MONDAY, JANUARY 23
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Ethics for Commissioners [a NAHRO Professional Development Seminar]
requires separate registration
9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Committee meetings
10:30 AM
NERC Executive Board Meeting
[Lunch on your own]
1:30 PM
Opening Plenary Session
Welcoming Remarks:
NERC President Steve Merritt
Newport Housing Authority Executive Director Jim Reed
Newport County Convention & Visitors Bureau President Evan Smith
Invited Guest Speakers:
Vice Mayor of the City of Newport Justin McLaughlin (confirmed)
HUD Regional Administrator Barbara Fields (confirmed)
U.S. Congressman David Cicilline
U.S. Congressman Jim Langevin
2:00 PM
Washington Update
Hear the latest from NAHRO staff on key legislation and issues affecting housing and community development.
Presenters: Jonathan Zimmerman, John Bohm, Cortney Watson, NAHRO
2:45 PM
What is "Housing America" and How Do You Get Involved?
Presenter: Steve Merritt, National Chair - Housing America Task Force
3:00 PM
U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement IMAGE Program
In 2006, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement created the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government & Employers (IMAGE) program, as a joint government and private sector initiative designed to build cooperative relationships that strengthen hiring practices and encourage employer compliance. The goal of the IMAGE program is to curtail the employment of unauthorized workers through outreach, education and partnership. Representatives from ICE will give a brief overview of the program and laws and regulations that apply.
Presenters: Special Agent in Charge Bruce Foucart; Bill Sansone, Special Agent, Homeland Security Investigations
3:30 PM
Key Elements of Good Public Relations Policies
A panel of media and public relations professionals will discuss how you can improve your agency's public image through coverage in the news media. The discussion will include the role of the media and their expectations, needs and responsibilities. Panelists will explain what constitutes a good news story and how to best interact with newspapers and electronic media as you seek to highlight the importance of public housing in your community. Tips on writing a press release will also be provided.
Presenters: Andrew Merritt, Editor, Waltham News Tribune; Glenn Briere, Public Relations Consultant; Melissa Sanzaro, Special Projects Officer, Providence (RI) H.A.
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Welcoming Reception
[Dinner on your own]
TUESDAY, JANUARY 24
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Social Media Outlets: Opportunities and Legal Implications for PHA Staff and Commissioners
New social media outlets can provide many opportunities for housing agencies to communicate with residents, applicants, landlords, vendors and the general public to provide transparency, but these practices can also have legal implications. This session will discuss the emerging laws governing social media usage including fair housing, employment and ethical implications. Presenter will share policy considerations that can assist PHAs in maximizing the use of new technologies.
Presenter: Melissa Maddox-Barnes, Esq., General Counsel, Housing Authority of the City of Charleston, SC
HUD's New Rental Assistance Demonstration
In Fiscal Year 2012, HUD is requesting $200 million to cover the incremental cost of converting public housing, Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation, Rent Supplement, and Rental Assistance programs to long-term project-based Section 8 contracts under a demonstration of HUD’s proposed Transforming Rental Assistance (TRA) initiative. Greg Byrne, from HUD Headquarters, will outline this new intiative.
Presenter: Greg Byrne, Senior Project Manager, Office of Assistant Secretary of PIH, HUD Washington
Strategic Planning - A Case Study
Where will your Housing Authority be in 10-20 years? This is a case study of one Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners and staff approach to this question utilizing a model created by Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.
Presenters: Bob Counihan, Conn-NAHRO; Lynn Koroser-Crane, CT Housing Finance Agency; Joe Loewy & Chairman Ron Zappile, Simsbury (CT) Housing Authority
10:45 AM - 12:15 PM
Security Technology - Alternatives for Smaller Agencies
How to shop around for what you need, success stories from small & medium agencies.
Facilitator: Peter Gill, Landon Technology. Presenters: 5-6 small to medium PHAs
Emergency Preparedness/Response Plans
2011 has brought hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, flash floods, and earthquakes to housing authorities in New England. Learn how to best be prepared for the unknown when it hits. Suggestions will be presented by safety experts on ways in which you can keep residents safe and buildings secure.
Presenters: Robert Nadeau, Senior Emergency Management Specialist, Region 1, FEMA
Optimizing HCV Admin Fees/Reducing HCV Operational Costs
This session will cover measures PHAs can implement within their existing discretionary authority to help contain or reduce voucher program administrative expenses.
Presenter: Jonathan Zimmerman, NAHRO
12:15 PM - 1:30 PM LUNCH
1:45 PM - 3:15 PM
Using Handheld Technology
Roundtable presentation from various software vendors who have products for inspections, meetings, reporting, and more.
Participants: Representatives from HAB, Yardi, PHANetwork, Gilson Software, and Emphasys
Recent Housing Authority Litigation
The year 2011 saw thousands of judicial decisions affecting Housing Authority staff, residents, and operations. The Judges that heard these cases often provided written decisions that outlined the facts of the case, the law, and an interpretation of how that law applied to each housing authority. In this seminar, Attorney Ronald M. LaRocca will present his study of 2011 housing authority litigation. He will discuss national litigation trends and the most interesting and influential cases that affected public housing in 2011. Participants will learn of the latest law affecting public housing, gain an understanding of how litigation affects individual housing authority operations, and observe general trends in public housing litigation.
Presenter: Attorney Ronald LaRocca, LaPlante Sowa Goldman, Providence, RI
HUD's New Green Physical Needs Assessment (GPNA)
HUD is currently beta testing its protocol on the new Green Physical Needs Assessment (GPNA) which will probably be released later this year or early next year. Related to this HUD issued a Public Housing Physical Needs Assessment (PNA) Proposed Rule on July 20, 2011. In an informative and interactive session, two consultants who were involved in the beta testing and who are familiar with the new GPNA and current and proposed PNA requirements will provide PHAs with some insight as to what to expect down the road.
Presenters: Bernie Stewart, BC Stewart & Associates; Matt Pesce, Facility Strategies Group
3:15 PM - 4:30 PM
Going Paperless - Document Management Solutions
PHAs' paper work obligations have been increasing as they have been dealing with declining budgets for more than a decade. In this session we would like to focus on key information that PHAs should know as they consider a document management solution:
- What are the benefits of document management for PHAs?
- How can technologies like document management reduce PHA's workload?
- How have document management solutions helped other housing agencies?
- How does HUD feel about document management?
Presenter: Phil O'Connell - AMS Imaging; PHA representatives
Assisting Your Clients Better Through Web Technologies
Utilizing the web to automate everyday tasks provides the perfect opportunity to better assist your applicants, tenants, and owners while creating efficiencies to save your agency time and money. This session will introduce and discuss different strategies for effectively using the web to open your waiting list, automate tenant requests, reduce paper, and provide better information to your clients.
Presenter: Joseph "JP" Panto, Sales Manager, HAPPY Software, Inc.
Commissioners Roundtable
Facilitators: Members of NERC Commissioners Committee
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM Reception with Exhibitors
[Dinner on your own]
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25
8:30 AM- 9:30 AM Breakfast Buffet
9:00 AM HUD Office of Public Housing Update
HUD Staff from the Boston Regional Office will present the latest information on various public housing and Section 8 topics as well as updates on HUD regional office happenings.
Presenter: Robert Cwieka, Acting Director, Office of Public Housing, HUD New England Region