Broward County Housing Council Meeting - August 23, 2024
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Broward County Housing Council Meeting - August 23, 2024
The Broward County Housing Council convened on August 23, 2024, at 11:07 AM after establishing a quorum. The meeting covered updates from the recent Broward Next conference, a condominium safety and affordability memorandum, a proposed meeting date change, planning for the upcoming workshop, and a detailed discussion on the November ballot amendment regarding the Housing Council's charter provisions. Public comments included presentations from a local nonprofit and a pro-amendment advocate. The council voted to approve the June 20, 2024 meeting minutes and to move the October 25 regular meeting to November 15, 2024. Future agenda items were also discussed.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Denise Brown, Interim CEO of LifeNet for Families (Lauderhill): Introduced her organization, which focuses on eradicating poverty and homelessness through various programs. She expressed interest in partnering to create affordable housing opportunities for clients, moving beyond temporary housing. Funders include CSC, Bank of America, and United Way.
- Susan Sprague, Member of Racial Equity Task Force, Vice Chair of Fort Lauderdale's Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, League of Women Voters of Broward: Announced that the League of Women Voters voted to promote a "yes" vote for the charter amendment on the November ballot, expressing support for the change.
- Parnell Joyce, Broward County Housing Authority: Commended county staff for their leadership in steering the funding of 75 units of senior housing in Davie for extremely low-income seniors, stating the project is about a week from closing.
Discussion Items
- Broward Next Conference Recap: Chair Barry Smith and others praised the recent Broward Next meeting, highlighting progress and a focus on affordable housing during the second portion. The presentation is now available online.
- Condominium Safety and Affordability Memorandum: A memo from Senator Kathleen Passidomo was included in the packet. Joe Cesodia noted misinformation about new condominium laws and provided clarifying links.
- Miami-Dade Condominium Assistance Program: Staff reported on a meeting with Miami-Dade County about their program funded by document stamp revenue. The program received 950 applications, denied only 82 (non-structural or investment properties). $18 million has been deployed, with $16 million closed. Homeowners must earn ≤140% of Area Median Income (AMI). Most applicants are seniors on fixed incomes. Maximum loan: $50,000; typical range: $10,000–$35,000. Payments go directly to homeowners associations. Broward County lacks such a funding source.
- Meeting Date Change: Staff proposed moving the October 25 regular meeting because it falls too close to the October 30 workshop. After discussion, the council agreed to change to November 15, 2024, noting the week of November 8 includes Election Day. The change was later voted on.
- Workshop Planning (October 30, 2024): Chair Barry Smith reviewed the draft agenda. Panel assignments: Tanisha Taylor moderating Panel A, Michelle Coley participating; Chris Kresman moderating Panel B, Beth Daly participating. Mayor Rich will give welcome remarks; Commissioner Rogers will introduce Senator Jason Pizzo (SD 37). Topics include the Florida hardening program (My Safe Florida Home), property manager perspective (Ms. McClennan), legal aspects (Ms. Berger), and Fannie Mae lending requirements (presented by Michelle). The council chose round-table seating over theater style to encourage networking; no vote needed. City National Bank is sponsoring refreshments.
- Ballot Amendment Discussion (Charter Change): Anika Ashton, Deputy County Attorney, explained that the county commission approved a ballot initiative to remove specific category requirements from the charter, allowing the commission to set categories by resolution (to avoid costly charter amendments for simple changes, e.g., a defunct FAU position). She detailed legal restrictions on official advocacy: the housing council cannot take official action or use county resources to advocate; staff can only provide factual information (e.g., what the amendment does, when it takes effect). Individual members may advocate in their personal capacity but must avoid using official titles or county resources. The council can respond to direct questions. The county can post basic information and links to the commission agenda item but cannot actively distribute. A handout will be available at the workshop. Members asked about social media and newsletters; guidance: avoid using "we" or official channels for advocacy.
- Future Agenda Items:
- Members requested staff extract recommendations from Broward Next and the Affordable Housing Master Plan for council adoption, timed to Broward Next's outreach schedule (by February).
- Commissioner Rogers requested a presentation on HB 1365 (policy banning unsheltered residents from sleeping in public spaces), noting it takes effect in October as an unfunded mandate. Staff agreed to invite a speaker from Human Services.
