless Concerns. The provided proposal has the approval of Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods (LAN), as well as the Oread Friends. Schwaller said the group will continue to look for other groups to add their support as well to this proposal. Schwaller said she hopes the HIAC committee will support this proposal, which will in turn compel Nugent to revisit this issue and to provide the group with more information as to why this proposal is not considered optimal for the transportation department. Schwaller reiterated that she hopes the HIAC committee will consider the proposal and thanked them for listening.

Chair Cook asked CJ Brune if she would like to add any comments to Schwaller’s presentation.

CJ Brune introduced herself, and thanked the committee for putting this item on the agenda. She wanted to voice additional support for the proposal that Schwaller presented to the committee. Brune indicated she is one of the volunteers who provide transportation for clients at the shelter. She gives approximately 40-45 people a ride every week, and that is only in the three half days she volunteers at the shelter. The bus stop would make an immeasurable difference in these people’s lives. One dollar is very critical to their budgets; they have no way out of the shelter if they have to spend $2 every day or get in line for a bus pass to leave the location to get around town to do anything. She added they are not advocating that the City give them a free bus pass to get back to the shelter; the clients will have to do that on their own. They simply would like a controlled bus stop out at the shelter and the jail where clients can board the bus for free. Brune said this proposal also has the support of the League of Women Voters, the Older Women’s League and the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice. They would like to have a great number of peace and social justice agencies in the community to lend their support, and she hopes HIAC will consider adding its support as well.

McCluer expressed his support for the idea that there is a need for subsidized transportation for the guests at the shelter. He added he feels it is unfortunate that the shelter is located so far out on the edge of town and the community expects the clients to be able to get back to town on their own to be able to access all of the resources. McCluer added when he looks at the numbers on the Schwaller’s spreadsheet, he noticed some of these trips that were made seem to require a bus even if the shelter were at its previous location. McCluer said he does not want to present something to the City that contains inflated statistics just because there is a want or a need for transportation at the shelter. McCluer said he wondered how much of the trips noted were actually necessary due to the new location of the shelter.

Brune said at the previous location it was much easier for the shelter’s van to make trips to Bert Nash, LMH, doctor’s appointments and those types of trips because the shelter was located downtown. Brune said the shelter’s van is now being filled with gas a minimum of three times per week at a cost of $70 per fill. The shelter does not have unlimited funding for gas to be able to provide adequate transportation from the new location.

Schwaller added people who were in the previous location downtown would have been able to walk to places like the hospital. Clients at the new shelter are unable to walk from the current location as they would be walking on the highway where cars are travelling 60 miles per hour. The clients would also occasionally have to walk through residential yards, which is why the neighborhood associations are supporting this proposal. Additionally, some of the common needs which make up the trips were available downtown. It was much easier for guests who needed to get away to just walk across the street. Schwaller said she feels that a large number of the trips needed are a direct result of the isolation of the new location, and the numbers are not inflated.

McCluer asked if the shelter owned the van when they were located downtown to provide transportation.

Cook said yes, and added cost is not only a factor but time is as well. He said he sees fewer people housed at the shelter than he used to simply because of the time it takes to drive out and back to the new location. Recently he has had to drive to the shelter four times in one day, and at twenty minutes up and back each way it is a waste of time. He used to be able to see eight people in one day, now he is limited to four people because of the drive time.

McCluer said he disagreed having a free bus stop is the solution to the problem. He disagrees because he thinks it does a disservice to the guests if they are given a free ride in to town and then leave them stranded for a ride back to the shelter. He feels it would be more beneficial to tell the guests it is their responsibility to get a ride into town, but a ride will be provided to return to the shelter; or to spend the funds and buy a monthly pass for guests at the shelter. The second option would be to put the shelter van and volunteer transportation providers on something like a bus route so that groups of clients can be bussed into town on a regular schedule, rather than just taking people into town whenever they need it, which is what McCluer said sounds like is happening.

Schwaller said McCluer is bringing up several different issues, all of which she feels would make the situation more complicated. She said they have talked through a lot of the issues he mentioned already. The idea of having a van route brings forth the problem of who is responsible for the upkeep of the van, which is already in need of major repairs. Who is going to fill up the van with gas, which is already costing a lot of money. Who is going to drive the van; if it’s a volunteer, they already have their own time constraints.

Schwaller said she agrees it is a disservice to bring clients downtown and not provide return transportation to the shelter for them. However, the proposal as presented is what is feasible to be able to provide. She said the issue of return transportation can be addressed in the future, but this is what they can try do now. Addressing the issue with the transportation department and the merchants of Lawrence will be an obstacle in itself. Schwaller mentioned McCluer’s point about purchasing longer term bus passes for clients and said this was her initial thought but the concern with that option is those passes will then belong to the shelter, but there is no guarantee that when people sign them out, they will bring them back. It would be much easier, much less paperwork and easier to make the bus stop a free stop.

