Notice of Fiscal Year 2013 Moving To Work Annual Plan - Comment Period Closed

COMMENT PERIOD CLOSED

ATLANTA HOUSING AUTHORITY MTW ANNUAL PLAN AVAILABILITY AND PUBLIC HEARING

Please note that the public comment period for this year’s draft plan, effective February 15 – March 15, 2012, has closed. We appreciate the comments offered by the public during this comment period.

For more information, please visit our website at www.atlantahousing.org.

Thank you for your interest in the Atlanta Housing Authority.

Atlanta Housing Authority Releases Audited Financial Statements for FY11

The Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) released its Audited Financial Statement for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011 (click here to see WSB-TV report).

The audited financial statements indicate that AHA has continued to strengthen its financial position and is well-prepared to face the potential headwinds resulting from Federal budget deficits or the Congressional Appropriations process.

AHA has continued to operate as an innovator and problem solver. It has remained a nimble, efficient, and effective real estate enterprise serving low-income families. Through its various programs, AHA serves more than 20,000 very low-income families in metropolitan Atlanta.

Audited Financial Statement:

Highlight: The FY 2011 audit represents AHA’s 14th consecutive unqualified opinion on the annual audit report.

Highlight: As the result of innovative strategies and effective management and stewardship, AHA continues to maintain significant restricted cash reserves. In spite of the recent economic downturn, AHA retains approximately $100 million in cash balances. These cash balances are restricted and may only be used for affordable housing purposes consistent with AHA’s HUD-approved business plans.

• FY 11 $99,821,333
• FY 10 $99,409,155

AHA’s FY11 expenditures were $283.1 million.

Highlight: Since 1995, AHA and its private-sector development partners have leveraged well over $300 million in HOPE VI and other public housing development funds, producing more than $3 billion in new financial investments and economic impact in once-distressed and economically disinvested neighborhoods throughout the City of Atlanta.

Highlight: During FY 2011, AHA invested $21.2 million in renovations / improvements at the 13 AHA owned communities.

Highlight: During FY 2011, AHA invested $5.1 million on Human Development & Resident Services.
Background

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that each local housing authority publish, within nine months of the close of its fiscal year, a complete set of financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), consistently applied, and audited by a firm of independent certified public accountants. The AHA audit report was presented to and approved by the AHA Board of Commissioners on January 5, 2012.

Metcalf Davis, engaged by AHA to audit its FY 2011 financial statements, issued an unqualified opinion on the financial statements of the Authority for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2011 and 2010, indicating that the Authority’s financial statements present fairly the financial position of the Authority in conformity with GAAP.

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Bipartisan Policy Center Appoints Commission Members for New Effort to Improve U.S. Housing Policy

BPC Housing Commission, led by Secretaries Cisneros and Martinez and Senators Bond and Mitchell, also Announces Schedule for 2012 Regional Forums

Dec. 13, 2011

Washington, D.C. - The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) today announced the full membership of its Housing Commission, which includes 17 business and civic leaders, key housing stakeholders, academics and former senior political figures from both parties. Former U.S. Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros and Mel Martinez, also a former U.S. Senator, former U.S. Senator Kit Bond and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and BPC Founder George Mitchell were named to lead the Commission in October.

“We are honored that our fellow Commission members have committed to join us in developing recommendations to address the nation’s troubled housing sector,” said Commission Co-Chair George Mitchell. “Housing is a highly-complex issue and a critical component of our economy. It will take a truly bipartisan group to look at the challenges ahead and develop solutions.”

Over the course of the next year, the Commission will craft a package of realistic and actionable policy recommendations that will address the future housing needs of an increasingly diverse American society. The final recommendations will be released in 2013.

Recognizing the need for a new vision for federal housing policy, the Commission aims to bring new approaches and fresh thinking to today’s housing issues. The Commission will assess the appropriate role of the federal government in housing by reviewing the effectiveness of the full range of current federal housing supports. The Commission will meet for the first time later this week.

“As the U.S. population continues to grow and change, we face new challenges for which we need a thoughtful, well-reasoned plan that addresses the short-term problems and long-term consequences of our current policies,” said former Secretary Martinez.
“This group of commissioners is positioned to do just that.”

“The Commission and its members will strive to create a beacon of hope for those citizens that have seen their American Dreams come crashing down in the recent economic collapse,” said Secretary Cisneros. “Through robust, evidenced-based analysis and in-depth deliberations, the Commission will work to develop recommendations that can be considered by members of both parties.”

