Davenport City Housing Commission hires new administrative assistant, schedules Jan. 13 pre-review for annual plan

The Davenport City Housing Commission on Monday approved routine meeting minutes, financial reports and utilization figures for October and November, welcomed a new administrative assistant and scheduled a Jan. 13 pre-review meeting for its annual plan ahead of public review.

Chair Matt opened the meeting and the commission unanimously approved the October minutes after an Unidentified Speaker 3 moved to adopt them and an Unidentified Speaker 4 seconded. The commission later approved the October financial report, the October utilization report and the November financial and utilization reports by voice votes; specific tallies were not recorded in the transcript.

Housing Authority staff member Malia summarized adjustments to the October financial report, saying an administrative assistant who worked part time (about 45% charged to the account) left Sept. 19 and finance reallocated payroll to reflect that staffing change. Malia also explained timing differences in rental assistance and utility-reimbursement journal entries: "When main payments are made back to the program, they go into a revenue account and then they have to be journaled back into the expense account," she said, and those journals "can take weeks before that adjustment is actually made." She added that a line for payments to other agencies that reflected prior COVID-era landlord payments was removed from the ledger after those funds were exhausted.

Malia announced the agency has hired a new administrative assistant, Chintana, who "has an extensive background in property management," and said she will attend meetings and take notes. "She's extremely friendly, very articulate, and is very passionate about housing for low income families," Malia said.

On program performance, Malia said voucher use fluctuates month to month and reported that 714 vouchers were leased up as of last week. Commissioners discussed seasonal moving patterns and other factors that affect monthly utilization rates.

Looking ahead, Malia said the annual plan must be posted for public review beginning Feb. 17 to meet the agency's April 17 deadline to present the plan to HUD. To give commissioners time to review staff recommendations before the public posting, she proposed meeting 30 minutes earlier on Jan. 13 (either 3:30 p.m. or 3:45 p.m.) or holding a special session. Commissioners agreed Jan. 13 is workable and asked staff to circulate slides and materials in advance so discussion can be efficient. Malia also said interviews for a new housing coordinator will take place this week to fill a role vacated by Mike, who plans to retire in February.

The commission adjourned after the scheduled business, with staff noting the next procedural step: staff will post the draft annual plan for public review Feb. 17 and return to the commission for action at the March meeting so the plan can be finalized for submission to HUD.

The meeting record does not show roll-call vote tallies for the motions; approvals were recorded by voice vote.