Brune added another problem is there are not unlimited volunteers that are willing to drive. Having volunteers run the van on a route that does not currently exist will be next to impossible. Shelter staff are already stretched too thin. Case management takes up the majority of the staff’s time, so there is no one available to operate a daily van route for transportation. Brune reiterated that she volunteers three half days every week. There is no one else that has picked up the remainder of the days because it is expensive and time consuming. She said as a volunteer, taking guests one way and dropping them off is not a new thing. The guest can usually come up with one dollar to get back to the shelter, but they are very thankful for the one dollar they have saved to ride one way. They are obligated to make their own way home, and often it is walking.

Schwaller reiterated that this proposal needs to be addressed first then issues mentioned previously can be addressed.

Collinsworth asked what the hours of operation would be for the bus stop in relation to transportation provided by other agencies. He said both Independence Inc. and Douglas County Senior Services are open from 8:00am -5:00pm. He said one of the agencies runs transportation on Fridays and Saturdays strictly for medical related trips. He added the transportation department is working on expanding its route to run on Saturdays.

Schwaller said routes will be an issue on Sundays. People are unable to participate in religious community organization events, children’s social events, and other similar occasions. The simplest and most straightforward thing now, she believes, is to deal with the present problem of transportation during the week. Then the other issues can be evaluated and dealt with at a later date to see if they are still a problem.

Peters said she appreciates Schwaller’s concern and comments regarding the shelter’s transportation. She asked to clarify, as written in the proposal, when the document is commenting on this proposal being the most beneficial and simplest proposal, it seems to make the point that it is the most beneficial and simplest proposal for the shelter. Was that the intention or is it saying it is the most beneficial for the city?

Schwaller said she feels it is most beneficial for both parties. The city is giving the $8000 to the shelter, and Family Promise is one of the agencies who benefits from that funding. The city gives the money out to purchase clothing and bus passes, but then the bus pass money is going right back to the city. It may cost more for a free bus stop, but Schwaller indicated this is one of the topics that needs to be discussed with Nugent, and that more information is needed. She feels this is not necessarily the best solution for the shelter, but there are other things that need to happen and this is a start. Schwaller also said she realizes a free bus stop will not happen without a pilot program being conducted first.

McCluer asked Loring Henderson how many people are currently in residence at the shelter.

Henderson responded they’ve been averaging 115 people per night.

McCluer asked how many people are there for a full month.

Henderson said he does not know that specific number, in part because they have only been in the new shelter for 90 days, and it has been a different crowd of people and a different program. Statistics in the previous shelter show that one third of the people stayed 10 days or less, one third of the people stayed 10-20 days, and another third stayed longer than 20 days. Those people were typically those dealing with complicated issues like long term disability or other items that take time to resolve.

McCluer asked what made it possible for the clients who were there 10 days or less to be able leave sooner.

Henderson responded they were passing through, they had a job in sight, or they had income so they could get a place to stay. Henderson said LCS recognizes that there are level one and level two clients. He said the level one client is one who is a short term guest or one that has not committed to programming yet. Level one guests have lesser sleeping privileges, and they although they have not committed to a program yet, they do have someone they are working with for case management.

McCluer asked how many guests qualify as level two participants, and who would be identified as a level two guest.

Cook responded that the number of guests that are level two participants is greater than the number of level one guests; there are approximately 20 participants in the level one program.

Henderson added there are approximately 70 guests who are level two. Others are currently being identified as level one or level two.

McCluer asked if that then meant there are 70 guests who are staying long enough that they are in need of more transportation.

Henderson said a level one participant has transportation needs as well.

Cook added that several level one participants have moved up to level two.

McCluer asked if the free bus stop and additional transportation needs would primarily help the level two guests who would require the most assistance.

Henderson said there are also people in the family program who require transportation assistance. There are 39 people in the family program, which includes children.

Peters added that the children at the shelter are provided separate bus options to get to school.

Schwaller replied that yes, the children are provided transportation to school, but currently nothing is done to allow them to participate in after school programs. Some of them do receive funding from Lawrence School District transportation, but do not have transportation options to such things as the recreation center, parks, school dances, summer camp, sports leagues and other similar functions. Schwaller said children should not be excluded from participating in community events such as these. Children should not be forced to forgo such activities just because of the position their families have put them in, and more importantly, the position the city has put them in with the shelter being located in such an isolated area.

