Board of Directors Meeting - January 25, 2018

Agenda

9:30 - Chair’s Remarks

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: Chair

9:35 - Consent agenda

a. Approval of Public Meeting Agenda

Action: Approval

Pre-read: Agenda

Presenter: Chair

b. Chair’s Poll re: Conflict of Interest

Action: Declaration

Pre-read: Agenda and Conflict of Interest Policy

Presenter: Chair

c. Confirmation of Board of Directors’ Public Meeting Minutes of December 11, 2017

Action: Approval

Pre-read: Minutes

Presenter: Chair

d. Business Arising from the Public Meeting Minutes and Action Items Update of December 11, 2017

Action: Information

Pre-read: Action Item List

Presenter: Chair

9:40 - President and Chief Executive Officer’s Remarks

Action: Information

Pre-read: Verbal Report

Presenter: President and Chief Executive Officer

a. Monthly President’s Report

Action: Information

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-03

Presenter: President and Chief Executive Officer

10:05 - Fire Life Safety: Program Implementation Update

Action: Information

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-01

Presenter: President and Chief Executive Officer

10:20 - 2018 Corporate Objectives Actions and Performance Measures

Action: Approval

Pre-read: TCHC:2018-02

Presenter: President and Chief Executive Officer

TERMINATION

Minutes

The Board of Directors (“Board”) of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (“TCHC”) held a public meeting on January 25, 2018 at 9:33 a.m. in in the Main Floor Conference Room at 931 Yonge Street, Toronto. 

Directors in Attendance: 

Kevin Marshman (Chair) 

Councillor Ana Bailão  

Robert Carlo  

Councillor Frank Di Giorgio 

Councillor Michael Ford 

Vincent Gasparro (left at 10:30 a.m.) 

Linda Jackson 

Joseph Kennedy 

Colin Lynch  

Pamela Taylor 

Catherine Wilkinson 

Directors Absent: 

Councillor Joe Cressy 

Management present: 

Marta Asturi, Legal Counsel & Assistant Corporate Secretary 

Cathy Barker, Vice President, Human Resources 

Angela Cooke, Vice President, Resident and Community Services 

Rose-Ann Lee, Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer  

Ismail Ibrahim, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary  

Hugh Lawson, Director, Strategic Planning and Stakeholder  Relations 

Graham Leah, Vice President, Asset Management 

Bruce Malloch, Director, Strategic Communications 

Mark McDonald, Vice President, Information and Technology Services 

Kathy Milsom, President and Chief Executive Officer 

Sheila Penny, Vice President, Facilities Management 

Vincent Tong, Chief Development Officer  

A quorum being present, Mr. Marshman, the Chair called the meeting to order and Ms. Charmaine Zina served as recording secretary.  

Item 1 - Chair's Remarks

The Chair welcomed everyone to the Board meeting and provided the Board with the following highlights since the last Board meeting.   

After several suggestions raised by tenants, TCHC has agreed to commence the public session of each Board meeting at 9:45 a.m. TCHC has agreed to follow this schedule to make it easier for tenants to attend the meeting or follow it online.  

Executive appointments

The Chair congratulated 3 outstanding individuals on their well-deserved appointments to TCHC’s executive team.  

• Ismail Ibrahim as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, 
• Rose-Ann Lee as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, and 
• Vincent Tong as Chief Development Officer. 

Additionally, the Chair commended Ms. Lee, Mr. Ibrahim and Mr. Tong for their dedication and their hard work on behalf of TCHC and its tenants.  

Chief Operating Officer

Ms. Milsom announced last week that Mr. Wayne Tuck has decided to leave the organization after serving as TCHC’s Chief Operating Officer for nearly 2 years.  On behalf of the Board, the Chair thanked Mr. Tuck for his contributions to TCHC and wished him the very best in the future.

Tenants First

Tenants First is moving forward and City staff brought a report on the next steps for the Tenants First project to City Executive Committee yesterday.    

The two key recommendations are a new interim process for selecting tenants to sit on the TCHC Board of Directors, and a proposed process for transferring TCHC’s agency houses, rooming houses and scattered homes to qualified non-profit housing providers. The properties would be used as supportive housing and affordable housing. The Board is watching Tenants First with great interest, particularly the discussions about the process to select tenants for the TCHC Board of Directors.  

This Board strongly supports having two tenant directors at this table who can be a voice for their fellow tenants. That being said, the way tenants are selected to be TCHC directors is a City-led process. The City has proposed an interim process for selecting tenant board members for the next two-year term which mirrors the process used to select the citizen board members. Ultimately, City Council will decide on this proposal when it considers the next steps of the Tenants First plan at its meeting next week.  

Public Session 

Ms. Milsom will provide her president’s report for November and look back at TCHC’s accomplishments in 2017. 

