Affordable Housing Review Board Meeting

Documenter name: Lance Carrithers

Agency: Wichita City - Affordable Housing Review Board

Date: July 29, 2024

See more about this meeting at Documenters.org

In many respects, Monday’s meeting of the Affordable Housing Review Board was an organizational meeting, with new board members being sworn in, and a comprehensive review of the process to review proposals for the newly established Affordable Housing Fund. (AHF)

All seven board members were present: Valerie Black-Turner, John Todd, Brad Snapp (virtual presence on screen)  Rebekah Starkey-Keasling, Troy Palmer, Jack Silvers and Maranda Penner.  

In the absence of a chairperson, Sarah Gooding, Real Property Section Manager for Wichita’s Department of Housing and Community Services led the meeting. Other staff present included Lance Dixon and Lynne Ogubere of the Wichita Housing and Community Services Department, Assistant City Attorney Nate Johnson, and Loren Silver, representing Zoomgrants, the platform chosen by the city to facilitate the application process.  Two Documenters and one other member of the press also attended.

After roll call, new board members Silvers, Palmer, Starkey-Keasley, and Penner were sworn in by Wichita City Clerk Jamie Buster.  Each board member was then invited to say a few words of self-introduction including their background or interest in affordable housing.

After approval of the March Minutes, Manager Gooding next proceeded to orient the board members to their upcoming work through the next several weeks as they review proposals for Wichita’s Affordable Housing Fund (AHF). 

In a PowerPoint presentation, Gooding shared that the City of Wichita allocated $5 million to invest in affordable housing through the creation of the Affordable Housing Fund (AHF). These funds must be committed before the end of 2024.

She stated that the goal of the AHF is to improve the quality of existing housing stock for income-qualified residents, to expand the quality of affordable housing options and to promote neighborhood stability in Wichita’s core. She defined the core area with boundaries along I-235 on the west, 29th Street to the north, Hydraulic Street to the east and 31st street to the south.  It was further determined that Wichita would prioritize projects using existing public housing, and single family homes.  For this reason, the city is offering to sell 56 city-owned public housing units, to be rehabilitated for potential homeowners and renters who would be income qualified.

A Request for Proposals (RFP) was put out for developers.  All proposals were due July 12, and had to meet the following criteria:  

• Purchase housing units within the pilot areas.
• Propose a per-unit scope of work for the renovations.
• Request up to $40,000 per housing unit.
• Propose affordable housing outcomes.

All renovated units must be utilized as affordable housing upon completion and be accessible to low to moderate income individuals and families. Additionally, developers must also demonstrate experience with similar projects with single family homes and have experience working with local state or federal government funds.

Gooding stated that city staff are currently working through the proposals received, making them ready for the board’s review.  The review process will begin at next Monday’s meeting of the Affordable Housing Review Board (AHRB) on August 5 with Developer presentations.

Gooding then provided a timeline for the Board’s work.  Following the presentations, the board will enter into an open evaluation of the applications, and recommend a slate of proposals to be approved by the end of August.

Then the City Council will take up the approval of the commitment of AHF funds, and a separate Affordable Housing Authority will authorize sale of the public housing units.   Gooding stated that it is essential that all funds be committed before the end of the year.  Developers would then have 12 months to complete renovations and make the properties available for sale or rent to qualifying residents.  “It’s an ambitious timeline.” Gooding said.  “But we should be seeing these units come online by the end of 2024 for either rental or homeownership.”

The board was then introduced to Lauren Silvers, of ZoomGrants, the platform chosen by the city to facilitate the proposal/application process.  Silvers demonstrated the port AHRB members would use to review and score the proposals and took questions from the group regarding the platform.

Assistant city attorney Nate Johnson reviewed a handout he provided to AHRB members regarding the Open Meetings Act, Open Records Act, and conflict of interest. Board member Silvers raised a question regarding having one-on-one conversations about business before the board with one other board member who is a long time friend. “I’ve known John (Todd) for a long time. If I want to talk to him about one of these proposals, is there a problem with that?” he asked.  Johnson said that the individual conversation did not in of itself rise to meet the standard of a meeting because no quorum is present. “However,” Johnson warned, “the difficulty is that if one of you talks to someone else on the board about the same issue, that quickly could become a quorum. It has an exponential, kind of magnifying effect” Johnson said. The Legal department advises just to avoid communication between each other about issues that could be voted upon.”  Johnson and Gooding both emphasized that staff is always available to any board member with a question about open meetings, open records, or possible conflicts of interest. “Just ask the staff, and we’ll help.” Johnson reiterated.

After all presentations had been made, Gooding reminded the board that due to new appointments to the AHRB, the board did not currently have a chairperson or vice chairperson.

It was moved and seconded to nominate Valerie Black-Turner serve as Chairperson which was approved 6-0.  Maranda Penner was nominated to serve as Vice Chairperson, which also was approved 6-0.

In other business and open discussion, Gooding discussed proposed changes in the AHRB meeting schedule.  The meeting originally planned for August 13 will be canceled, and the agenda for that meeting will be taken up on August 19.  The original agenda for August 19 would then be set for August 26.  This would allow department leadership to be present for all meetings, and would give the board an extra week for the review and scoring of proposals.  The board agreed by consensus to the new schedule.

Gooding then announced that Roger Burright, Real Property Program Specialist, retired.  She introduced Lynne Ogubere as a new staff member with Housing and Community Services, just in her 2nd week of employment.  Gooding then also announced that she would be leaving her post next week.  When asked who would be replacing her, she stated that it was undecided who would be her replacement, but that she was working to ensure that the process was in place for the board’s review of the proposals before she left.

The meeting adjourned at 4:29 pm.

Summary

Summarize the 3 most important outcomes or takeaways from your notes....

• 4 of the 7 AHRB members are new and were sworn in at the beginning of the meeting.
• Developer presentations will take place next Monday, Aug. 5, and the board will begin the process of scoring and determining which Affordable Housing Fund proposals will be approved.
• New Chairperson Valerie Black-Turner was elected, and Maranda Penner was elected Vice Chairperson.

Follow-Up Questions

What are you left wondering? Ask up to 3 of your own follow-up questions...

• Will any of the AHRB members have conflicts of interest with any of the developers who come before them next week, given several AHRB members’ backgrounds in Wichita real estate.
• What is the tenure of the three returning board members?
• Were the funds ($5 Million) from COVID Economic Relief Stimulus Funds?  

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@citybureau.org with "Correction Request" in the subject line.