“These leaders have been on the front lines of the housing crisis. Consensus across this spectrum of stakeholders is critical to the bold, comprehensive reform needed to fix our broken system,” said Senator Bond.

The Commission will actively seek input and ideas from the public and thought leaders by hosting regional forums across the country in 2012. The first forum will be in San Antonio, TX on March 6, 2012; followed by Orlando, FL on April 17, 2012; St. Louis, MO on June 5, 2012; and Bangor, ME on July 25, 2012.

Members of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission:

Co-Chairs:

• Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros
• Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and former U.S. Senator Mel Martinez
• Former U.S. Senator Kit Bond
• Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader and BPC Founder George Mitchell

Commissioners:

• Carin M. Barth, Co-Founder and President, LB Capital, Inc.
• Ed Brady, President, Brady Homes
• Alfred DelliBovi, President and CEO, Federal Home Loan Bank of New York
• Robert M. Couch, Counsel, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, L.L.P.
• Laurie Goodman, Senior Managing Director, Amherst Securities
• Renee Lewis Glover, President and CEO, Atlanta Housing Authority
• Frank Keating, President and CEO, American Bankers Association
• Bruce Morrison, former Congressman from Connecticut
• Janet Murguia, President and CEO, National Council of La Raza
• Nicolas P. Retsinas, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
• Nan Roman, President and CEO, National Alliance to End Homelessness
• Ronald A. Rosenfeld, former Chairman, Federal Housing Finance Board
• Robert M. Rozen, Principal, Washington Council Ernst & Young
• Richard A. Smith, President and CEO, Realogy Corporation
• Marilyn Jordan Taylor, Dean of School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
• J. Ronald Terwilliger, Chairman Emeritus, Trammell Crow Residential
• Barry Zigas, Director of Housing Policy, Consumer Federation of America

Director:

In announcing the formation of the Commission in October, Secretaries Cisneros and Martinez, and Senators Bond and Mitchell participated in discussion on the current state of housing in the U.S. at BPC’s headquarters. Click here to watch the video. For more information about the Commission, please visit their website.

Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros lavishes praise on AHA’s Renee Glover

Posted in Latest Reports
Date: October 16th, 2011, 11:16 pm

By Maria Saporta

In 1994, the Atlanta Housing Authority was one of the worst in the country.

“It was basically managing substandard housing units in a substandard way,” recalled Henry Cisneros, who was secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at the time. “It was one of those authorities that HUD was considering taking over under my watch.”
That’s when Renee Lewis Glover, who had been serving on the AHA board, agreed to quit her job as a corporate attorney to become CEO of the troubled authority.

“Renee brought excellence,” said Cisneros, who was in Atlanta on Oct. 7 to participate in a national conference. “She did what I would assert is the best job running a housing authority in the country.

“None started from as low a base as Atlanta did. And at the end of the day, Atlanta has gotten rid of every single one of its traditional deteriorating public housing units. Renee had a vision that it was not good enough to manage the units as they were. She developed a plan to transform communities and to make sure life got better for people.”

Glover announced in an Oct. 3 press release that she was in negotiations to leave AHA after 17 years as its CEO. The release went on to say that Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the new board members that he had appointed had made it clear that they wanted a change in leadership. The negotiations are ongoing.

Cisneros said he could not speak to the “local political decision-making” that was taking place in Atlanta.

But he did say that sometimes local communities do not appreciate what they have.

“It’s tempting for local citizens to overlook true greatness in their midst and take it for granted,” Cisneros said. “The work that Renee has done is true greatness.”

What about all of the criticisms that have been leveled against Glover and the AHA for tearing down traditional public housing communities and replacing them with mixed-income neighborhoods. Today, that’s known as HUD’s HOPE VI program, an initiative that took flight in Atlanta. The AHA also increased the use of Section 8 housing vouchers where residents can live in apartments with subsidized rents.

One of the most common criticisms has been that Atlanta’s poorest citizens have been displaced and that it’s harder to provide services to the poor when they have been dispersed.
Cisneros brushed off those criticisms.

“You can’t make omlettes without breaking eggs,” Cisneros said, acknowledging that “there was criticism.”

But he went on to say that most of the objective national studies on the HOPE VI program have concluded that residents were better off — that their children do better in schools, that family incomes rise and that employment becomes more stable.

