Good evening, everyone.

Welcome to the City of Tempe Housing Authority meeting.

Item number one, call to order.

Council meetings can be watched in the real time via Cox Cable Channel 11 and at Tempe.gov slash Tempe11.

Members of the public may also attend the meeting virtually through Microsoft Teams.

Just also want to note too here Kaylee Moss, who's the other Housing Authority board member, is here this afternoon.

So thank you so much for joining us.

Next up, item number two, National Arab American Heritage Month Proclamation.

So I'd now like to invite the gentlemen who are all here to come down and join me at the front.

And we'll join you all down.

Sir?

All right, so as the council comes to join me, uh I've actually got three of these here.

So you might have to fight about who actually gets to, you know, because there's four people in three proclamations, but we can make it work.

So this proclamation reads, whereas for over a century, Arab Americans have been making valuable contributions to virtually every aspect of American society.

From medicine, law, business, education, technology, government, military service to the arts and culture.

And whereas since migrating to America, men and women of Arab descent have shared their rich culture and traditions with neighbors and friends, while also setting fine examples of model citizens and public servants.

And whereas they brought with them resilient family values, strong work ethic, dedication to education, and diversity in faith and creed that have added strength to our great democracy.

And whereas Arab Americans have also enriched our society by sharing in the entrepreneurial American spirit that makes our nation free and prosperous.

And whereas the celebration of Arab American ancestry and cultural heritage educates our fellow Americans and counters misperceptions.

And whereas Arab Americans join us in all the desire to see a peaceful and diverse society where every individual is treated equally and feels safe.

And whereas the incredible contributions and heritage of Arab Americans have helped us build a better nation.

And the City of Tempe is proud to recognize the countless contributions of Arab Americans towards making our city a better place for all.

Thank you.

You're up there.

We we love her very much.

So all right, next up, item number three is called the audience.

The housing authority board welcomes public comment at this time only for items listed on the agenda.

There is a three minute time limit per speaker.

Madam Clerk, do we have any cards this evening?

None received.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you so much.

Is there anyone in the audience who wishes to speak?

If so, can you please get my attention now?

Okay, seeing that I'll close the public testimony portion here and move to item number four housing authority governing board updates.

4A Housing Authority Governing Board quarterly update for the quarter ended March 31st, 2026.

Now I'd like to call upon our deputy human services director for housing, Miss Irma Hollandby Kane for an update.

Good evening.

Thank you.

My algood.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members, um, Mrs.

Chaust D.

Um, my name is Irma Holland B.

Kane, and I'm here to give you an update as to what the housing authority has been up to over the last couple of months.

So the uh work that we do in community health and human services is directly linked to your strategic strategic priorities and associated performance measures as demonstrated on this screen.

Today I'm gonna provide you an update as to our performance over the last quarter ending December 2025 and present highlights of the Tempe Housing Authority annual plan and policy changes that we plan to make to our administrative plan.

The plans have been out for public comment over the last 45 days.

On March 23rd, we hosted a resident advisory board meeting of 23 voucher holders and presented these materials and received excellent feedback and support.

So let's get started with our performance.

This year, the Tempe Housing Authority is on track to administer over 18 million in housing subsidy.

The housing voucher types are um broken out on the screen, and all in we have capacity to assist 1,234 households with our housing assistance.

So we track our data uh specific to the Tempe Housing Authority's performance, um, and this is actual data as of December of 2025.

So as you know, um HUD contracts with Tempe with a budget amount, referred to as budget authority, and an allocation of vouchers, and we track our performance in both of these areas.

First, we're just gonna discuss voucher leasing performance.

If I could take your attention to the left of the slide during this reporting cycle, we have 1,030 vouchers leased up in our community.

We have a 7.60 attrition rate, meaning turnover rate in our vouchers.

42 vouchers have ported out of our jurisdiction, and 81 vouchers have ported out of our jurisdiction.

And there are a number of reasons why folks move out of the jurisdiction.

Um voucher holders often move closer to extended family, um, child care, elder care, and other informal support, so maybe they just might be looking for a less competitive market than the city of Tempe.

And then finally, over on the right of the slide, we show how we compare nationally in our leasing.

The national line is the black line, and the teal line is our performance.

You'll see that the Tempe Housing Authority continues to outperform the national average.

So this slide compares Tempe's leasing performance with the average performance of all housing authorities in Arizona.

Tempe's on the left and Arizona is on the right.

If I may turn your attention to the blue highlights, you'll see that our leasing performance, oh I'm sorry, to the green highlights, you'll see that our leasing performance compared to the balance of state, all of our leasing which should be around the 95 to 98 percentile.

Um, if I may turn your attention to the blue highlight, this is our annual attrition rate compared to the balance of state, and you'll see that uh we're a couple of points below um the full state as far as turn voucher turnover.

As for voucher performance um in our budget, if I could take your attention to the left of the slide.

Again, we are administering um over 18 million in budget authority as of December 25, and we're using a hundred point two six of our actual budget authority.