Henderson said most of the time the children are travelling with their parents. Right now, the shelter has five children as residents who are preschool age.

McCluer asked how Schwaller intended to identify the clients who are in most need of the bus pass.

Schwaller said they are proposing that the bus stop be a free stop, so everyone would get a free ride.

McCluer asked that if he then went to the bus stop, he would also get a free ride.

Schwaller said that students at the University of Kansas get a free bus ride at the stop on campus. A student at KU, or anyone who walks up to the bus stop on campus, can receive a free ride. At the shelter stop, the vast majority of people using that stop are people who are disenfranchised, or the people who are visiting the jail. Schwaller feels providing a free stop to anyone at that bus stop location is not a major issue.

Brune added the county currently buys bus passes for people who are on a work release program from the jail. A free stop would also save the county a little bit of money. No one is going to walk all the way out to that stop to catch the bus; it is too far out there. Brune reiterated that the stop would only be free one way. The clients would be responsible for their return trip to the shelter.

Hooker asked if the issues of inadequate transportation and a free bus stop had been brought up with the city before the shelter moved.

Brune replied no one knew what the magnitude of the problem would be. This was not brought up before because they were promised a bus stop. The problem of people being able to use the bus stop, and the number of people who use it was not foreseen. They were unsure of the number of people who would even make the move out to the new shelter. This is something they have only just become aware of, and the problem is increasing.

Henderson said they talked many times with the city about transportation needs before the shelter moved to its new location. He said they have always had a four part transportation plan. One is the bus stop, second is the shelter’s own van, third is the volunteer driver, and the fourth is having two offices in the shelter available for visiting agencies to use when they travel to the shelter to provide services to the guests, rather than having the guests come to them. It helps cut down the need for transport out of the shelter. The two offices in the shelter are in use all of the time by visiting agencies. He added what was not realized was the high number of people that would be at the shelter. There is a high case load, there are a lot of needs they are having to meet, including repeated fueling of the shelter’s van 3-4 times per week. Sometimes it is necessary to transport guests out of town, for instance to the mental hospital in Leavenworth, which includes a ride to and from the facility. The high cost of gasoline has made a huge impact on the shelter’s budget, even though the shelter is within the city limits.

Hooker wondered if there had been any pushback from the City, if the City knew what it would cost them to have the shelter guests be given bus passes for transportation needs.

Schwaller said someone had approached Nugent with the idea of a free bus stop, which is why it was put in the proposal. It was a conversation made in passing, but Nugent dismissed it right away. Schwaller said they need more information, which is why they would like the full force of the HIAC and other committees’ support on this issue. They would like to have a serious discussion about this issue.

Brune said it is their position it is not going to cost the city anything. They are going to stop at that bus stop regardless of whether it is free or not. For the most part, everyone getting on the bus at that stop is already using subsidized bus passes to ride the bus, which the city pays for. So those bus passes will not be needed anymore. The city will save money, and the county will save money. This should be a win-win situation for the city.

Henderson said they would possibly like to continue to have the subsidized bus passes which would enable the guests to come back to the shelter on the bus. Having just the subsidized bus passes is not enough now. The shelter gives out passes in the morning, but limits them to only 10. Even though the shelter gets most of the passes, they have to budget their distribution because it is not enough to cover the need.

McCluer said he used to run a shelter in Illinois, and they had a requirement that guests had to leave the shelter by a certain time, and unless they were doing certain chores or something of that nature, they could not return until a certain time. He asked if the Lawrence shelter has a requirement like that.

Henderson replied no, they do not ask the guests to leave the shelter. They do feel the guests should be doing something useful while they are there. There is not only shelter space available, but there is also a warehouse space that will house the future jobs program. That area has a training room where training and education are offered for the guests.

Peters asked for clarification if Schwaller is asking for support on the proposal and solution, or just the proposal.

Schwaller said she would ask that the HIAC support both the proposal and the solution. For now, she is asking for HIAC to put their support behind the proposal. The committee could then appoint certain people to have the meeting with Nugent and then present the findings to the transportation department and possibly the City Commission. She reiterated she would like to have HIAC’s name on the proposal so that the transportation department will feel compelled to have this meeting. With just her name and Brune’s name on it, they have no interest. Even to have only the CHC’s name on the proposal is not enough. She would like to have HIAC’s name on the proposal to meet on the solution; it does not have to be the solution, but to assist in coming up with a viable solution so that a more comprehensive plan for providing transportation to and from the shelter can be determined.

Peters asked for clarification if they are trying to accomplish satisfying the solution, or coming up with a comprehensive plan.

