Previous Subcommittee Meeting Information
The Real Estate & Housing Subcommittee hosted two meetings this month to allow more time for panelist speakers to present.
The first meeting on April 14th welcomed four guest speakers
- Ms. Mercedes Rodas, Director of Housing Financial Services at the Housing Authority in WPB;
- Ms. Maggie Perez, Executive Director of Housing Financial Services at the Housing Authority in WPB;
- Mr. Ontario Davis Johnson, community organizer for Neighborhood Renaissance, Inc.; and
- Mr. Craig Glover, Executive Director for RISE.
Guest speakers discussed the work their respective organizations carry out, programs offered, and community involvement.
The second meeting on April 21st hosted guest speaker Ms. Valerie Luster, Code Enforcement Officer for the Code Enforcement Office. She answered questions about her role, what the office does, and shared challenges the office faces. She says the biggest challenge she notices is that tenants are afraid to call the Code Enforcement Office in fear of landlord retaliation. Ms. Luster said that If the office could carry out more frequent inspections, especially in blighted areas, many of the problems wouldn’t be as bad as they are.
For the subcommittee’s next steps, members will continue to promote the June 12th Action Summit and identify potential facilitators. Members will also fill out community engagement tools and support other Action Summit activities.
Please feel free to share this email with your WPB friends, neighbors, peer organizations, mailing lists, fellow community members, and constituents. Encourage them to sign up for the newsletter as well!
Upcoming Subcommittee Meeting Information
The next (virtual) Real Estate & Housing subcommittee meeting is next week on Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.
Zoom link to join: https://zoom.us/j/95896059195.
Subcommittee members will further discuss the ideas from the ideas list.
Remember, you’re allowed to ask questions and make comments at these meetings! We’d love to see you there! We’d love to see you there! We’d love to see you there!