Moreover, given the paramount importance of tenant safety, particularly fire safety, Ms. Milsom will update the Board on what the Corporation is doing to accelerate the implementation of its enhanced fire life safety program.  

Additionally, Ms. Milsom will update the Board on TCHC’s 2018 goals and objectives which was developed by Management following the Board’s approval of the 2018 budget at its September Board meeting.  

Lastly, the Chair commended the hard work done by Ms. Milsom and her leadership team on these 2018 goals and objectives. TCHC enters the year with a well-scoped business plan that includes clear objectives, actions and performance measures, which respond to tenant priorities, and strongly position the company for success.  It’s an ambitious plan but an achievable one. 

Deputations

The Chair polled for any deputations to be heard at the meeting. The following deputations were presented: 

Item 3A – Monthly President’s Report (Deputed by Cheryl Duggan, Bryant Didier & Josephine Mackie) 

Item 2A - Approval of Public Meeting Agenda

The agenda was approved with the following changes: 

Addition: 

• Discussion relating to non-compliance with AODA in accessing public space. 

Motion carried 

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Lynch, seconded by Mr. Gasparro and carried, the Board of Directors approved the revised agenda. 

Item 2B - Chair's Poll re: Conflict of Interest

The Chair requested members of the Board of Directors to indicate any agenda item in which they have a conflict of interest, together with the nature of the interest. No conflicts were declared. 

Item 2C - Confirmation of Board of Directors' Public Meeting Minutes of December 11, 2017

The Board of Directors had before it the draft minutes for December 11, 2017. 

Motion carried 

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Mr. Gasparro and carried, the Board of Directors confirmed the above-captioned minutes with the following amendments: 

Page 13 of 15 

3. Delegate the Board’s signing authority above $2.5 million (exclusive of taxes) to BIFAC, with the understanding that anything above $5.0 million will require Board approval;  

Item 2D - Business Arising from the Public Meeting Minutes and Action Items Update of December 11, 2017

The Board requested that public minutes prior to 2016 be accessible on TCHC’s external website even if not AODA compliant.  A suggestion was made to post a disclaimer noting that minutes prior to 2016 are not AODA complaint and to contact the webmaster if assistance is required.   

Management confirmed that the E-bike policy will be discussed at the Tenant Service Committee in Q1 2018. 

Motion carried 

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Wilkinson, seconded by Mr. Gasparro and carried, the Board of Directors received the report for information. 

Item 3A - Monthly President's Report, TCHC:2018-03

The Board had before it the above-captioned report (TCHC:2018-03) from the President and Chief Executive Officer.   

Deputations were provided by Cheryl Duggan, Bryant Didier & Josephine Mackie. 

The Board requested Ms. Duggan to submit her deputation and any pictures of improper repair work completed thus far. 

Ms. Milsom provided the Board with a PowerPoint presentation on 2017 year-end accomplishments. 

Motion carried 

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Mr. Lynch, seconded by Ms. Jackson and carried, the Board of Directors received the report for information. 

Item 4 - Fire Life Safety: Program Implementation Update, TCHC:2018-01

The Board of Directors had before it the above-captioned report (TCHC:2018-01) from the President and Chief Executive Officer.   

Ms. Milsom provided the Board with a presentation on the data analytics regarding fire life safety and answered questions raised by the Board.  Some areas of discussion comprised of the following: 

• Toronto Fire Services (“TFS”) and TCHC’s collaboration regarding fire life safety within TCHC communities; 
• Tenant awareness, education and human behavior modification; and 
• TFS proposed taskforce which will exclusively be responsible for overlooking TCHC buildings. 

The data showed that the top contributing factors of fires at TCHC relate to tenant behavior.   Ms. Milsom indicated that staff have been developing/implementing strategies to address these issues. 

The Board requested the data analytics presentation be circulated to the Board offline.  The Board commended staff for their focus on data analytics and suggested this be used broadly throughout the organization. 

Motion carried 

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Taylor, seconded by Mr. Kennedy and carried, the Board of Directors received the report for information. 

Item 5 - 2018 Corporate Objectives Actions and Performance Measures, TCHC:2018-02

The Board of Directors had before it the above-captioned report (TCHC: 2018-02) from the President and Chief Executive Officer.   

Ms. Milsom answered questions and accepted feedback raised by the Board.  A brief discussion ensued.

Motion carried 

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Councillor Bailão, seconded by Mr. Kennedy and carried, the Board of Directors unanimously approved the recommendations in this report. 

Action Item:   

Management to report back to BIFAC on Vendor Management Program. 

Other Business - Non-Compliance with AODA in Accessing Public Space

The Board raised concerns about the disruption in service at head office due to accessibility improvement construction, and the lack of communication to tenants/visitors to the building regarding access to services due to repairs and when repairs will be completed.   

TERMINATION 

The public meeting terminated at 11:23 a.m.