SAHA evicts dead man
The housing authority actually evicted a dead man, using the court system and a constable to deliver an eviction notice for nonpayment of three months' rent. When no one answered the constable's knock at the door, SAHA employees entered the apartment that had been unoccupied for three months and threw the man's belongings out on the street. Though that's odd enough, the sad thing is that SAHA knew three months earlier the man had died and his apartment could be cleaned out because the dead man's family brought the keys by the SAHA office and told officials nobody wanted any of his possessions.

SAHA evicts dead man
New board hears from ex-employee, residents

Ron Wilson
CNP-News San Antonio Bureau

The new board of commissioners for the San Antonio Housing Authority met Thursday for the first time with all new members in place. Though four new board members convened last month, Commissioner Noah Garcia officially waited in the wings so former board Chairman Phil Nelson could stay an extra month and help in the transition.

The meeting room was packed with citizens who wanted to be heard, which usually is a sign of trouble for SAHA. But the meeting passed with far less acrimony than one might have expected.

Here are some meeting highlights:

SAHA evicts a dead man

The housing authority actually evicted a dead man, using the court system and a constable to deliver an eviction notice for nonpayment of three months' rent.

When no one answered the constable's knock at the door, SAHA employees entered the apartment that had been unoccupied for three months and threw the man's belongings out on the street.

Though that's odd enough, the sad thing is that SAHA knew three months earlier the man had died and his apartment could be cleaned out because the dead man's family brought the keys by the SAHA office and told officials nobody wanted any of his possessions.

The story was told during "citizens to be heard" by Ruby Jimenez, a former leasing agent at Alazan-Apache Courts, where the incident took place. Jimenez said she had been terminated in February and was appealing the dismissal.

She was telling commissioners the story, she said, so they could get a better idea of management problems at the properties.

According to Jimenez, the man's family returned in the keys in June and he was evicted in September.

The story came as a surprise to commissioners since all this happened three months before they were even asked to serve on the board in December.

According to Jimenez's advocate, George Alejos, it also came as a surprise to senior staff who verified the story this week by checking notes in the computer system that showed the date the keys were returned and the date of the eviction.

After the meeting, Jimenez said she didn't know why the dead man was evicted three months after he died. However, she speculated that it had to do with meeting apartment make-ready goals.

When an apartment becomes unoccupied, property managers have 15 days to put a new family in it, she said. If they fail to do so, they are dinged on their evaluation.

If a property manager feels he can't meet the 15-day timetable, then he could file an eviction notice that automatically adds at least 30 days to the timetable.

Though evicting a dead man is fairly unique, Jimenez admitted, other management problems at the property were rampant.

They included:

*One woman was evicted for not paying her rent. However, SAHA leasing agents had erroneously included the dollar amount of food stamps she got from the government in her income calculation. That is a violation of federal law. This woman's belongings were thrown out on the street when she was evicted.

*Jimenez said she was ordered to do federally required apartment inspections even though she was not certified to do so. She said this was also a money problem. Each property has to pay the central office for these inspections. By using Jimenez, the property manager was able to avoid submitting the invoice for proper inspections.

*In her own dismissal, Jimenez said, on the day she was fired she was given a policy approved by the board in 2002. Yet the policy manual she was given in 2006 didn't include the policy approved four years earlier.

During citizens to be heard, commissioners do not respond to speakers' complaints but turn the matter over to staff for further investigation.

Winds of change?

Though it may be premature to call a "breath of fresh air" the "winds of change," but in only the new board's second meeting, taxpayers and residents have said they noticed a new attitude among commissioners.

Though a packed meeting chamber usually is a predictor for oncoming complaints, on Thursday many residents were complimentary of the board.

Some things they mentioned were that board members actually came to their houses on Saturday to see what problems the Mirasol Homes really had.

Others said they just felt that the new board was finally listening to them, or at least paying attention.

Another case in point is the Lavaca Neighborhood Association, whose president, Sehan Lobb, and member Michael Berrier attended Thursday's meeting.

