ARHA Board and Alexandria City Council One-Year Check-In Work Session — October 30, 2026

This joint work session between the Alexandria City Council and the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) Board of Commissioners ran from 7:03 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on October 30, 2026. It was a one-year check-in on the new ARHA board appointed in October 2025. The agenda and written minutes were not included in the source package, so this summary is based on the transcript. No formal votes were taken; the meeting produced follow-up assignments.

Governance and One-Year Board Report

• Chair Jinx said the new nine-member ARHA board was appointed by council in October 2025 and has met about 40 times in committees/board sessions over the past year.
• ARHA has had five CEOs in five years, four CFOs, and multiple HR directors; interim CEO Priest was hired to diagnose and fix problems, not simply keep the seat warm.
• ARHA is working through the city council's ten-item "attestation" list. Highlights include: general counsel Steve McCullough now attends meetings; board completed HUD and FOIA training; HR policies and sexual-harassment training were reinstated; a clean third-party audit opinion was filed with HUD by September 30; and an independent property-maintenance/business-practices assessment is planned as a shared city-ARHA project.
• The 2008 MOU between the city and ARHA has not yet been updated. Vice Mayor Bagley noted the city council wants MOUs with all quasi-city agencies completed within the next six months, by about mid-2027.

Code Enforcement and Property Inspections

• City Code Administration Director Greg Fields reported that routine code inspections of ARHA properties, which had stopped pre-COVID, have resumed. About 40 units, representing 10% of each ARHA property, have been inspected, and reinspections have been successful.
• Virginia state code limits the city to 10% of units per property per inspection cycle, with the property owner selecting the units. If violations are found, the city can ask to inspect additional units. Tenants receive at least 14 days' notice.
• ARHA also performs annual physical-needs assessments, a recently completed 100% inspection of its units, HUD InSPIRE inspections adopted voluntarily, and inspections required by lenders and Virginia Housing.
• Vice Mayor Bagley requested a combined document showing all inspection types, schedules, findings, and overlap so the city and board can identify trends.

CEO Search

• The permanent CEO search is underway. The position closes November 10, roughly two dozen applicants had applied, and a search firm is conducting background checks. Board screening is scheduled for November, with final interviews in December. Chair Jinx said the board may extend the timeline if needed "to do it right."

Resident Engagement and Transparency

• ARHA held a resident/stakeholder meeting on September 24, 2026, with departmental staff and resident association representatives present; ARHA said it plans quarterly meetings.
• A statement from Resident Association President Annette Rodriguez, read by Commissioner Cassandra Lewis, described efforts to rebuild a stronger, more active resident association and urged the city and ARHA to continue supporting meaningful resident participation, open communication, and transparency.
• The board said it wants to remove barriers to public comment: residents can speak even if they did not pre-register, and virtual participation is available. The mayor asked that resident association minutes be posted online, and Councilmember Green asked for a way to capture comments from residents who cannot attend meetings.
• Rent Cafe has been enhanced for rent payments, paperwork, and inquiries; resident training is underway. HOTMA changes take effect January 1, 2027, and ARHA says it is ahead of the transition.

Property Management, Eviction Prevention, and Maintenance

• Under the city-supported "Fresh Start" effort, 318 residents avoided eviction, and outstanding rent balances were reduced from about $1.049 million to $190,000 as of the meeting. Five evictions have occurred this year, and 34 unlawful detainers were issued.
• Early-intervention steps include phone calls after tenants are 10 days late, late notice mailings after 30 days, referrals to city rent assistance programs, use of court diversion, and a posted grievance process.
• Work orders year-to-date total 3,354; 84% are complete and 201 were pending. The goal is 90% completion within a month.
• Vacant units were reduced from 58 at the end of September to 29; ARHA set a 30-day turnaround target for vacant units and a 20-day standard going forward.
• The waiting list has more than 10,000 applicants and had not been updated in three years. The first 3,000 notifications produced 350 returned mail closures, but only one staff member is handling the process.
• ARHA's Housing Choice Voucher program serves more households than public housing. Staff meet monthly with landlords. New HUD guidance asks authorities to stop issuing most new vouchers and reduce payment standards; Alexandria's payment standard is 110% versus HUD's suggested 99%. ARHA is not currently in shortfall and is working to obligate available funds before year-end.

Ladrey Senior Building

• The Ladrey building, acquired during the past year, is at 88% physical occupancy and 95.5% forward occupancy. Two-bedroom market-rate units have leased more slowly because they require two occupants; about two or three units remained without applications.
• Net operating income is about $2.6 million versus a $3 million budget. The project will not meet its 1.15 debt-service coverage target in 2026 and will need to notify VRA with a recovery plan; a roughly $5,000 penalty is possible. Staff project coverage of 1.18 in 2027 and 1.25 by 2030.
• Commercial leasing is beginning: broker JLL has been hired to market a kitchen/restaurant space; a hair salon and some parking are already leased.

Capital Needs and Funding Outlook

• ARHA's housing stock dates from 1940–1990. The five-year capital plan identifies $11.1 million in needs against $4.9 million in available capital, a $6.2 million gap. The 20-year capital need is estimated at $54.5 million.
• Staff cited about $1.9 million in HUD capital funding, with only about half eligible for capital work; a later reference in the transcript cites a $1.3 million public housing capital fund, so the transcript contains both figures.
• Other funding pressures include a rental income shortfall ($8.1 million collected to date versus a $10.9 million budget), HCV administrative funding at 88.5% of cost, and maintenance costs rising from $2.5 million to $5.5 million. Mr. Priest said about half of that maintenance increase was contractor-related; a hiring freeze is in effect.
• Mr. Priest described ARHA as a $262 million organization with limited liquidity because much of its funding is locked in restricted reserves.
• Councilmembers said the capital gap cannot be solved by the city alone and called for federal advocacy, potential state advocacy, and a deeper CIP discussion at the upcoming budget work session on November 7, 2026. They also asked for 10-year CIP projections, a funding-bucket pie chart, and a fuller picture of ARHA's real estate portfolio.

Key Outcomes

• No formal votes were taken.
• Councilmember Chapman requested, and the city manager was asked to add, approximately 30 minutes of deeper CIP review to the November 7, 2026 budget work session.
• Staff were asked to provide: (1) a combined inspection schedule and mapping document, (2) the InSPIRE/MOR inspection schedule, (3) an annual work-order report similar to 311 data, (4) a briefing on the Yardi work-order dashboard, (5) a timeline for Rent Cafe email/text functions, (6) the resident customer-service survey design and timing, (7) resident engagement options for residents who cannot attend meetings, (8) 10-year CIP and capital-gap data, (9) a pie chart of ARHA's funding buckets, (10) an ARHA real estate holdings review, and (11) circulation of the HUD voucher guidance.
• The updated 2008 city-ARHA MOU is expected to be scheduled and completed within the city's six-month MOU timeline.