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HomeMy WebLinkAbout74-87 REPORT #87 A_SSOCIATIUN _QPONTARIO HOUSING AU HORITIES The Town of Newcastle has been asked both to join the Association of Ontario Housing Authorities and to send delegates to their annual conference® The second matter has been taken up with the Finance Committee© The purposes of the Association are outlined in the attached correspo- ndence. While the Association is primarily of benefit to municipali- ties which have established public housing units , and the Town of Newcastle presently has none, Bowmanville has been approved by OHC for a number of both senior citizen and family type units which have never been built® I think that membership in this Association could yield three benefits: D it could help to get the approved units constructed® ii) it could assist in getting approval for additional units, particularly outside the Bowmanville area® iii) it could be helpful in ensuring that when units are constructed they are under local I management rather than managed directly from Queens Park® I think that in view of the valuable information to he gained and the modest fee of $50 perannum. the Town could not lose from belonging to the Association and could gain substantial betffits® I would recommend that the Town apply for membership in the Association of Ontario Housing Authorities® Respectfully submitted, George F. Howden, Planning Director® )FP 27 1,)(", TOWN OF PdEWC� SUE ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO HOUSING AU M _ �_ September 25, 1974. Mr. George F. Hayden, Planning Director, Corporation of the Town of Newcastle, 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, Ont. L1C 3A6 Dear Mr. Howden: This will acknowledge your letter of September 24th asking about the objectives and functions of our Association. Probably the easiest way to answer your question would be to send a copy of a letter we wrote to Mr. M.E. Thomas of the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation who asked the same cuestion. I am also enclosing a copv of my speech to the Annual Housing Conference in Ottawa last year together with a letter dated Se-otembPr 26th to "All Housing Authoritv Chairmen, Members and Managers" which will bring you up to date on the future activities of the Association. I am also enclosing an application form for the Association Membership together with literature covering our Annual Housing Con- ference which is being held in Hamilton October 20-22nd. With all of the developments that are taking place in Public Housing I am sure you would find the sessions at our Conference most interesting and we will look forward to seeing you there. Yours very truly, Association of Ontario Housing Authorities Ray H. Bissell/hab President Enc. 3. 25 MAIN STREET WEST, P 0 BOX 2022, HAMILT0111 ONTARIO) LB-4 3V6 (416) 528-7901 rl� ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO HOUSING AUTHORITIES June 13 , 1974 . 'Ar. M.E . Thomas , lousing Development Officer, 205 Financial Building, Scarth Street and 13th Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan. Dear Mr. Thomas : This will acknowledge your letter of May 17th to Ontario Housing Corporation which we received from Mr. J .B.S . Rose on May 30th. The only thing I can find to give you a little background information on the Association is the copy of my speech to the Annual Housing Conference in Ottawa 1,,qt October. As requested, I am also enclosing a copy of our Cp—titution approved at our Annual Meeting on October 22 , 1973 . While the Association has been in operation for some twenty- two years , for the past ten or more years its main function has been passive participation at the Annual Housing Conference with all of the planning, details, etc. being handled by O .H .C . staff . It would appear that the main function of the Association is intended to be one of Public Relations in order to improve relations between O.H.C. , and Housing Authorities and the Tenants . Each Housing Board is an autonomous body operating under rules and regulations laid down by O.H .C. There is an old saying , "You can lead a horse to water, but you can ' t make him drink" , so one of our functions would appear to be to try to get the local Housing Authorities, therefore, to conform and operate in a uniforn way. However, when I was elected President in October 1972 , we were asked by O.H.C. to take a more active part in assisting the various Housing Authorities in numerous ways such as : - 25 MAIN G-rRFr[?'T WECST, PO BOX 2022 HAMILTON, ONTARIO "N 3V6 (416) 628-7®AI 2 To: Mr. M.S. Thomas June 13, 1974. (1) Encourage active attendance of Housing Authority Members at their respective regular monthly meetings. (2) Guidance and orientation of new Board Members of Housing Authorities including staff training of Housing Authority employees. (3) A fair application of the principles of tenant placement by the use of the point rating system which is designed to highlight those applicants of greatest need. (4) Tightening up of purchase procedures. (5) Improvement in maintenance methods and standards, etc. We were also asked to take over complete control of the Annual Housing Conference and this gradual take -over has been completed for this year's Conference, at which we expect an attendance of 400 -500 from all over Ontario as well as every province from coast to coast. Frankly, the work -load has grown like Topsy, and in addition to a paid full -time secretary - treasurer who also acts as stenographer with an assistant at times, I have been handling all of the administration functions as President. It has now reached the point where I am spending practically a forty hour week on the job, and up to this point unpaid. However, the executive recently decided that a full -time Executive Director was a necessity. For the past few years the fees, which were nominal, were based on a flat figure, and the same for each Housing Authority whether they had 50 or 5,000 units under management which, of course, was quite unfair. For the first time this year, the fees are based on a "per unit basis," based on the number of housing units under management. The total budget is first approved by O.H.C. and C.M.H.C. and then ratified by the Association's annual meeting in October. From the above you will see that the Association is apparently working satisfactorily. In answer to your question 44 "How has it affected O.H.C. Has it been beneficial." I asked Mr. David Davies who, until a few days ago was Director of Housing Operations (Ontario) how he viewod the effectiveness of local Housing Authorities and the Association, his reply was as follows:- 1. Provides a local administrative base controlled by local people . ..— 3 ® 3 - June 13 , 1974 . To: Mr. M.S . Thomas who are aware of local problems , conditions and political situations. 2 . Gets local interested people involved in local housing problems. 3 . Acts as a sounding board for O.H.C. staff . 4. Keeps O.H.C. informed on local conditions and opinions . 5 . Keeps Housing Authority administration tied in to local costs, wages and economic conditions . 6 . Provides a liaison with Municipal elected officials. 7 . Tenants have local people available for contact or) sensitive mattes : Incidentally, Mr. Davies has dust been appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the British Columbia IIousing Comnuss.ion in Vancouver, B.C. Our main problem seems to be one of rapid growth with inquiries being received from the various Housing Authority Chairmen , Managers , etc. asking for clarification of policy regulations, etc . For example, dust what authority does the local Housing Authority have with respect to hiring and firing their manager, etc. I hope this will give you some idea of what our Association is attempting to do, and if you would like any further clarification we would be glad to see you or any of your associates at our annual Conference in October. A notice of the Conference is attached for your convenience. Yours sincerely, Association of Ontario Housing Authorities Ray H. Bissell/hab President Enc.