Cisneros also was asked whether after 17 years with Glover at the helm, was it time for a change.
“There’s something to be said for the continuity and stability in public housing organizations, and she’s brought that,” he said. “The job is never finished, and as long as you can have people who can continue to stay on course, the progress continues.”

Cisneros said it “would be a tragedy” that pace of progress diminished with a change in leadership at the authority.

“I can only attest to what Renee has done on her watch,” Cisneros said. “Among public housing authorities in the country, Atlanta is the best.”

HOAX: IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING HOUSING VOUCHER HOAX

A misguided rumor concerning Section 8 vouchers and the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) is being circulated via email. Several area social service providers appear to be the target of the email hoax.

The email directs Atlanta area service providers to, "…encourage and/or take (clients) to (AHA) and assist with the application process…."

NO VOUCHERS ARE AVAILABLE.

AHA is requesting that service provider NOT direct clients to AHA as NO VOUCHERS ARE AVAILABLE.

Attempts to reach the listed author of the email have been unsuccessful.
For future reference, any official announcement concerning housing vouchers would be made directly from AHA to service providers or would be available on AHA's web site.
If you have questions, please contact AHA's Housing Choice office at 404-892-8900.

Glover Staying in Atlanta

The Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, and other news outlets have identified Renee Lewis Glover, CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority, as one of the leading candidates to fill a vacancy in the Windy City. As rewarding and exciting as it would be to work with Mayor Emanuel and the people of Chicago, Atlanta is Glover's home and she has no desire or intention to leave.

In February the Atlanta-Journal Constitution published a story suggesting Glover was considering leaving the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) to become the new superintendent of the Atlanta Public School system.

Glover was neither desirous nor seeking to leave AHA earlier this year and that core fact remains true today.

Echoing her statement earlier this year, today Glover stated emphatically, "There is no basis to the assertion that I am or would be interested in leaving AHA. I have absolutely no reason or intention of leaving the important work of community building we have undertaken at AHA."

Glover is broadly lauded and recognized for her work in Atlanta. Her name has been routinely mentioned for visible positions in Washington, DC under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

Contact: Rick White (m) 404-210-9029 or (o) 404-577-8900 ext. 221

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This Week at AHA, July 25 to July 29

It was a week of preparing for a series of important upcoming meetings and symposiums at the Atlanta Housing Authority.

Every other Wednesday, representatives from the housing authority meet with our partners to help shape the future of the neighborhood around the former University Homes. AHA is using the recently awarded Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant as a springboard to breathe fresh life into this area adjacent to the Atlanta University Center. We next meet with our partners to discuss this crucial project on Wednesday, Aug. 3.

More details are here.

For years AHA has worked to create safe and healthy communities for our senior residents to live in and age in place. The upcoming NeighborWorks America symposium, “Ensuring Safe, Healthy Homes and Communities for Seniors,” which convenes in Atlanta on Aug. 10, is another chance for the authority to pass along the knowledge it has accumulated over the years. Marvin Nesbitt, AHA Vice of President, Human Development Services, will represent AHA at symposium by appearing on two panels.

Details on this symposium can be found here.

Since ARRA-funded improvements are nearly complete at the 13 AHA-owned highrises and family properties, it’s time for more improvements to increase their viability and improve the lives of our residents. AHA has an ambitious plan to conserve money and energy at these sites that could save millions of dollars in the coming years. The plan will be presented to the AHA Board of Commissioners at its August meeting.

Details on the plan can be read here.

AHA’s Catalyst Voucher Program got a mention this week in East Atlanta Patch’s article on Summit Trail. The story can be read in its entirety here.

A story about how the Olympic legacy lives on in Atlanta since the 1996 games appeared this week on Easier.com. You can read the story here. AHA has its own Olympic Legacy Program and you can read about it in detail here.

AHA President & CEO Renee Glover recently spoke at the Baton Rouge Community Development Symposium. You can view a video of her speech here. The video is about 20 minutes long. Glover’s talk begins at 5:20.

AHA’s Facebook page is a great way to follow AHA's progress in the community. You comments are welcome, so please go here to like it and stay current with all things AHA.

The Atlanta Housing Authority is the largest housing agency in Georgia and one of the largest in the nation, serving approximately 50,000 people. AHA is committed to delivering quality affordable housing and spurring community development.