CITY OF DANBURY
 Danbury Housing Partnership
 155 Deer Hill Avenue
Danbury , Connecticut 06810

Minutes of the August 2, 2007 Meeting

Attendance: Barrows, Elpern, Lemme, Lima, Scalzo, Schierloh, Sistrunk, Valeri, Yamin,

Zaborowski

Absent: Budnik, Coelho, McLachlan, Nolan, Payton, Pitts, Shepperd

(Two vacancies due to resignations of Finaldi, Jr. and Baughman)

The meeting of the Danbury Housing Partnership was held in Danbury City Hall, conference room #3c, on August 2, 2007. Vice-Chairperson Carolyn Sistrunk called the meeting to order at 3:10PM. Mr. Nolan was out of town and was not able to attend this afternoon meeting. Ms. Sistrunk addressed the agenda and stated that this would be an abbreviated meeting. Ms. Sistrunk also informed the Partnership of the resignation of Aimee Budnik whose husband has a career opportunity in another state. The Partnership will be looking for a replacement for Ms. Budnik. A motion to approve the minutes of July 5, 2007 was made by Judge Yamin, seconded by Emanuela Lima and passed unanimously.

Ms. Sistrunk reported on the mission statement that was drafted by the executive committee and will be e-mailed to the partnership members for a vote at the next Partnership meeting. By-laws and administrative procedures were handed out at the last Partnership meeting. Mr. Schierloh requested that the Partnership should address quorums for standing committees. Ms. Sistrunk requested more information on how to handle such committees that had only a few members. Mr. Schierloh provided information to the Partnership and made a motion that a quorum for standing committees be set at 50% of the current membership, seconded by Judge Yamin, passed unanimously.

Ms. Sistrunk indicated that pending any comments on the by-laws, and with a vote from the membership, the by-laws then would be passed to Corporation Counsel to make sure they conform legally. A motion to accept the by-laws was made by Gary Lemme, seconded by Paul Schierloh and passed unanimously.

Under membership, Mr. Schierloh indicated that the Partnership has 3 resignations, and Reverend Pitt has not attended any meetings. Suggestions by the membership for replacements of those who have resigned should be presented to the Chairman. Ms. Sistrunk reported that communication was submitted to the Mayor on Ms. Budnik’s resignation and also any recommendations on replacements to the Partnership.

Reverend Pitt will also be notified, since he has indicated to Ms. Sistrunk that he would like to participate in the Housing Partnership. Several members indicated to the Chair of the need to fill vacancies, since the committees are limited in number. Mr. Elpern indicated that the Committee on Housing and Community Development would like to forward the name of Joan Carty to the Mayor for his consideration of her appointment to the Housing Partnership. Mr. Schierloh commented that David Deschenes is sitting in for Mr. Baughmann and his presence at this meeting is a clear indication of his commitment to participate in the Partnership.

Under committee reports, Mr. Scalzo reported for the Housing and Community Development on their meeting today at 2:00PM. The committee as a whole decided to prioritize some of the initiatives on the 10-year plan and will have more to report at the next Partnership meeting. Ms. Sistrunk inquired to staff if the Partnership needed to approve the committee minutes since they are not reflected in the by-laws. Mr. Schierloh indicated that copies of the minutes are sent to each committee member. Ms. Sistrunk indicated that at least, procedurally, the minutes should be accepted. A motion to accept the verbal report from the Housing and Community Development Committee, as well as the written report from their last meeting was made by Denis Elpern, seconded by Emanuela Lima and passed unanimously.

Social and Supportive Services Committee report was given by temporary Chairperson’s Judge Yamin and Reverend Wanda Payton. Election of officers was initiated at the last meeting with Aimee Budnik appointed as secretary, and now with her resignation, the next person appointed by the Mayor will serve as the committee secretary. Mr. Coelho was appointed at Chairman and is waiting for his acceptance, and Denise Valeri elected as Vice- Chairman. Meetings for the Social and Supportive Services Committee will be held the first Wednesday of each month at 3:00PM. The Ordinance for the Danbury Housing Partnership, the 10 Year Plan and the first year recommendation were reviewed at yesterday’s meeting. Updating of all material will be completed and reflected in the committee’s minutes. Speakers were discussed that could be helpful in the future committee meetings and discussed how to work closely with Continuum of Care that seems to be reflective on what this committee wants to achieve. A motion to accept the Social and Supportive Services Committee report and minutes was made by Gary Lemme, seconded by Charlotte Barrows and passed unanimously.

Financial Resources and Fund Raising Committee Chairman was not present, therefore there was no report/acceptance to be given to the Partnership members.