Um, our average per unit cost is now reported at 1,520 and 38 cents.

So this slide compares Tempe's budget performance with the average performance of Arizona Housing Authorities.

Tempe's on the left and Arizona on the right.

A high performing public housing authority should be achieving at least a 98% utilization rate of its annual budget authority.

Um, and you will see that both TEMPE and the entire state of Arizona is meeting the mark.

And if I could um well, nope, that'll be it.

So now I'm gonna talk to you a little bit about our annual plan.

And uh this plan um over the next what we shared with you the a couple of months ago was our strategic plan for a five year period.

What we're going to talk to you about today is our performance over the last year in that five-year plan.

And that five-year plan consists of strategies involving expansion and innovation and housing options and services, sustainability and modernization for long-term operational success, responsiveness and collaboration with our landlords, with voucher holders, and with our broader community, and empowerment and growth for employees and stakeholders.

So our out our annual plan outlines these strategies in more detail and the sources of use and uses of the financial resources that we receive to do this work and any new activities or progress made in meeting our strategies, as well as outlining any changes that we propose in making our policy document called the Administrative Plan.

So let's start with our progress report.

In addition to creating our strategic plan and associated objectives, we are also to report on our accomplishments over the last year.

And I'm not going to read over our exhaustive list of accomplishments because there are many, but they are in your board packet.

But I'm going to give you some highlights tonight.

So you've heard me over the last uh couple of years talking about how we endeavor to maximize our impact in the community.

And while through much grit and determination, um, we continue utilizing all possible vouchers we can afford with our revenues.

On January 1st, we transitioned to using small area fair market rents and established three separate uh payment standards.

And what that means is depending on what zip code you are living in with a housing voucher, will depend on what type of rent that voucher could command in that particular area.

We've also uh added capacity in the form of seven new and additional uh VASH vouchers, which are veterans affairs supportive housing vouchers.

So we have the opportunity of housing seven more formerly homeless veterans in our community.

Through community health and human services, um, oh I'm sorry, housing is a major sponsor, if you would, of the Envision Center, which offers year-round programming and services, such as supports and job search, technology classes, parenting programs, and more.

And last year, the Envision Center hosted very robust job fairs and financial empowerment programming.

And the IDIA's hive, its anchor tenant, serves as a neighborhood access point for technology.

The Tempe Housing Authority is currently developing virtual briefing modules that will be available to all participants 24-7.

There will be a series of sort short videos explaining the rules and regulations that are specific to our programs at the City of Tempe, and they'll be made available online for continued access to our important information.

And this is a point of pride with us.

Um, myself and each member of my leadership team and a number of housing team members lead or participate in local, regional, and national housing association and advocacy organization.

So we're very proud of the work that we do on behalf of the city and these venues.

The Tempe Housing Authority developed and continues to administer a home-funded tenant-based rental assistance program.

So we've partnered to receive referrals from Mercy House, our shelter operator, the Hope Team, the Care 7 team, community supervision team, as well as McKinney Vento liaisons from the Tempe Union High School District.

Landlord Promise and Security Deposits Assistance.

So we're really proud of this work that we're doing where THA comes alongside of its clients, both our voucher participants and our landlords.

Over the last couple of years, we've refined our programming to remove barriers for both landlords and voucher holders to encounter to that they encounter to so that they can more successfully participate in our programming.

So to attract new landlords and retain the ones that we have, the Tempe Housing Authority provides support such as damage assists or damaged claim assistance and networking and training events.

And for voucher holders, not having safer security deposit is often a barrier to housing.

And so the Tempe Housing Authority has figured out a way to be able to provide security deposit assistance to our new voucher holders.

And as you know, the Tempe Housing Tempe Housing or Tempe created the nonprofit affiliate called the TEMPE Coalition for Affordable Housing, affectionately referred to as the affiliate.

This organization operates and manages over 70 units of income-based housing here in the city of Tempe.

These units are permanently affordable.

Rental housing for low and moderate income Tempians.

And in addition, the affiliate has purchased a vacant property to redevelop into approximately 40 units of affordable housing, and much of this is courtesy of the highly successful hometown for all initiative.

Any questions about what you've heard so far?

Quick thing, just uh two notes.

Council Member Hodge, you have a question?

I'm sure the end.

Well, I I had a question and a comment.

So yes, thank you.

You know, this is I'm always this is one of always one of my most favorite parts of council to listen to this.

Um I just wanted to talk about the landlord promise.

Haven't we grown that from last year to this year?

We have more landlords in it, or can we give kind of a number?

How many do we have in the promise?

Thank you for your question, Councilmember Hodge.

Um, quite literally, I don't have any numbers in front of me, and I don't know off the top of my head, but I'm happy to follow up with you with those numbers.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

And my last question is when we talk about uh the vouchers.

I I've I've been asked this quite a bit.

What do you know what area like zip code has more of our vouchers in it?

Or can you kind of break that down to us?

You don't have to do that right now.

That's not a question for today, but when we have it again, maybe we can get an ideal of kind of where more of our vouchers are centrally located, or if it's spread out.

