Statement on the First Community Advisory Committee Meeting
Wednesday, May 16, 2019
This week, on Tuesday May 14, the first Community Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting took place at the Ingersoll Community Center in Brooklyn. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the CAC for their participation. The CAC will provide me with feedback throughout the duration of the monitorship on my achieving the purpose of the Agreement. I look forward to working with the CAC towards achieving better living conditions for all NYCHA residents.
The members of the CAC are listed here.
I began the meeting by explaining what my role as the monitor entails, which includes identifying and providing recommendations for addressing the systemic issues that are hampering NYCHA’s ability to deliver quality services to residents. Next, as a CAC member, HUD Administrator Lynne Patton communicated her passion for improving NYCHA housing after seeing the distress experienced by so many residents during her visits earlier this year. All the CAC members gave an overview of the value they expect to bring to the committee and the top concerns about NYCHA that they want to address.
This was followed by remarks from Dennis Walsh, the member of my team responsible for assessing issues related to lead and mold. The event concluded with a Q&A session with the over 150 NYCHA residents who attended. We received many questions, comments, and concerns about NYCHA failing to complete repairs in a timely fashion. This is a widespread issue throughout all the developments and has pointed us to the Maximo work order system. Addressing how to improve the functioning of the work order system will be of great benefit of the residents.
I want to extend a special thank you to all the NYCHA residents that attended this first meeting. I also want to thank the community organizations and elected officials that joined us to extend their support for the residents. Broad stakeholder, resident, and community input is instrumental to the CAC being effective. The next CAC meeting is scheduled for July. We’ll post the date and location when it’s confirmed.
Bart M. Schwartz
Federal Monitor appointed pursuant to Agreement dated January 31, 2019
You can listen to a recording of the First Community Advisory Committee Meeting here.
