None of the seven Council incumbents -- Pearce, Price, Supernaw, Mungo, Andrews, Uranga or Austin (Richardson was absent, 1st dist. is vacant) discussed any of the agenda items. None asked any questions. None made any comments. On four of the six items, they voted "yes" without not receiving any staff report on the agendized action. (On two agenda items, staff offered a one or two sentence verbal summary.)

Total elapsed time from the Nov. 12 Housing Authority meeting from start of roll call to adjournment (source: City Clerk video) was 5:57. That includes :53 seconds consumed when the city clerk's representative dealt with a technical difficulty in logging-in experienced by Tenant Commissioner Hudson.)

City clerk records (minutes and video) indicate that in 2019, most LB Housing Authority meetings ran barely 3-4 minutes long...although one took about 22 minutes while another was over in under 90 seconds.

LBREPORT.com's unofficial tally indicates that in 2019 to date, at least four LB Councilmembers -- Supernaw, Richardson, Andrews and Mungo -- have now either collected or been eligible to collect $500 or more for their few minute presence at Housing Authority meetings thus far this year.

The Council's "Housing Authority" meetings are scheduled just minutes before the start of the Councilmembers' regularly scheduled main meeting. Payments to Councilmembers for attending Housing Authority meetings were included (as they have been in previous years) in the FY20 City Hall budget, approved in Sept. 2019 by the same Councilmembers who now collect the money.

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").

[Scroll down for further.]

Below is LBREPORT.com's compilation of the record of the previous 2019 "meetings" of the Housing Authority.

2019 "Housing Authority" meetings based on City Clerk minutes and/or City Clerk video:

• 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.]

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In terms of Housing Authority meeting payments that LB's incumbent Councilmembers collected or were eligible to collect in 2019 (LBREEPORT.com unofficial tally):

• Supernaw: $550
• Richardson: $500
• Andrews: $500
• Mungo: $500
• Pearce: $450
• Uranga: $400
• Austin: $400
• Price: $300
• Gonzalez: $150 (elected to state Senate/exited Council in mid-June 2019]

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.

Any Councilmember(s) could agendize an item on any Tuesday to amend LB's 2006 ordinance to exclude Councilmembers from collecting the $50 payments for their "Housing Authority" meetings (which none has done.) Or they could give the money back.

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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.

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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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