That's I think that's just more information if people haven't been asked in about.

Fantastic.

I'm happy to provide you that information and follow up.

That's it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman.

Appreciate it.

All right, Irma.

I'm writing.

That is totally allowed.

Okay.

So on to major policy um changes that we have made to our administrative plan.

They re uh include removal of reference to the equal access rule with respect to our language assistance plan and limited English proficiency proficiency policy.

Reference to HUD guidance has been removed per HUD's English only initiative.

However, the requirement to assist meaning or to provide meaningful assistance to uh limited English uh participants remains under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Compliance with uh Tempe Housing Authority requested information and appointments.

We've expanded provisions to ensure timely compliance with Tempe Housing Authority and HUD requirements for information collection.

And with respect to the project-based vouchers, we've changed our policy to allow our housing authority to contract for project-based vouchers with developers for a period of up to 20 years instead of 15 years.

Um we've also updated our policy to indicate whether there is a property maintained project-based wait list, um, and that the Tempe Housing Authority will oversee the wait list to ensure integrity and that this oversight process is outlined in appendix C of uh your document called PBV property wait list oversight.

We've also provided further clarification of our termination review and hearing process, uh, mostly to align better with our actual practices.

And finally, as it pertains to program integrity, we've added language to help ensure respectful conduct of business and a safe work environment for Tempe Housing Authority staff.

Um the Tempe Housing Authority ultimately will provide verbal warning to families or owners engage in activities that do not align with a professional business environment for the behavior to cease and to reschedule an appointment to resume the voucher's business activities when we can all do so in a respectful manager uh manner and failure to comply with this policy may result in termination or denial of the voucher.

And that concludes my remarks.

Excellent.

Thank you, Irma.

Appreciate it.

Uh, any other board members have any comments or questions?

I do.

Yes, board member Moss.

I wrote something down if you don't mind.

Sure, absolutely.

Um I just wanted to say that I have a deep appreciation for the City of Tempe housing program.

And what strikes me most is how they show up, not just when things are easy, but in seasons of uncertainty.

I've never seen you panic.

You just power through and remind every participant that no matter what, it will be okay.

I made the decision to leave uh Wisconsin eight years ago, and three years into my move, I still hadn't found stability, but I found that here with the city of Tempe.

Um I received my placement in 2021, which was a hard season for the housing program and our country.

Um, and I didn't think it was possible with skyrocketing rents to even get into the program and find housing, but you guys made it possible.

Um, I just want to thank you for not giving up on me or the community and for all the hard work that you put in and the effort so that my children and I could um have a place of safety and um to the city.

Just thank you for communicating committing yourself to supporting and um yeah, it's it's been really great, and I'm very appreciative of everything.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Thank you, board member moss.

Any other board members have any further comments or questions?

Okay.

Sounds good.

No, exactly.

We we can't follow that at all.

So that was a microphone.

Absolutely.

All right.

Well, then that item was just for discussion, but no action, so we'll move on to item number five, which is housing authority governing board action items.

5A is hold a public hearing to seek resident input regarding the public housing agency annual plan for 2026-2027 and related certifications for the housing choice voucher program funded through the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and adopt a resolution approving the fiscal year 2026-2027 PHA annual plan and related certifications, revisions to the Tempe Housing Agency administrative plan policies, and acceptance of additional housing choice vouchers that may become available from HUD.

Uh, I will look to our clerk now to see if there were any comments received from the public regarding this item.

Madam Clerk.

No, Mr.

Mayor.

Sounds good.

Thank you very much.

I should also see is there anyone in the audience who wishes to speak on this item?

This is a public hearing.

Okay, seeing none, I will close the public testimony portion of the public hearing.

Uh council members, any comments or discussion?

So move.

Okay, it's been moved by board member Hodge to have a second.

Seconded by board member Amberg.

You know, I'm just gonna go ahead and take a uh roll call vote here.

It might be easier.

Um board member Hodge.

Aye.

Uh board member Amber.

Aye.

Board Member Chin.

Aye.

Uh board member Garland.

Uh board member Keating.

Yes.

Board Member Hodge.

I mean, I mean board member Adams.

Yes.

And board member Moss.

Yes.

And I vote aye as well.

That item passes eight to zero.

Next up, item number six, approval of City of Tempe Housing Authority meeting minutes for January 22nd, 2026.

Uh, do I have a motion?

It's been moved by board member Hodge to have a second.

Seconded by board member Garland.

Um Libby go ahead and do another roll call vote here.

Uh board member Hodge.

Aye.

Board member Amberg.

Aye.

Board Member Chin.

Aye.

Board Member Garland.

Aye.

Board Member Adams.

Aye.

Board Member Keating.

Yes.

Board Member Moss.

Aye.

And I vote aye as well.

That item is also approved unanimously eight to zero.

That brings me to item number seven, which is adjournment.

The next Tempe Housing Authority meeting is to be determined.

We are adjourned at 5 52 p.m.

Thank you, everyone.

Have a good night.