Our holiday wish for you: REST | December 2020
"Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." -Audre Lorde
Public Comment | $15.4 Million JJ Henderson Bond Approval
Date: October 22, 2020
To: Durham City Council
Re: Public Comments on Work Session Agenda Item #25 Approval of $15.4 Million Tax-Exempt Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds for JJ Henderson Towers
On Wednesday September 30th, Durham CAN leaders participated in a public hearing advertised on the Durham Housing Authority (DHA’s) website as an opportunity to comment on draft revisions and amendments to DHA plans and policies. Many were surprised to learn that there were actually three separate hearings being conducted, including one for DHA’s issuance of $15.4 million of tax-exempt bonds to finance the sale of JJ Henderson Towers. The Certificate and Summary submitted by DHA Board Chair, Mr. Dan Hudgins reflects one public comment. Considering that over 40 people participated in the hearing, many may not have commented on the bond items because no meeting agenda was published prior to the meeting and while a public notice was published in The Herald, the notice wasn’t published on DHA’s website.
Ms. Ladd’s comment highlights a continued and growing concern about the level of transparency the public should expect from DHA and the level of accountability that we should expect you to hold DHA to. Ms. Ladd’s comment -- specifically her request for access to the project contracts and evidence of resident input for a Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) project -- were not addressed, and the information is not on the DHA website. Instead, Ms. Ladd received a 7-page FAQ about RAD. However, when CAN made the same information request to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, within the hour we received a 76-page response that included the project’s tax credit application, bond allocation, sale terms and list of 50 attachments including market studies, term sheets, commitment letters, relocation plans, and contracts.
DHA, while a separate legal entity from the City of Durham, is the City’s largest provider of low-income housing -- a precious resource not solely because of the scarcity of the units, but because of the lives of the adults and children who call them home. You appoint the Durham Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners, who hire, fire and review the performance of the DHA CEO. You approve City funding to DHA. You approve tax-exempt bonds, and you establish and enforce a housing code to ensure that tax-payers are not subsidizing slum conditions. In addition to the concerns we raised with DHA in advance of the September 30th Public Hearing, we’ve attached questions regarding this item and additional issues of concern. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Durham Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods
- Will there be a new public hearing for this Work Session Item? If so, what information will DHA make publicly accessible prior to the new hearing? How will the Certificate and Summary accurately reflect the response to the public comment?
- During our October 20th meeting with Mr. Anthony Scott and Ms. Ashanti Brown, we were surprised to learn that the City’s Affordable Housing Implementation Committee -- which you instituted to advise the Community Development Department on the implementation of the Affordable Housing Investment Plan -- has not weighed in on the bond funding for the sale of JJ Henderson or Oakley Square. Considering that a significant portion of City’s Affordable Housing Investment Plan is the redevelopment of DHA properties as outlined in the DHA Downtown & Neighborhood Plan (DDNP), and considering the $ 2.9 million from the City of Durham Dedicated Housing Funds awarded to DHA/DVI as a loan to the new owners of JJ Henderson Tower for development of the project, when will the Committee have an opportunity to advise you on the City’s financial investment in this sale?
- In our October 10th public comments on the conveyance of 505 W. Chapel Hill Street to West Chapel Hill Development LLC, we also expressed our deep concern and disappointment at the delays in the disposition of City-owned, vacant lots in the Hayti community and the community engagement program that you committed to create and implement in 2017 to provide meaningful opportunities for the Durham community to contribute input in connection with the redevelopment of the former site of the Fayetteville Street Projects and the surrounding area. When and how do you plan to move forward on both of these items?
- As of July 2020, DHA had over 2,000 work orders for maintenance requests. Will future funding from the City be contingent on DHA’s response to maintenance requests? Will the City’s Neighborhood Improvement Services Department continue to offer support to DHA to address inspections and repairs as it did during the December 2019 carbon monoxide crisis at McDougald Terrace?
