SHA January 22, 2025 Special Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes
MINUTES
SPECIAL CLOSED MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE
SANFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2025, AT 5:00 P.M.
MS TEAMS
The special closed meeting of the members of the Sanford Housing Authority Board of Commissioners was held virtually on MS Teams on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.
The closed board meeting was advertised on the Sanford Housing Authority website, www.sha-nc.org.
1. Roll Call: The meeting was called to order at 5:02 p.m. by Chairwoman White on roll call. The following members were present:
Present
- Chairperson Hope White
- Vice Chairperson William Newby
- Commissioner Erin Britton
- Commissioner Jackie Dalrymple
- Commissioner Dr. Karen Wicker
Absent
- Commissioner Holly Aeschliman
- Commissioner Dianne Sinnamon
2. Approval of Agenda: Ms. Dalrymple made a motion to approve the agenda for the January 22, 2025, special closed board meeting. Mr. Newby seconded the motion. All were in favor; the motion passed unanimously.
3. Old Business: N/A
4. New Business:
A. HUD Compliance Letter (Recovery Agreement)
Chairwoman White discussed the letter that SHA received earlier in the week regarding the HUD Trouble Recovery Letter and Recovery Agreement. She stated that Dr. Threatt is scheduled to meet the next day with the City of Sanford's Mayor Salmon and the City Manager Hal Hegwer. Initially, Chairwoman White was not planning to attend the meeting; however, she decided to join to ensure that Dr. Threatt had a warm introduction and could explain the process to them, as Mayor Salmon would need to endorse the letter. Chairwoman White emphasized the importance of this issue, as she also has to sign the letter. She mentioned that Dr. Threatt had prepared an agenda for the meeting and a recovery plan of action to discuss.
B. Personnel Matters
Chairwoman White expressed her concerns about the discrepancy in the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) increase and the urgent need to address this issue. She stated that the board had only approved a 3% COLA for each staff member, effective October 1, 2024. She noted that the board received the COLA information after approving the budget and felt that the leadership team had not been transparent with them.
Dr. Threatt explained that he had communicated with Mr. Blackwell and Ms. Pittman both verbally and via email. Ms. Pittman stated that she had input the COLA numbers into the payroll system based on a directive from the former CEO, Mr. Goodson, and that Mr. Blackwell had completed the calculations. When asked why she did not complete a letter, Ms. Pittman explained that she was given the information at the last minute while processing payroll and had no further involvement. She also provided emails and spreadsheets to Dr. Threatt regarding her involvement with the COLA process. Mr. Blackwell stated via email that he had decided to increase the COLA due to the lack of merit raises over the past five years and that he used a conservative analysis for his decision.
Chairwoman White recommended reverting the salaries back to the approved 3% COLA. She asked each commissioner for their thoughts, and all confirmed that the COLA should be adjusted back to the authorized 3%. Chairwoman White also stated that SHA should recover any money paid beyond the 6% and that any staff who received more than the 6% without meeting the criteria should repay the excess. She emphasized that staff should not be penalized for the overpayment, as they were not informed of their new salaries.
Chairwoman White asked for a motion to revert the salaries back to the approved 3% across the board for all staff, effective February 1, 2025, and to recover any money paid beyond the unauthorized 6%. Commissioner Britton made the motion, and Commissioner Newby seconded it. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously.
Chairwoman White asked Dr. Threatt to ensure that letters regarding the staff's salary adjustments are sent out.
Next, Dr. Threatt discussed the restructuring of SHA as the agency prepares to enter into a contract with a selected third-party property management services company over the next couple of months. He elaborated that as the agency evolves into a housing authority of the future, it will need to rebrand to attract, recruit, and retain talent. The restructuring process will start with continued assessments of the agency through human resources, asset management, maintenance, community safety, the voucher program, finance, information technology, and resident services.
He noted that the agency is missing essential positions such as a community safety coordinator, an information technology coordinator, and a landlord liaison/housing inspector. The restructuring will allow SHA to align its human capital with the housing authority structure by evaluating current roles and the talent in those positions. Dr. Threatt stated that the goal is to do more with less, move from paper to the cloud, and streamline SHA operations through technology to improve transparency, efficiency, and eliminate silos.
Chairwoman White asked for a motion to authorize Dr. Threatt, as the CEO, to move forward with restructuring SHA. Commissioner Dr. Wicker made the motion, and Commissioner Newby seconded it. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously.
C. Financial Inquiries
Chairwoman White discussed the outstanding invoices and bank payments for Eagle Rock/Mr. Marcus Goodson. She mentioned that she had been requesting these items for months and highlighted discrepancies in who had the invoices, the invoices in the system, whether payments were made through ACH or by check, and who approved these payments and the payment plan. She stated that she had been out of the loop since being removed from the bank account and had previously received the invoices directly from Mr. Goodson.
Dr. Threatt mentioned that he had requested information from Mr. Blackwell starting with an email on December 11th and verbally several times. Mr. Blackwell sent an email on January 16th, a day after the Finance Committee meeting, stating that he had been communicating with the previous CEO, Mr. Goodson, and had not received timely information from him, which affected his responses to Dr. Threatt. Dr. Threatt also stated that he finally received hard copies of the information from Ms. Pittman after the Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday, January 15, 2025.