Public Relations, Marketing and Education Committee report was given by Emanuela Lima. The committee held their second meeting, which is to be held on the first Thursday of each month at 2:00PM. One of the projects of this Committee is to develop a website for the Housing Partnership. The Committee had two guest speakers at today’s meeting; the first was Melissa Adams from City Hall, who is in charge of data entry, technical support, etc., and all the websites that City Hall has interaction with. Wade Anderson was the second guest speaker who spoke on the designing of a very involved website for the Partnership. Due to the complexity of designing a website and a budget that is necessary, this Committee needs to be more creative, since there are no monies available to assist in the complete designing of this new website. A second option offered was initially to have a website that was hosted out of the general city website which would be much simpler, but pair it up with an immediate design of an overall logo for the Partnership. The Chairperson provided information and websites of other Housing Partnership’s throughout the State of Connecticut and the country to the Chairman so that the list could be submitted by e-mail to all members. A motion was made within the committee to go on with researching the second option of designing a website hosted by the City of Danbury at virtually no cost and developing a logo and presenting it at the next general meeting for approval by the Housing Partnership. A motion was made by Charlotte Barrows to accept the report and minutes of the Public Relations, Marketing and Education Committee, seconded by Judge Yamin and passed unanimously.

Participation in Project Homeless Connect report was to be given by Aimee Budnik who was absent for today’s meeting. Paul Schierloh provided information in which Danbury is to participate for the first time in a national event that seeks to provide homeless services during the first week of December. Continuum of Care will be participating in this event. The main function of this event is to bring together as many social and housing services to connect on that one day with homeless individuals and try to accomplish as much as possible. Some cities have limited resources, while others have complex mechanisms in place for assistance. Ms. Sistrunk reported that the Interagency Council on Homelessness contact person, Mr. John O’Brien, is conducting coordination of this important event. A very structure and methodical process is in place by filling in the blanks with a template on how to plan and remove barriers on that day. The real focus is not just on providing meals and housing, but to address such items as ID’s, getting licenses, and also given forgiveness on small misdemeanors, etc. A count is achieved through this event, and perhaps the power point presentation should be provided to the Partnership. There is a website called Project to End Homelessness in which more information can be obtained.

Mt. Pleasant Arms Senior Housing Project is placed on the agenda to obtain feedback from the Partnership on this presentation last month. Ms. Sistrunk indicated that there was some funding gaps, but an interesting concept. Does the Partnership want to make a recommendation or just accept the presentation and where we can, either individually or as Partnership, agree to participate or assist? Do we want to make a recommendation to the Mayor with regard to our findings and our recommendations towards this project? Ms. Lima states that this is a great project, but there are some more details and information required for this Partnership before an endorsement could be made. Ms. Sistrunk stated that the cost factor for this project was approximately 7.2M, but the issue is that this was in the very early stages of securing not only funding, but also the real estate. This project is too premature for any type of commitment or endorsement from the Partnership. More information and continuous updating is necessary. Mr. Nolan and Ms. Sistrunk will keep in contact with Mr. Williams and convey the consensus of the group and share all of our comments and invite them back.

Continuing on the agenda, Ms. Sistrunk provided an update on the Regional Partnership for Dream Homes. Two good pieces of news is that:

  1. Pro-rated share funding has been obtained from Redding towards a point of entry, which is approximately six or seven thousand dollars.
  2. Confirmed, through Mike McLachlan, that all of the towns in the region have stated that they are going to make a contribution to Dream Homes.

The funding availability has allowed the center to provide various services to at least 100 individuals. The latest piece of news is that Dream Homes was able to provide assistance to an individual for first time homeownership with Section 8 at High Ridge. Dream Homes is working in partnership with Connecticut Legal Aid. Ms. Sistrunk provided additional information on the Housing Authority and the thirty-six units as discussed in the Danbury news article. The Housing Authority is working through objections on their decision of these units. A replacement housing strategy will be in place that includes veteran housing, having new units on line within the next year and a half, and also working on senior housing issues with Ms. Barrows, Mr. Scalzo and Mr. Nolan.

On August 23rd, Gary King, President of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, will be meeting with the Mayor, some key developers in the City, Ms. Barrows, Ms. Waller, and the Housing Authority Board Chair, to discuss such issues as funding opportunities for senior and veteran housing and how to make it work in this kind of environment. Ms. Sistrunk also invited Judge Yamin to attend as the Chair of the Homelessness Task Force.

A motion to adjourn was made by Judge Yamin, seconded by Emanuela Lima and passed unanimously.