MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
The WGIPOA Board of Directors meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. A quorum was established by the attendance of Directors. Directors positions represented were Boyd Carr - Isla Del Sol, Lee Slataper Pirates Beach, Tom Boothe West Beach Grand Condominium, Carolyn Farmer Terramar Beach, Peggy Zahler Spanish Grant Beach, Ken Diestler - Spanish Grant Bay, Jeff Southard Dunes of the West Beach, Al Galli Jamaica Beach Improvement Committee, John Fabian, Pointe San Luis - Spanish Grant Bayside. Marty Baker advisory to the Board was also present.
Officials introduced included Joe Jaworski, Mayor and Dianna Puccetti, City Council Member.
Corporate Sponsor Johnson Space Center Credit Union Peggy Zahler was recognized.
District Six: Dianna Puccetti main focus last month is the beach nourishment project, the project was cancelled, tried to get easements, not possible then looked for other money that could come back to the city for that project.
The State is moving forward for a re-hearing. Working with GLO and local officials, keep in formed by going to the city website. Jerry Mohn stated he has met with the GLO and the re-nourishment project is still being worked on to promote moving it forward.
Seawall parking is still being discussed. Motions put forth to use pay stations with an $8/day fee. 10% admin fee, some funds will go to amenities and maintenance. The City Council is not for putting any money into sand re-nourishment. The Council logic for not wanting pay station revenue to go to beaches is because the 4B was passed and could go to beaches but that could go anywhere. Revenue from the pay stations will be between $750,000 to $1 million. There will be some free spaces along the seawall and at the beach parks.
Galveston Housing Authority Discussion:
Mayor Joe Jaworski The Seawall parking ballot vote will include not just the item and cost but also the allocation.
City of Galveston: Betty Massey and Joe Jaworski: Housing Commissioner Going to replace over 569 units of public housing. The Conciliation Agreement says so and we have to do it or someone else will rebuild. The decision is based on the demographics of Galveston, the percentage of elderly, working poor who are spending a disproportionate amount of money on housing. The City has the money from the Federal Government and the need is there.
Purpose built Communities a non-profit corporation is to help across the US to provide public housing such as in Atlanta in East Lake Village. No cost to the City and No cost to the Housing Commission. The model is public, private, privately managed, mixed financed, and the city owns the dirt. Model would include schools, training, social systems. They are to integrate into housing where they are indistinguishable. Scattered site housing
Filed a Moving to Work with HUD by getting designation allows for more flexibility on local level then a housing authority has preference program to handicapped, elderly, obtaining a GED or special training.
Will follow Section 3 rules for fair housing requires use of HUD money at least 10% to go to employee someone, or some one who is eligible.
Best place to locate those units is behind the Seawall in the census tracts. Behind the seawall is the ideal location. West end does not make good sense since there is no public transportation, no grocery stores, no jobs, no schools, etc. Find the worst properties in the census track and build up not to take properties off the tax rolls.
Galveston Open Government: David Stanowski, President of Galveston Open Government, and other participants included Norman Pappous and Chris Toombs, gave an opposing report stating Galveston does not need additional public housing. Go to GalvestonOGP.org for the opposing viewpoints. Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems.
Stanowski - Why does Galveston have Public Housing No city in this country is required to build and operate public housing, it is the choice of city government, most cities choose not to build and operate public housing because it is a liability not an asset. Galveston is the only city in the County that chooses to have Public Housing.
Stanowski - Galveston is a dumping ground for public housing. Stanowski stated that Galveston has more than the national average number of people living in public housing per capita and if 569 additional units are built Galveston will have more than five times the national average per capita. There are currently 801 Section 8 housing units in the City, or three times the national average per capita according to Stanowski.
What can be done to save Galveston Shut down public housing, force public housing into high-opportunity neighborhoods, or demand GHA rebuild using the authentic East Lake model. Their recommendation is that it would be easy to make the case that the City of Galveston is the worst location for Public Housing in the County, and that no public housing should be built in Galveston, La Marque or Texas City. Public Housing should be located in Friendswood, League City, and Santa Fe.
There was a question answer session at the end of the meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m.
Susan Gonzales, Recording Secretary