During their roughly 127 second meeting on Dec. 10 in LB's "Bob Foster Civic Chambers" (immediately before their regular Council meeting), Councilmembers Mary Zendejas, Jeannine Pearce, Daryl Supernaw, Stacy Mungo, Dee Andrews, Roberto Uranga and Rex Richarson (the latter as chair) pressed their "yes" voting buttons on two agenda items (approving last month's minutes and receiving and filing the Housing Authority Financial and Operational Performance Reports for September 2019.)

There was no discussion of either item. To hear the meeting's proceedings, click here.

In addition to the seven Council incumbents present on Dec. 10, two appointed Tenant Commissioners will also collect $50 each.

A month earlier on November 12, 2019, seven Councilmembers (Pearce, Price, Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga and Austin) met and convened 5:57 minutes (which included :53 seconds while the city clerk dealt with a technical difficulty.)

City Clerk records (minutes and video) indicate that in 2019, most LB Housing Authority meetings ran roughly 3-4 minutes long. (One meeting about 22 minutes while another was over in under 90 seconds.)

The Housing Authority's stated duties are [City Clerk text]: "Serves with the City Council as members of the Board of Directors on matters pertaining to housing programs sponsored by the federal government and Housing Authority operations").Collecting $50 for roughly 2 minutes physical presence amounts to a pay rate of roughly $1,500 per hour.

[Scroll down for further.]

• Jan. 8, 2019: Present: Supernaw, Mungo, Uranga, Hudson, Tanzer and Richardson.
  Call to order: 4:33 p.m.: Adjourned 4:35 p.m.

• Feb. 12, 2019: Present: Gonzalez, Price, Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga, Austin, Tanzer, Pearce and Richardson
  Call to order: 5:01 p.m. Adjourned: 5:23 p.m. (Pearce and Austin joined the meeting in progress.)

• March 12, 2019: Present: Gonzalez, Supernaw, Andrews, Austin, Hudson, Tanzer and Richardson
  Call to order: 5:50 p.m. Adjourned: 5:51 p.m.: Total elapsed time 1:26

• April 9, 2019: Present: Price, Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Austin, Hudson, Tanzer, Pearce and Richardson
  Call to order: 5:05 p.m. Adjourned 5:07 p.m.

• May 14, 2019: Present: Gonzalez, Price, Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga, Austin, Hudson, Tanzer, Pearce and Richardson
  Call to order: 5:21 p.m. Adjourned: 5:25 p.m.

• June 11, 2019: Present: Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Tanzer, Pearce and Richardson
  Call to order: 4:42 p.m. Adjourned: 4:45 p.m.

• July 16, 2019: Present: Pearce, Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga, Austin, Richardson, Tanzer, Hudson (Andrews walked in after first of four items; Pearce arrived between third and fourth item.)
  Call to order: 4:32 p.m. Adjourned 4:36 p.m.

• Aug. 13, 2019: Present: Pearce, Price, Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga, Austin, Richardson, Tanzer, Hudson
  Total elapsed time: 1:52

• Sept. 10, 2019: Present: Pearce, Price, Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga, Austin, Richardson [with Comm'r Tanzer present, Hudson absent].
  Total elapsed time: 3:37 (included a tenant speaking during public comment)

• Oct. 8, 2019: Present: Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga, Tanzer, Pearce, Richardson [absent were Price, Austin and Hudson]
  Total elapsed time: 2:47

• Nov. 12, 2019: Present: Councilmembers Pearce, Price, Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga, Austin plus Tenant Commissioners Hudson and Tanzer
  Total elapsed time: 5:57 (includes :53 consumed when city clerk dealt with log-in difficulties experienced by Tenant Comm'r Hudson.]

• Dec. 10, 2019: Present: Zendejas, Pearce, Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga, Richardson (absent were Price and Austin) plus Tenant Commissioners Hudson and Tanzer
  Total elapsed time: 2:07

2019 totals collectable by Councilmembers for attending these "Housing Authority Meetings" were:

Sponsor

Sponsor

On November 21, 2006, the City Council under then-recently-elected Mayor Bob Foster adopted an ordinance paying $50 per meeting attended to members of LB's "Board of Examiners, Appeals and Condemnation" and "Disabled Access Appeals Board" (on which no Councilmembers sit) but also tossed in $50 payments for the "Housing Authority" board on which all Councilmembers sit. Those voting "yes" were then-Councilmembers Bonnie Lowenthal, Suja Lowenthal, Gary DeLong, Patrick O'Donnell, Laura Richardson, Tonia Reyes Uranga and Val Lerch; Absent were Councilmembers Schipske and Gabelich.

Sponsor

Sponsor

On August 13, 2019 (just minutes before that month's Housing Authority meeting), Councilwoman Mungo chaired a meeting of the Council's "Budget Oversight Committee" (Mungo, Price, Austin). Among its agenda items was a city management report (requested by Mayor Garcia) on possibly increasing/expanding sums paid to members of Mayor-chosen Commissions. The agenda item offered Committee members an opportunity to recommend changes to compensation paid to themselves for attending "Housing Authority" Meetings. None did so.

Any current Councilmember(s) could agendize an item "on any Tuesday" to amend LB's 2006 ordinance to exclude Councilmembers from collecting the $50 payments for attending their "Housing Authority" meetings,

Or they could give the money back.

Sponsor

Budget Oversight Committee chair Mungo implied future housing and homeless related issues might make future Housing Authority meetings important and indicated she was unsure if the Budget Oversight Committee she chairs should make recommendations to the Council on the payments. [The statement made no sense to us because Councilmembers are the only persons with the power to change the current practice.]

Councilwoman Mungo: ...and then I know that over the next several years or several months we'll be looking at housing related issues like homelessness, I don't know if it would make sense, I don't know if it would be best for us to make a recommendation for that committee because I know some of us serve on Housing and Oversight Housing Committee, um, but I'm open to learning more about [changes subject]...

There is no such thing as the "Housing and Oversight Housing Committee" cited by Councilwoman Mungo.

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