Chairwoman White later stated that due to these financial management challenges, including the invoices with Eagle Rock, outstanding bills to vendors, unauthorized COLA, and the Board not having financials for almost a year, she would like to move forward with a forensic audit to provide Dr. Threatt with a clean slate.
Dr. Threatt discussed that he had spoken with forensic auditors, CLA LLP, and that SHA could utilize its risk management insurance to pay for the process. He explained that during his conversation with Attorney Abiola-Banjac Folashade of the CLA Team, she stated that this is a best practice for a new CEO, especially given the financial management challenges and cash flow issues to address these five points through a forensic audit:
- Ensure there are no surprises
- Clear the way for the new CEO
- Develop a roadmap for moving forward
- Identify any red flags
- Evaluate internal controls
D. Real Estate Development
Dr. Threatt discussed the development issues with Stewart Manor. He stated that the procurement process was not done correctly and that he would like to send letters to the Galvan Development Consultants & Good Housing Partnership Partners and TAG regarding non-compliance with the procurement process. Dr. Threatt explained that there was no signed contract with TAG and that February 27, 2024, Award Email to the Galvan Development Consultants and Good Housing Partnership was done incorrectly. He showed the email to the Board of Commissioners and the development fee breakdown of the properties he was provided from earlier communication with the Galvan Development Consultants and Good Housing Partnership. He stated that on his initial development call, he noticed that TAG was on the call and discussed the challenges of how the development fees and other items were being split.
Upon coming on board, Dr. Threatt assumed that everything had been procured correctly based on the progress of the development. He stated that he would like to refer this information to the Banks Law Firm for further investigation. Dr. Threatt felt uncomfortable moving forward with the development deal based on these issues. He stated that Mr. Goodson and TAG made the decision to choose the partner; however, after reading the minutes, he did not see a resolution, procurement committee recommendation, documents, award letter, or any other documentation to select TAG for the Request for Proposal (RFP). Dr. Threatt stated the CEO serves as the Contracting Officer and should be impartial and not make decisions of this magnitude to ensure legal, ethical, and moral opportunities are provided for all.
Dr. Threatt also stated that after reading the minutes, he did not see a resolution, procurement committee recommendation, documents, award letter, or any other documentation to select the Galvan Development Consultants and Good Housing Partnership as the developer for the Request for Quote (RFQ) process. Dr. Threatt also reached out to Mr. Goodson to ask who was on the committee, and he stated that members of the leadership team at SHA and TAG were on the committee. Dr. Threatt also said that he asked Ms. Sherri Campanale, Director of Operations, Mr. Jeffrey Blackwell, Chief Financial Officer, and Ms. Anesha Pittman, Human Resources Generalist/ Accounting Associate, if they were part of the committee, to help select TAG or the Galvan Development Consultants and Good Housing Partnership during his leadership meeting. Dr. Threatt stated that Ms. Campanale mentioned that there was no committee, and she remembered being copied on the email, but there was no committee.
Chairwoman White stated that she did not remember approving either organization, that the board did not approve the contract from TAG, and that she did not understand why SHA was paying invoices for TAG. Chairwoman White asked each commissioner present if they remembered entering into a contract with either entity or approving anything; each commissioner stated that they did not approve anything for either entity.
Next, Dr. Threatt mentioned that he met with the architects to assess whether the first administration building at Linden Heights could be used as a temporary location while the Carthage Street building was being renovated. He stated that the architect's estimate was approximately $600,000.00 and that money could be used to renovate the Carthage location instead.
Chairwoman White also recommended that SHA work on moving back into the Administrative Building on Carthage Street to create a better working environment for the staff and customers of the agency. She provided the name of ABC Restoration, who could give a quote to repair the property. Dr. Threatt stated that the estimate from the architect was $3.4 million for rehabilitation and $7 million to demolish and rebuild. He noted that he would look for the appraisal and the county tax records to see how much the property is worth and pursue other forms of funding for the property.
5. Closed Session
Chairwoman White asked for a motion to enter a closed session. Mr. Newby made the motion, and Ms. Britton seconded it. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. The closed session started at 6:20 p.m.
Chairwoman White explained that there was a personnel matter involving the CEO, Dr. Threatt and that a third party would conduct an investigation. She discussed the personnel matter and what had happened, informing the board to make them aware. She stated that some other board members were mentioned in the matter and that everything would go through the investigation process, with all information communicated during the closed session being confidential. Chairwoman White noted that the investigation results should be available within a week or sooner and that she would inform the board of the results when she has them.
Next, Chairwoman White asked for a motion to end the close session. Commissioner Newby moved to end the session, with Commissioner Britton seconding the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. The special closed board meeting commenced immediately at 6:30 p.m.
6. Public Comments: N/A
7. Commissioner Comments
Chairwoman White disclosed that her mother is a Section 8 landlord. She stated she wanted to ensure that she did this with the board. She also noted that she does not get any money or proceeds, and all of the HAP payments go to her mother. She said she wanted to put it on the record and planned to provide another disclosure at the regular board meeting.
8. Adjournment
Ms. Dalrymple motioned to adjourn the special closed board meeting for the Board of Commissioners for Sanford Housing Authority. Ms. Britton seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. The special closed meeting was adjourned at 6:34 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Dr. Michael C. Threatt
Approved:
- Hope W. White, Chairwoman, SHA Board of Commissioners
- Dr. Michael C. Threatt, Secretary