Schwaller said it depends on the transportation department and how it responds to this first idea. The other part of having the meeting is to have a brainstorming session and come up with other possible solutions to the issue. The solution proposed is not the only solution, but Schwaller feels it is the best solution at this time. The solution would be the focus of the meeting, but she hopes the end result of the meeting would be the development of a comprehensive plan.

Brune feels that right now they want to show broad public support for this solution. This is the solution that she has taken to the Lawrence Neighborhood Association, which has unanimously supported it. The League of Women Voters has also supported it. They would like to add HIAC on to support this particular solution; she said Schwaller may not feel as strongly about that, but Brune thinks it is important.

McCluer asked if they have approached social service agencies or any other groups about helping with transporting guests back and forth.

Henderson said the shelter has an arrangement with Independence Inc. to take people to Health Care Access two mornings a week on Wednesdays and Fridays for those who have appointments.

Saunny Scott added there is an issue she would like addressed; she did not know if it had been discussed prior to her arrival. One of the promises made was to the neighborhoods in the surrounding areas that a bus stop would be provided so that shelter guests were not walking across yards and through neighborhoods to get to town. There is a tendency for people to be afraid of homeless people, but also they don’t want people just walking through their yards. She believes as the weather improves, more shelter guests will be walking through the neighborhoods. They were counting on guests being able to ride the bus.

Cook said he is leaving in a few minutes for a previously scheduled meeting which is directly related to the transportation issue, which is also a direction reflection on the time constraints involved in travelling from Burt Nash to the shelter and back. He asked if there is a motion to be made on which to vote before he leaves.

McCluer said when HIAC signs off on this proposal, so does the Salvation Army, the City Police Department as well as all the representatives on the committee. He stated he does not want to be “the boy who cries wolf” to the City. There needs to be a solution, but he feels there is a better solution to be found. He added he would like to help find that solution, but he feels there should be a better solution to propose before he is willing to sign off on presenting it to the City.

Peters asked Schwaller if there is a possibility to bring together Willow DV Center, Salvation Army, Family Promise and the other organizations that benefit from the bus pass funding to talk together about a comprehensive plan. She realizes the shelter is not the only one dealing with transportation issues; one bus stop is not going to address all of the issues and needs.

Schwaller said that is an option to bring more of the organizations in to the discussion.

Collinsworth added there will be two bus stops at the shelter as soon as the new stoplight is installed at O’Connell, which will allow the bus to be able to turn in and stop on the way back in to Lawrence. There are several programs the need assistance and funding. He mentioned that several volunteers like Brune have stepped up and given their time to help out. The issue still remains there is not an endless supply of funding for all programs. Massive cuts in social services from the federal level on down have been made.

Schwaller reiterated they believe this proposal should not cost the city any money at all. She said the addition of a second stop does not actually alleviate the problem, because guests would still have to pay to board the bus.

Hooker added if there was a way to prevent fraud or fraudulent use of a pass, she does not see why the guests could not also be provided with a ride back to the shelter. Otherwise, guests will still be walking back through the neighborhoods and along the highway.

Schwaller said that is another reason they would like the support of HIAC, which is to create a committee and a meeting for them so they can fully discuss all the issues.

Peters said perhaps one of the HIAC members could put together a letter in support of a meeting with Nugent that could be signed by the HIAC committee; she would be willing to draft that letter.

McCluer said he feels the committee should be fully prepared prior to the meeting with the agencies.

Hooker added the Housing Authority would like to help and see the endeavor be successful.

Peters said no one is arguing the validity of the proposal, but more how the committee should go about addressing it.

McCluer suggested that Peters, a representative from the Salvation Army, Schwaller and Brune get together prior to meeting with the City and HIAC support, then conduct a meeting with the City based on those findings.

Peters said she thinks Willow DV Center should be included in the meeting as well.

Dresslar asked the committee if they would like this topic back on the agenda next month.

Cook responded yes.

Dresslar asked if he would like that put in the place of the Housing Vision Reports and spend the hour discussing the transportation issue.

Cook said that would be acceptable, unless any of the other committee members had objections.

Dresslar asked that the members remember to let the people within their agencies know who would need to be here for the discussion. She also reminded the committee that the meeting is a week earlier than usual, on May 7 at 8:30 a.m.

McCluer asked if there needed to be a motion on the floor to carry forward with the meeting.

Dresslar responded that no motion was needed unless the committee was planning to take action on something today.

McCluer suggested that Schwaller, Brune and a representative from Willow DV Center meet after this HIAC meeting to plan a time when they could get together prior to the next HIAC meeting.

Schwaller and Brune both thanked the committee for listening to their proposal and for taking on the initiative to discuss the transportation issue further. Brune also suggested that a couple of community groups be included in the discussion. She realizes that the group should not be too big, but she feels that the community’s voice in the matter is important.

