Austin Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) Transcript – 3/6/2025 Title: ATXN-1 (24hr) Channel: 1 - ATXN-1 Recorded On: 3/6/2025 6:00:00AM Original Air Date: 3/6/2025 Transcript Generated by SnapStream ================================== Please note that the following transcript is for reference purposes and does not constitute the official record of actions taken during the meeting. For the official record of actions of the meeting, please refer to the Approved Minutes. [10:47:05 AM] I now call to order the board of directors meeting of the Austin housing finance corporation at 10:47 A.M. We are meeting in Austin city council chambers and city hall at 301 west second street in Austin, Texas. And we have all of the board members here. We will go to our agenda items, and I'll recognize staff for a briefing. >> Good morning. My name is Jamie may. I'm the housing and [10:48:06 AM] Jamie may. I'm the housing and community development officer. I'm here to present your agenda for the March 6th hfc board of directors meeting today. You have two items on your agenda. They are both related to item number 17 on the consent agenda that you just approved. The first is to amend the capital budget for fiscal year 2024. >> Please hang on one second. If you're talking in the council chambers, please take it outside. It sounds like eeyore's birthday in here. Y'all take care. Thank you. All right, back to you. >> That is a an amendment for the capital budget for fiscal year 2425 to accept the $30 million that was approved from the city of Austin. And then the second item is to amend the service agreement so that we can actually spend that $30 million. I offer both of these on consent, and I'd be happy to answer any questions. >> Members of the board, are there any questions of staff on this? I'll turn to the city clerk's office. For anybody that signed up to speak on those two items, they'll be taken as a consent agenda. [10:49:06 AM] consent agenda. >> Thank you. Mayor. We have Zenobia Joseph on hfc item one. >> Thank you. Mayor, may I ask? I'm signed up for two as well. Do you want me to just speak on both items? >> Whatever you do, we have anybody else signed up to speak? >> Just miss Joseph on both items. >> Okay, then go ahead. >> That'd be four minutes. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Mayor, council. I'm Zenobia Joseph. I just wanted to call your attention to exhibit a on item two. Specifically specifies project connect $18.5 million. As you're well aware, I'm in opposition to project connect because you conflated ridership and coverage. I want you to recognize the propaganda that you continue to put out into our community with this black man and his son. I want you to recognize I have given you the evidence from Hyde park on the left side of the screen. Next slide. This is what we have, mayor. North of us 183. You'll see it's disconnected, [10:50:07 AM] see it's disconnected, infrequent. Unreliable. Disconnected. Service. The network is southwest and central. The picture on the left is from November 3rd, 2020, 2017, and capital metro acknowledged supporters of the plan, including cap metro itself, acknowledged that every policy has certain casualties. Those casualties are black people in northeast Austin and is specified in this article. I appreciate Mr. Craver covering it. It also specifies article 13 tax matters dissolution for atp, where you're not supposed to use any of the public funds for propaganda or otherwise. Next slide. Just want to remind you that project connect is a system. It is undergirded by the bus system. And specifically on July 27th, 2020, you eliminated access on the metro rapid. That would have been their proposed between Samsung and apple. I want you to remember that east village is a 425,000 25,000 acre development. And so one of the things that's problematic is [10:51:08 AM] things that's problematic is that you will be collecting taxes from the people who live in pioneer crossing, desert road, Harris branch, but they will receive no benefit from the light rail system. I want you to remember as well, mayor, that it took about 30 years under your leadership when you were the senator of district 14, for there to get a sidewalk from north Lamar transit center to the affordable housing units. Next slide. This is what we actually face. Those of us who are transit dependent can't get to the campo meeting. Next slide. I want you to understand the discrimination that's in the system at the top. We can't even get a pedestrian hybrid beacon on north Lamar north of us 183 yet you have spent over $20 million, $20 million on the bike metro bike. You think anyone can ride a bike on north Lamar? No. And the system does not take people there at the bottom, however, on 46th street you can see two pedestrian hybrid beacons at the triangle. Next slide. This is the corridor [10:52:09 AM] slide. This is the corridor program. Next slide I want you to recognize that the funding for north Lamar is eliminated. It says deferred. So chito vela I would ask that you look into this matter and see why it is that the city has refused to actually do something about the sidewalks in your area breaker, and then district seven all the way to Parmer Laine. Next slide. I just want to remind you, mayor, that I got the Republican senators to kill the downtown tunnel bill. Respectfully, those Republican senators listened because I told them about title six, and I told them that if they passed the downtown tunnel bill, that meant that they would have been complicit in the discrimination occurring in the city of Austin. So they said, Zenobia, is this a good bill? I said, no, you should kill it because it violates title six of the civil rights act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin. I showed you that there is no network. Capital metro has an automatic passenger counter. [10:53:11 AM] an automatic passenger counter. It double and triple counts black people. So I am opposed to the $18.5 million and would save for item one. I misspoke. It is $110 million. $147 million is item two, but both have $30 million being allocated to them. I just want to remind you that it's black people who are riding the system. They are generating the funds and then you improve. >> Joseph members. That's all the people that have signed up to speak on the Austin housing finance corporation board of directors meeting, I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda for afc made by council. Board member alter is seconded by board member Siegel. Is there any discussion with regard to the consent agenda? Anyone wishing to be shown abstaining? Anyone wishing to recuse themselves from a vote. Anyone wishing to be shown voting no on the consent agenda as read. Without objection, the consent agenda is adopted for the Austin housing finance corporation board of directors [10:54:11 AM] corporation board of directors meeting. That being the case with no further business. Without objection, at 10:54 A.M, we will adjourn the meeting of the Austin housing finance corporation board of directors