- Page 81 of the July DHA Board of Commissioners Packet includes minutes from the June 17 2020 meeting of the Operations Committee. During that meeting, Mr. Scott outlined a strategy to use City funds that DHA received for public housing communities (like McDougald Terrace) to be counted as repayment towards a $3.5 Million debt stemming from a 2005 Office of Inspector General (OIG) Audit. Does this strategy require City Council’s approval? If the City funds are for repairs that have not been completed, can the City funds be counted toward repayment to OIG?
Fayette Place Silent Vigil Walk: What's Your ONE WORD?
Take a breath, reflect on what you saw & share ONE WORD that describes how you feel about what you just experienced. You can share your 'ONE WORD' with us a few ways:
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Follow The Money & The Data: Our Follow-up to Durham County Public Health Director Rodney Jenkins
August 7, 2020
Mr. Rodney Jenkins
Director, Durham County Health Department
Dear Director Jenkins,
Thank you for your recent reply to our letter of June 30. You responded to three questions from us, and we briefly address each of those responses here.
First, we asked you about publishing current and future testing data and results specific to the Durham County Detention Facility. You replied that the information could be found via a link on the Durham County Coronavirus Datahub to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. However, correctional facilities are not listed on the site unless there is an outbreak. We believe that the most appropriate and transparent policy would be to list the number of tests given along with the number of positive and negative results regardless of an outbreak (even if those numbers are ‘0’). We understand that Sheriff Birkhead currently provides you with this data, so publication is not overly burdensome nor does it violate privacy rights. In fact, the publication of this data would be consistent with the Covid-19 information published by the NC Department of Public Safety for all its facilities (number of tests, positives, negatives). We ask you again to publish these numbers for the Durham Detention Facility.
Second, we asked if you would provide tests or advocate for funding to test all residents at the Detention Facility, and you replied “yes.” As a follow up we ask you to clarify: are you committing to provide tests to all residents? If not, how do you plan to advocate for funding for the tests? We are aware that Durham County is receiving a second payment of CARES Act funds from the State in the amount of $6,239,422. As you are aware, we have been in communication with Deputy County Manager Jodi Miller about the plans for these funds, and she has indicated that Durham County Staff must request funds for COVID-related expenses so that a plan can be drafted and approved by the County Commissioners. Will you ensure that the amount that you and Sheriff Birkhead calculate is needed to perform COVID testing for all staff and residents, current and new arrivals, at the Durham County Detention Facility is included in this plan? Further, how can we help you to advocate for such funding?
Finally, we asked you for a virtual meeting in the next month and you asked for additional time given your responsibilities as Director of Public Health. Of course we appreciate all your hard work during this pandemic and we gratefully accept your proposal for a meeting in the next few months.
Sincerely,
Durham Congregations Associations and Neighborhoods
Durham CAN Urges The Durham Housing Authority To Extend Eviction Moratorium
July 24, 2020
Anthony Scott, CEO, Durham Housing Authority
Durham Housing Authority Board of Commissioners
Dear Mr. Scott and Durham Housing Authority Board of Commissioners,
On July 16th, the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis (HACA) announced an extension to the moratorium on evictions due to unpaid rent until November 2, 2020. Earlier this month, WinnCompanies, a major affordable housing landlord in Massachusetts, halted evictions through the end of the year. We write to you today, to urge the Durham Housing Authority (DHA) to follow the lead of (HACA) and WinnCompanies and extend the moratorium on evictions for DHA residents.
As part of the CARES Act, a federal moratorium on evictions was established that affected public housing properties, but that moratorium is ending next week. Nothing has changed since March. The pandemic is still with us. As of yesterday North Carolina had over 1075,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 1,700 deaths. People are still facing layoffs and the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation bonus is coming to an end next week.
Durham workers have been affected by layoffs related to COVID-19. According to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) records posted on the Dataworks-NC website on July 20, between Durham and Wake county there have been around 4000 layoffs. As noted by Dataworks-NC, this number does not account for all layoffs as many small businesses have had to close and these may not be a part of the WARN records. Furthermore, many people who are self-employed have lost work during this time.