Lavaca and SAHA administrators have locked horns for months on the façade and quality of materials to be used at the planned apartment building known as the Durango Midrise. It will be located on East Durango Boulevard across the street from HemisFair Park and across I-37 from the Alamodome.

If Lavaca continues to object to SAHA's plans, the housing authority could lose up to $12 million in public housing funds that must be spent by the end of September or be returned to the federal treasury.

After speaking at "citizens to be heard," Lobb described the new board as a "breath of fresh air."

Berrier, an avid critic of SAHA's uncooperativeness in providing information that Lavaca had requested, said the new board's willingness to bring back the award-winning Lake Flato architectural group to the project was a welcome sign that hinted that new commissioners were interested in getting a solution.

They both praised Chairman Ramiro Cavazos and Commissioner Richard Gambitta for the work they have put in on the project by working with Lavaca and other neighbors of the project.

Board committee appointments

SAHA is a large and complex organization where management of details is critical.

To get a handle of the issues and complexity, board members serve on specific committees where they can become experts in certain areas and make recommendations for a plenary vote.

On Thursday, Chairman Ramiro Cavazos announced the first round of appointments.

The committee appointments were:

Operations and Human Resources - Richard Gambitta chair, with Lisa Tatum and Yolanda Hotman

Resident Services - Yolanda Hotman chair, with Stella Burciaga Molina and Ramiro Cavazos

Finance - Noah Garcia chair, with Rebecca Galvan and Lisa Tatum

Legal Advisory - Rebecca Galvan chair, with Lisa Tatum and Richard Gambitta

Asset and Property Management - Noah Garcia chair

Board Governance and Ethics - Lisa Tatum chair, with Richard Gambitta and Yolanda Hotman

End the Mirasol Task Force sought

A number of people at "citizens to be heard" asked that the Mirasol Task Force be abolished for failing to do anything to help them.

A key spokesperson was longtime homeowners' advocate Janet Ahmad, who complained that the task force was nothing more than a stalling technique to grind residents down into submission, and to protect the interests of SAHA and KB Home, which built the Mirasol single-family houses.

KB Home has one representative on the 11-member task force, SAHA has two (Ramiro Cavazos and Noah Garcia), residents have three, the mayor has one, health district has one, builders have one, City Council District 5 has one and City Council District 6 has one.

On the other hand, task force member Ralph Velasquez, a builder and community activist who represents District 6, praised the accomplishments of the group. Those included getting the buybacks, helping Mirasol residents facing eviction, abolishing the stacked configuration of an air conditioning unit on top of a hot water heater, and getting SAHA to commit to millions of dollars of repairs.

Wonky Mirasol appraisals

Several residents again raised their objections to the appraisals that are used to base the price of their homes in the SAHA buyback program.

They claimed SAHA-paid for appraisals, which made use of SAHA houses as comparables. These appraisals, they said, were lower by $10,000 or more than appraisals from the Bexar County Appraisal District.

The appraisal issue has come before the Mirasol Task Force before, when residents claimed that SAHA didn't oppose the BCAD appraisals when SAHA wanted to sell the house, but refused to use the (higher) BCAD appraisal when it wanted to buy the houses.

Public housing is big business

A look at the contracts that were awarded at Thursday's meeting provides a glimpse of the impact SAHA has on the local economy.

$75,000 for public relations

$185,000 for architectural design work at Cassiano Homes

$245,000 for exterior painting

$952,000 for waste management

$281,452 for carpet cleaning services

The new board, in only two months, has directed staff to make greater use of minority contracting.

Part of this comes from the fact that six of the seven commissioners come from recognized minority groups.

Also, Chairman Ramiro Cavazos is an expert in economic development. He is keenly aware of the importance properly utilized dollars can have to raise the economic level of neighborhoods and a city.

It wouldn't be surprising if, under this leadership, SAHA began looking for ways to help its own residents improve their economic conditions and eventually move out of public housing.
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