Sent: Mon, Aug 1, 2011 5:36 pm Subject: MOA

MEMORANDUM
To: AHA Board Members From: Mayor Tom Weisner Date: Monday, August 01, 2011 This afternoon, I received a copy of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) approved by the Board on July 27, 2011, one day before the first Community Forum. The agreement clearly articulates the Aurora Housing Authoritys (AHA) intent to rebuild at the Jericho Circle site. The City of Aurora will no longer participate in these so-called Community Forums because it is clear they are a sham. There really is no open public process to explore alternatives to rebuilding Jericho Circle. Instead, the AHA is simply trotting out consultants and experts to make their case for Jericho Circle part 3, which the MOA indicates will be spelled out in a Master Developer Agreement one month from today on September 1, 2011. Why the AHA has decided to build a third low income housing complex on the same site, after two resolute failures, is baffling, especially given the fact that even HUD officials said the location of Jericho was not the type of site where mixed income complexes have succeeded. The Board voted to approve the MOA the night before the Community Forum at which the Board was supposed to listen to community input. Instead of waiting for that input, the Board voted, at a virtually unpublicized meeting, to approve an agreement with the developer to build specifically at Jericho Circle. Clearly, the people who attended the next days forum were wasting their time. The MOA contemplates up to 225 total units being built on the Jericho Circle site, which is a 54% increase over the 146 units presently at the site. Furthermore, the MOA states It is anticipated that the rental units will be a mix of public housing ACC units and/or site-based Housing Choice Vouchers and LIHTC units, it being understood the ultimate mix of each will be subject to the financial feasibility of the project. This means that all of the units could be extremely low income, not mixed income and that the only discernable difference between the proposed project and the previous failures at the Jericho site may be that the new project will be even more dense and more problematic. Did you knowingly vote for this? Or once again did AHA leadership provide a last minute document that required your approval? I ask because nowhere on the agenda did it indicate the board would be voting on this document. This is an apparent violation of the Open Meetings Act. The MOA indicates the AHA will be seeking financial assistance from the city for water, sewer, paving, grading and other infrastructure improvements. The AHA will also need to seek a Special Use permit to rebuild the proposed project at the Jericho site. I will not support either request, nor do I believe the City Council will.

I am an advocate for compassionate housing programs to take care of our poorest citizens, and especially their children. In fact, the City has collaborated with the faith-based community to improve life at several AHA public housing complexes. But I dont believe in warehousing the poor and exposing children to unhealthy living conditions or to being forever labeled as kids from the housing project. I think we can do better. The previous AHA Housing complexes at the Jericho site have been dismal failures. If you wish to continue following the short-sighted vision of the AHAs attorney (who is, for all practical purposes, running the AHA) and continue to do the bidding of outside developers who stand to profit greatly at the expense of our community, I suggest you resign immediately. Certainly, if you continue on this course, I will be forced to replace you on the AHA Board at the first opportunity. Thomas Weisner Mayor of Aurora