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FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL HOUSING FINANCE AUTHORITIES ANNUAL MEETING
Minutes of meeting held October 4, 2007
Present:
Gordon Jernigan, President
Angela Abbott, Vice President
Walt Ferguson, Treasurer/Secretary
Rodney Fischer, Board Member (via telephone)
Patricia Braynon, Board Member (via telephone)
John Kopelousos, Board Member (via telephone)
Karen Sindel, Executive Director
Others participating:
Tom Daly, Raymond James (via telephone)
Debra Dangler, RBC Dain Rauscher
Elizabeth Feezor, The Bank of New York Trust
Marylou Frey, Wells Fargo
Phil Harloff, Raymond James (via telephone)
Mark Hendrickson, The Hendrickson Company (via telephone)
Cheryl Henry, Bank of America
Jeff Kiss, PackerKiss Securities (via telephone)
William Lamm, The Bank of New York Trust

The Florida Association of Local Housing Finance Authorities held a quarterly meeting at the offices of Wells Fargo, 301 E. Pine Street, Suite 1150, Orlando, FL on this 4th day of October, 2007. Mr. Jernigan called the meeting to order at 1:36 p.m., at which time he determined a quorum of the Board was present.

Mr. Ferguson then moved that the minutes from the July 11, 2007 FL ALHFA annual meeting, held in Key West, be approved. Ms. Abbott seconded the motion which was then passed unanimously.

The next item was the presentation of the financial report. Mr. Ferguson presented the financials as follows: checking - $27,993.85; money market savings - $107,964.39; Bank of Pensacola CD - $113,018.89; Gulf Coast Bank Savings - $84,687.65. A motion was made by Ms. Braynon, seconded by Ms. Abbott and passed unanimously to approve and ratify the financial report.

Ms. Sindel then presented the budget for 2007-2008. Mr. Ferguson moved for approval, which was then seconded by Ms. Abbott and unanimously approved.

Mr. Hendrickson then presented the legislative update. There is a proposal from Governor Crist for an economic stimulus package. This concept is currently in a special session and will reduce the state budget due to a slow down in the economy. $75 million dollars would be removed from the housing trust funds and allocated as follows: $50 million to Florida Housing Finance and $25 million to local government. Mr. Hendrickson suggested that our strategy should be to prevent trust funds from being allocated to general revenue. The Governor's office has suggested that by spending more money on housing it will stimulate the state's economy. Mr. Hendrickson also noted that Representative Samson from the Florida Panhandle will become Speaker in 2009. Representative Samson has indicated that one of his goals is to repeal the cap on the trust funds. In 2008 there will more than likely not be a repeal of the cap but the trust funds should be reauthorized.

Next, Mr. Jernigan presented the 2007-2008 contract for Ms. Sindel, Executive Director of FL ALHFA. The contract is the same as the previous year. Mr. Kopelousos moved to accept the contract, Ms. Braynon seconded and the Board unanimously voted to approve and accept the Executive Director's contract.

The next agenda item was the 2007-2008 contract for The Hendrickson Company, the lobby firm that represents FL ALHFA. Mr. Jernigan presented the contract noting that it remains the same as the one from the previous year. Mr. Kopelousos moved to accept, Mr. Ferguson seconded the motion and the Board unanimously voted to approve the contract for The Hendrickson Company.

Ms. Sindel then discussed the 2008 FL ALHFA Educational Conference. A decision was reached by the FL ALHFA Board of Directors to hold the conference at The Portofino Bay Resort in Orlando, FL. from July 14 - 16, 2008. This venue will accommodate all of our guests so that a "back up" hotel is not necessary. The Dine Around restaurants are located within a 5 minute walk of the resort and are also accessible via water taxi. There was open discussion regarding moving this conference from Key West to Orlando. Again, there is general approval that the Orlando site will be less expensive for attendees to attend due to accessibility both by air travel and automobile. The fact that the resort is located at Universal Studios will also encourage attendees to bring their families. Ms. Abbott noted that FL ALFHA needs to begin promoting the conference as soon as possible. Ms. Sindel noted that FL ALHFA will have a display booth at the NALHFA conference in Miami and release new data on the FL ALHFA website in January 2008. Ms. Sindel also noted that a Program Committee has been established and will begin putting together the conference again in early 2008. Volunteers to this committee are: Phil Harloff; Mary Packer; Barry Krinsky; Jim Singh; Ben Cooney; Anthony Jones; Norm Howard; Ross Fleetwood and Helen Feinberg.

Ms. Sindel then requested that Ms. Braynon provide an update for the Fall NALHFA conference scheduled to be held in Miami, FL in November. Ms. Braynon noted that there will be a Green Symposium focusing on the ability to have affordable green construction. There will also be a Miami River tour as well as the opportunity to tour a LEED certified home. Also, the NALHFA spring 2008 conference will be held April 15 - 19 in Los Angeles, CA.

In Other Business, Ms. Dangler noted that there will be a SHIP rule change workshop October 16, 2007 in Tampa, FL. Ms. Dangler will forward information for this workshop to Ms. Sindel who will then disseminate it to the FL ALHFA membership.

The next regular meeting of the FL ALHFA Board of Directors will be January 03, 2008. At the request of the membership, this meeting will NOT be held in Orlando, FL but will be held via telephone conference. The April 3, 2008 meeting, however, will be held in Orlando, FL.

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 2:15 p.m.

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