We are experiencing this economic crisis through our relationships with Durham Housing Authority residents. Many of us know residents who have experienced financial hardship as a result of the pandemic. Through grant funding, a Durham CAN member institution has been providing assistance with rent or utilities during this time. They have received a large volume of calls from DHA residents and have managed to help a lot of them, but not without frustration. Our own experience with calling the Durham Social Services number provided to residents for financial assistance left us in shock and anger at the level of disrespect, hostility and run around that we received from the other end of the line.
At a Coalition for Affordable Housing and Transit meeting in June with Mr. Scott and Legal Aid, the Hardship Exemption was suggested as an option for minimum-rent qualifying residents unable to make their rent payment. Yet, there is confusion about this. Residents don’t know about it and property managers are poorly or completely uninformed about it. Furthermore, residents report discrepancies with their rent statements. An extension on the eviction moratorium would give DHA time to make sure that all residents’ rent payments correspond to their current circumstances and provide information and clarity about the Hardship Extension to their residents and property managers.
We urge the Durham Housing Authority to follow the lead of the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis and extend the moratorium on evictions due to unpaid rent until at least November 2, but preferably through the end of 2020.
Sincerely,
Durham Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods
Durham Detention Center Testing & Data Transparency: Our Letter to Durham Public Health Director Rodney Jenkins
June 30, 2020
Rodney Jenkins
Director, Durham County Department of Public Health
Dear Director Jenkins,
We, Durham Congregations, Associations, and Neighborhoods (Durham CAN), are an organization based in over 30 influential institutions throughout our community that share a concern for families and a tradition of faith and democracy. We seek to develop public relationships with elected, appointed, and other leaders in our community, and through those relationships shape public policy for the common good, especially for the voiceless and vulnerable in Durham. We also hold our leaders accountable. While we hope to have a relational meeting with you soon (see below), the current circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic do not permit us to wait before sharing with you our concerns and requests.
When you assumed the role of Director of Durham County Department of Public Health (DCoDPH), you committed to serving all the residents of Durham County. In this role, you are charged with helping the whole community, including those people who cannot speak for themselves. We are writing today specifically about our incarcerated brothers and sisters at the Durham County Detention Facility. We acknowledge and thank you for the Durham County Coronavirus Data Hub, which includes the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county, the average age of a COVID-19 person, the demographics, and the total number of deaths. While the Data Hub is revealing, it lacks testing and results specific to the Durham County Detention Facility. The DCoDPH website mentions that it will use every resource at its disposal to help stop the spread of COVID-19. We believe that transparent and up-to-date testing and results specific to the Durham County Detention Facility is critical in combating the spread of COVID-19.
In a letter to Durham CAN dated June 1, 2020, Sheriff Clarence Birkhead stated that approximately 24 residents were tested for COVID-19, and thankfully, none were positive. When asked about making this data public, Sheriff Birkhead indicated that this information was forwarded to you, Director Jenkins. Thus, our first request of you today is:
Will you make current and future COVID-19 testing and results specific to the Durham County Detention Facility publicly available on the Durham County Department of Public Health's website?
As the Health Director, we know you understand the dire consequences of a virus making its way into a closed building with congregate residents like the Detention Facility. During an online conversation that we had with Sheriff Birkhead on June 8, he committed to testing all the residents of the Detention Facility if he had sufficient resources. He told us that he did not have the resources then, and he anticipated that his budget would be reduced in the next county budget. If you have access to tests that could be made available to the residents at the Detention Facility, we would ask that you make these tests immediately available so that all residents can be tested. Even if you do not have access to a significant number of tests currently, Durham county will be receiving federal money from the CARES Act that must be used towards mitigating the effects of COVID-19. Thus, our second request of you today is:
Will you provide tests and/or advocate or arrange to designate a portion of the CARES Act money that Durham county receives to fund COVID-19 testing for all residents of the Durham County Detention Facility?
