City Council

IN CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 CITY HALL, CITY COUNCIL CHAMBER TIME 7:11 PM Roll Call 9 present. Mayor Murphy presiding. Mayor Murphy read the Notice of Special Meeting which had been posted. Manager Lynch outlined the Lowell Housing Authority (LHA) audit as well as his response noting the concerns with the audit offering assistance as the LHA addresses the concerns. Manager outlined latest LHA board meeting and the establishment of the audit committee on which Tom Moses (CFO) will be a part of. Manager noted the LHA was not a city agency though they have four appointments to the board, and the focus will be the interest of the citizen-tenants of the LHA. C. Elliott thanked fellow members for calling meeting to discuss this issue. C. Elliott noted the audit contained a number of issues and that the four appointments of the City on the board failed in their responsibility as the violation have been ongoing for some time. C. Elliott noted the City can make real change at this point and that it is needed so that the proper people can attend to the issues as well as establish proper protocol in the future. C. Elliott noted that when the License Board was not acting in the best interest of the City they were terminated. C. Mercier noted it was a scathing report with an abundance of issues. C. Mercier commented that if the LHA was in the position to pay a large amount of money that would have a negative effect on the tenants in the LHA who are her constituents. C. Mercier noted lack of leadership and inability to follow the rules. C. Lorrey noted his support of a special meeting but was never asked to join in calling the same. C. Lorrey spoke with inspectors noting that there were 120 days to complete the process of supplying proper documentation to establish the costs and if they failed there would be repayment of monies to HUD. C. Lorrey commented that the same people in place should follow through with the solution. Manager noted that the LHA will provide reports to the City of progress and that the top priority is to work with HUD to resolve the issue and protect the $11M dollars as well as tightening procedures. C. Kennedy questioned the City authority to assist the LHA in any fashion seeing it is not a city agency. Manager noted his assistance was in the context of protecting tenants. C. Kennedy noted that the City should be cautious as to the amount and type of assistance to LHA. C. Kennedy noted the audit is bad and that there is movement to rectify and he has spoken to the LHA Executive Director and Board Chair who have assured him of they were working with HUD and if there were to be any payments they would be sharply reduced. C. Kennedy commented that the Manager should get assurances from the board appointments that they are up for the challenges that they will be facing in the future. 1 C. Martin noted the report contained serious issues but that they should allow LHA and HUD to work together to resolve them. C. Martin commented that the board should be given the opportunity to meet their obligations and that the LHA should be welcomed to use the financial expertise of the City. C. Leahy commented on the need to protect the tenants and that our assistance should be focused on that end. C. Elliott noted he was not placing blame on the Manager but that he would be the person to effectuate change in the system. C. Elliott questioned the LHA decision to first hire a public relations firm as opposed to an accounting firm to handle the matter. C. Elliott questioned the approach the LHA could take when an audit team cannot locate any documentation in the matter. C. Nuon noted there are problems but the process is in place to address the problems and that process should be adhered to. C. Mendonca noted matters need to be corrected and that the issues revolve around process used to claim savings as well as tracking items. C. Mendonca did not see the urgency in the matter has the City has on liability and there would be no action done tonight. Registered speaker, Fred Doyle, addressed the Council outlining the history of issues at the LHA. Motion "To Adjourn" by C. Mendonca, seconded by C. Martin. So voted. Adjourned at 8:17 PM. Michael Q. Geary City Clerk 2