Dresslar offered the use of the city’s Development Services conference room if anyone needs a place to meet for their discussions prior to the next committee meeting.

As Chair Cook had left the meeting, Dresslar presided over the rest of the committee meeting.

B. Non-Housing – Just Food

Jeremy Farmer was not present to discuss this item.

C. Emergency Shelter/Temporary Housing – LCS Update

Dresslar said Loring Henderson with the Lawrence Community Shelter was present if anyone had any questions for him.

Henderson asked if everyone had received a copy of the annual report Andy Brown had passed out at the previous meeting. A few of the members had not been present at the last meeting, so he gave them a copy of the report, as well as a few of the members of the public that were present.

No one had any questions for Henderson.

D. Transitional Housing/Supportive Services – LDCHA

Hooker said she does not have anything new to report.

D. Permanent Supportive Housing – Salvation Army Project Able PSH

Vivian Baars with the Salvation Army introduced herself. The Permanent Supportive Housing program is funded through HUD with leasing dollars, and the remaining case management part comes from the Salvation Army. They have a grant for ten households; five of the households are families and five are singles. At least one adult in each household must have a disability. Being qualified as disabled means they must have a documented disability, but they do not have to be receiving disability payments. Two of the participants need to have a chronic disability to qualify under HUD’s regulations. Baars said the agency has had a rough start trying to get people to commit to coming in and visiting with the staff and getting started off right and staying on track. Since that time, however, they have had six individuals in the program and all but one are housed. They have three families in the program; one is housed and two are still looking for housing. Project Able works very closely with Family Promise; they have been very good about referring people into their program. They have four clients that receive disability, and four clients that do not. They have one single who has recently opted out of the program, and there are two openings for families in the program.

Henderson asked if they had room for one single.

Baars responded they could take another single into the program. Because the program is funded through leasing dollars, people that are coming in the program that are not currently working have the housing cost covered, but they must be able to pay for utilities, food and things of that nature.

No one had further questions for Baars.

E. Permanent Housing – LDCHA Section 8

Hooker said she does not have anything to report.

ITEM NO. 5 Miscellaneous/Calendar

Dresslar said the calendar change had already been discussed; the next meeting will be held May 7 at 8:30 a.m.

Collinsworth asked for a show of hands from the people on the committee who will be getting together to discuss the transportation issue.

Dresslar responded that it is not a sub-committee, it is more of an informal meeting with the agencies and is not limited to the HIAC members.

ITEM NO. 6 Public Comment.

Pat Benabe said she would like to talk about the HUD budget fact sheet she passed out. She asked if the LDCHA has been notified yet what its budget will be.

Hooker responded they are working on it, but no final decisions have been made yet since the sequestration budget cuts. She said their budget is in pretty good shape, so they do not foresee anything too catastrophic happening. They do receiving funding from several different sources, so cuts from other sources could cause complications. The 2012 annual report will be out soon.

Benabe said she wanted to make people aware of the changes coming through. HUD wants to privatize housing programs. They are not funding maintenance. If the community loses public housing, that will be a big deal in Lawrence. She added that the minimum $7.25 per hour is not a living wage; it will not pay rent anywhere. She said no one expected the shelter to be filled up and it is. Benabe pointed out the website listed on the back of the handout. That organization is trying to initiate a national campaign to get HUD to put funding back into subsidized and transitional housing. Benabe said HUD is putting too much money into the Home Ownership Program, and that there is a need for more transitional and subsidized housing. She feels the Home Ownership Program benefits people who are already making $100,000 annual wages, and that population already has housing choices.

Hooker said unfortunately the cuts to subsidized housing butt up against the 8.2% cut across the board for operations and HOME funding. All agencies are in a very bad position at this time. She added one of the biggest factors of support would be voter registration and community awareness of things that are being done.

There was no further public comment.

ITEM NO. 7 Adjourn.

Motion by McCluer to adjourn the April 9, 2013 meeting of the HIAC; seconded by Collinsworth.

Motion passed unanimously.

Attendance Record

Members

01/13

02/13

03/13

04/13

05/13

06/13

07/13

08/13

09/13

10/13

11/13

12/ 13

Michael Brouwer

Hubbard Collinsworth

Brad Cook

Brent Hoffman

Matt McCluer

Trent McKinley

Cary Strong

Laurie Hooker

Becky Peters

Kadie Jorgensen

X - Meeting Cancelled Due to Inclement Weather

E - Excused Absence

U - Unexcused Absence

() – Last meeting in term.

* - First meeting in term.

^ - Last Meeting