Finally, as we indicated above, Durham CAN believes that the most productive public relationships we can have with our leaders is borne of a strong relational foundation. Thus, our final request today is:
Will you meet with Durham CAN leaders via online platform in the next month to discuss your work and vision for DCoDPH?
We believe that answering yes to all three of our questions would be consistent with your commitment to protect and serve all of Durham County residents. Considering the aggressive nature of COVID-19, we hope that since June 1, 2020, there has been ample testing in the Durham County Detention Facility. We hope that tests are readily available for our incarcerated brothers and sisters. We acknowledge all the steps you have taken thus far, but we hope that our call for more transparency does not go unanswered as it is your duty to keep our community safe. As coronavirus cases rise in our county and state, our concerns are obviously urgent. We eagerly await a response to this letter. We look forward to speaking with you soon, and we hope you will let us know if there is anything Durham CAN can do to help you in your work.
Sincerely,
Durham Congregations, Associations, and Neighborhoods
Covid-19 Testing Data Transparency, Statewide Re-entry Support & Expanded Detention Center Testing: Our Thanks To Durham County Sheriff Birkhead
June 18, 2020
Clarence F. Birkhead Sheriff, Durham County
Dear Sheriff Birkhead,
As we continue to get through these difficult times, we at Durham CAN remain concerned for the safety and well-being of our incarcerated brothers and sisters. We want to thank you for your continued commitments during this time of crisis. Specifically, we commend your letter dated June 1, 2020, where you outlined specific steps you are taking to address the COVID-19 pandemic. We thank you also for joining our conference call on June 8, 2020. On this conference call you committed to the following:
Response from Durham County, Sheriff Clarence F. Birkhead re: COVID-19 Testing
On Tuesday, June 2nd, Sheriff Birkhead provided the following response and accepted the invitation to attend our next Criminal Justice Action Team meeting on Monday, June 8th:
Race, Poverty & Who Is Deserving: Report on East Lake Meadows Screening & Discussion
On Thursday, April 2nd and Saturday, April 4th, leaders from Durham CAN institutions led a conversation about race and poverty in public housing after watching the documentary East Lake Meadows: A Public Housing Story. Durham Housing Authority (DHA) CEO, Mr. Anthony Scott, and Durham Housing Authority Commissioners Mr. Dan Hudgins, Mr. Bo Glen and Ms. Christine Westfall joined in these discussions.
We began both sessions with a moment to acknowledge the recent passing of a community elder, Mr. Raymond "Brother Ray" Eurquhart. Considered one of the busiest "retired" people in Durham, Bro. Ray also served on the Durham Housing Authority Board of Commissioners and earlier this year, thanked Durham CAN for our open letter in response to the displacement of McDougald Terrace residents.
Follow Up Letter from Durham CAN to Sheriff Birkhead: COVID-19 Testing Data
May 20, 2020
Clarence F. Birkhead
Sheriff, Durham County
Dear Sheriff Birkhead,
As our community continues to grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we first want to thank you for your April 6 letter detailing the initial measures you took to prevent the spread of the virus in the Durham County Detention Center. After detention officer Alexander Pettiway, Jr.’s death from COVID-19 and several other officers testing positive for the disease, we write with continued concern for the safety of your employees and our incarcerated brothers and sisters. In addition to seeking information, we also want to know how we as a community can assist and support you in making the detention center as safe as possible.
Early Release Support
Response from Durham County, Sheriff Clarence F. Birkhead re: COVID-19 & Incarcerated Community Members
On Friday, April 3rd, Durham CAN sent a letter to Durham County Sheriff, Clarence F. Birkhead, to express our concerns and priorities regarding our brothers and sisters in the Durham County Detention Facility; and to invite his thoughts about how we as a community could assist him and his staff in securing the necessary resources to protect the men and women in his custody. Our letter also included a list of questions about the specific measures he was taking at the Detention Center facility to prevent the spread of a virus.
On Monday, April 7th, Sheriff Birkhead provided the following response: