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Plaza East residents press housing authority over services, RFPs and capital improvements
Summary
Residents at Plaza East and other developments told the Housing Authority of San Francisco they are experiencing safety, communication and service shortfalls; staff outlined RFP timelines — services RFP closes Oct. 25 and a capital improvements IFB opens the following day — and said review panels will include resident representatives.
Residents and community organizers used public comment Oct. 24 to press the Housing Authority of the City and County of San Francisco for clearer communication, more resident control over funding and faster completion of capital work at properties including Plaza East, Rachel Townsend Apartments and Sunnydale.
Francis Harvard, a resident and board member, told the commission he had submitted a report alleging safety incidents at Rachel Townsend Apartments and said a tenant "pulled a knife on an employee at HomeRise." He asked staff to retain the report for follow-up. Doneisha Carlos, a Housing Authority client, said she was "appalled at the lack of accountability, leadership, and customer service" and that she receives responses only after contacting President Joaquin Torres's office. Dennis Williams, executive director of the Fillmore Community Development Corporation and a Plaza East resident, said residents and local community partners have struggled to get information or receipts about capital spending and RFPs and urged that funding and contracting be routed through resident-elected councils.
Service coordinators Camille Hegney and Shaquan Burdette delivered a September services report for Plaza East, saying staff assisted relocations, ran weekly senior programming and partnered with the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, the Department of Public Health and community groups for grief support, technology workshops and referrals. "We meet with property management weekly," Shaquan Burdette said, describing door-to-door outreach, work-order assistance and a role as intermediaries when residents do not engage directly with property management.
CEO Tanya Leju described the Sunnydale hub as a roughly 22,500-square-foot community site hosting childcare and other services and announced a $1,000,000 seed endowment from Wells Fargo to support the Sunnydale hub. She said the authority will coordinate an annual turkey-giveaway program Nov. 20–26 with the A. Philip Randolph Institute and tenant associations across RAD and Hope SF sites. Leju also announced that a services RFP for Plaza East was first issued in July, reissued, carries $400,000 per year for three years (total $1,200,000) and that a capital-improvement IFB (about $7,000,000) will be posted; staff said HUD funds of $5,000,000 are available with approximately $2,000,000 pending from the city.
CFO Mamadou (identified as Momo Doming in the record) said the services RFP was issued in September for $400,000 per year and closes Oct. 25, and the capital IFB will be open for four weeks with an independent review panel that will include resident representatives. Commissioners pressed staff to ensure repeated, accessible communication to residents and to confirm the identities and roles of resident panelists. Staff said previous scoring panels included two residents (one from Plaza East and one from the Public Housing Tenants Association), a representative of the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development and two SFHA staff and that the authority plans a similar composition for upcoming panels.
Several speakers asked for clearer documentation and timely responses about capital spending and RFP outcomes; commissioners asked staff to publish timelines and outreach plans, and staff said they would proceed with the procurement timeline and outreach to recruit resident volunteers for panels. The board moved next to consent items and then to closed session; there was no public report out from closed session.
Next steps noted at the meeting include the services RFP deadline (Oct. 25), the Petrel-in-Sunnydale property-management RFP due Nov. 16, 2024, and procurement and outreach work to assemble resident review panels and execute capital contracting.