- Members also requested quarterly updates on homelessness trends, foreclosure rates, and related data to understand the housing crisis's impact.
Key Outcomes
- Approval of June 20, 2024 Meeting Minutes: Motion by Marcia Barry Smith, seconded. Unanimously approved (voice vote).
- Approval of Meeting Date Change: Motion to move the October 25 regular meeting to November 15, 2024. Motion made, seconded, unanimously approved (voice vote).
- Workshop Planning: Round-table format confirmed; agenda set; panelists and speakers approved.
- Future Actions: Staff will coordinate presentations on HB 1365 and explore providing quarterly statistical updates on homelessness and housing trends. Recommendations from Broward Next and the master plan will be prepared for council consideration.
Meeting Transcript
That are not requiring action by this board, and then when the member comes at that point the chair can call the meeting officially to order and take action on the minutes and any other items that require voting. Thank you so much, Joe. Good morning, everyone. I don't know how many of you were able to um attend the Broward next meeting that was held uh last week. It was brilliantly brilliantly produced. Um, Joe Cesodia and um Ms. Oi Blake Barbara Blake Boy. Barbara Blake boy. I tend to get those bigs turned around. Um we're to the point, uh we learnt a lot, and then of course we had Mr. Stone who um presented the news, which uh has not changed drastically. But I must say that we have seen some strides. We have seen some progress, and based on a plan that's in place, and we're going to be seeking support um from members of the council to work with this organization. Um Sandra Vizier and asked me especially to mention today that um we will should they'll be looking for support for the for the in installation and and to move on. But um kudos to the county for their presentation. Um did you want us to discuss the memorandum from Centre Pasadoma? Um, sure, I can I can talk about that. Thank you. Um just just to follow on from what you were saying, though. If anyone wants to look at the brown next presentation, it is now online. And we can send you a link, so could you send that out after this meeting if anybody wants to watch it? Um you can see that there was a lot of focus and a lot of discussion on affordable housing in the second portion of the of the meeting. But uh you might want to see the land use part too. It was interesting. Um just to let you know that the commission accepted the council's twenty twenty-three annual report at yesterday's meeting with uh no discussion, which was good. It was on consent, so thank you very much for putting that on, Commissioner. Thanks, Commissioner. And in the packet on the table today, I uh included a copy of the memorandum that was put out by uh Senator Kathleen Pasademo, referring to condominium safety and affordability. There's been a lot of discussion about whether or not the legislature would call back a special session to address condominium issues. I think there is some misinformation out there about the condominium laws that were passed, and many of these links will clarify that. So I think it's it's a very uh helpful piece of information, even if we don't necessarily agree with uh the legislative decision. Thanks, Joe. Um just to update you also, we had staff have the opportunity to talk with staff at Miami Dade County about their condominium program. Uh I think we had reported last time to this group that the county in Miami Dade has used their document stamp funding to create a condominium special assessment program, uh, which is aimed at helping people who have low income and who have large special assessments for structural repairs. And we were advised by the staff there that they received 950 applications, of which only 82 were denied. Those denials were basically associated with things that didn't qualify for the structural component, or they were investment properties which are not eligible. Um they've put in 18 million dollars into their program so far, of which 16 million has closed. Um homeowners cannot make more than 140% of AMI, and most of the buildings that they're dealing with are 20 plus years old. Most of the applicants are seniors, um, many on fixed incomes. The maximum loan amount is $50,000, but most of them are coming in between the $10,000 and $35,000 range. And payments are made directly to the homeowners association from the county. Um most of the projects have been high-rise, and the county has had a fairly aggressive program to market its pro its uh program to different homeowners' associations by going out to them. But again, of course, here in Brown, we do not have that kind of funding source. We don't have that local um document stamp funding that Miami Date has. And so this is not a state program, this is just something that is being done uh in our neighboring county. Uh we wanted to talk about um the meeting dates. So do you want to hello everyone? Um I wanted you've attached to your packet with the agenda is uh shows our approved meeting dates for 2024. And primarily I'm here to discuss um our October meeting showing where the workshop is on the 30th, and our regular meeting date would be October 25th. And we kind of ran into we ran into this last year as well.
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