Corporate Affairs and Audit Committee (CAAC) Meeting - August 10, 2012

Closed Meeting Agenda

Chair’s Poll re: Conflict of Interest

Approval of Agenda and Review of Agenda Order

Review of Agenda (all items not held will be voted together without discussion)

For Information:

(A) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(B) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(C) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(D) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(E) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(F) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(G) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(H) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(I) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(J) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(K) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(L) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(M) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

(N) Confidential item respecting the business of the corporation

IN CAMERA

(O) Confidential item respecting an identifiable individual

(P) Committee In Camera Session

Public Agenda

Chair’s Poll re: Conflict of Interest

Approval of Agenda and Review of Agenda Order

Review of Agenda (all items not held will be voted together without discussion)

For Information:

1 – Access Housing Connections Inc. Q1 2012 Performance Report

Public Minutes

The Corporate Affairs and Audit Committee of Toronto Community Housing Corporation met on August 10, 2012, in the Main Floor Conference Room, 931 Yonge Street, commencing at 1:09 p.m.

Committee Directors present:

Christian Buhagiar, Chair

Brian Kwan

Councillor John Parker

Regrets:

none

Additional Directors present:

Ms. Catherine Wilkinson

Also present:

Marta Asturi, Assistant Corporate Secretary and Legal Counsel

Jehad Alewiwi, Chair of the Access Housing Connections Inc. Board

Jason Gorel

Eugene Jones Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer

Josie Scioli, Chief Executive Officer, Housing Services Inc.

Michael Vear, Chief Internal Auditor

Mr. Christian Buhagiar, the Chair, called the meeting to order and Ms. Mirela Bolentiru served as recording secretary.

Declaration of Conflict of Interest

The Chair requested members of the Corporate Affairs and Audit Committee to indicate any agenda item in which they had a conflict of interest, together with the nature of the interest. None were declared.

Confirmation of Agenda

The Corporate Affairs and Audit Committee unanimously approved the agenda as presented.

Item 1 – Access Housing Connections Inc.: Q1 2012 Performance Report, CAAC:2012-59

The Corporate Affairs and Audit Committee had before it the above-captioned report (CAAC:2012-59) from the President and Chief Executive Officer.

The Committee Chair introduced the report, noting that the Committee did not have full benefit of the discussion from the AHCI Board of Directors with respect to Q1 2012 results.

Councillor John Parker joined the meeting at 1:12 p.m.

The Committee Chair introduced Mr. Jehad Alewiwi and asked him to provide the Committee with background information on his term as an AHCI director. Mr. Alewiwi presented the Committee with a summary, including the following:

• He has been serving as the Chair of the AHCI Board of Directors in the last two years.
• A couple of independent directors resigned; one for a senior position with the City and one due to a conflict of interest.
• AHCI Board of Directors reached out to TCHC to seek replacements for the two vacant director positions.
• The current AHCI Board consists of four (4) directors who are fully aware of challenges and major milestones. It took some steps that resulted in some improvement in the workflow.

The Committee discussed the financial and operational performance indicators as noted in the Q1 2012 performance report. The following discussion ensued:

• Discussions between the AHCI Board and its management addressed:
  • Challenges to meet the response period of 14 business days, regarding applications received for Special Priority Household Category and special priority transfers.
  • Identification of internal issues related to the databases used, resulting in some cases in duplication of information.
  • In December 2011, the current Board met with the General Manager to review the workflow.
  • A wider audit process is a broader and longer process that the current Board can initiate. It has not yet started due to the IT changes.
• City’s Ombudsman office issues a report annually and AHCI is included in its 2012 report. The report reviewed how AHCI treats applicants through the process. The AHCI Board discussed the report with its management and asked management to prepare a response. There were 20 complaints received. People’s behaviour was the main issue in a stressful work environment. There is not high staff turnover, but high absenteeism.
• The current AHCI Board identified the following strategic priorities in dealing with partners and directly with other organizations:
  • Customer service.
  • Increased need of social housing.
  • Staff with customer service experience.
  • Staff to visit service partners to see how they work and get feedback on how to improve their services.
• Currently, there are 85,000 applicants for social housing. The main issue is not the lack of funds, but the lack of housing units. Keep adding names to the wait list without having available the required number of housing units that match the number of applicants is the recipe for dissatisfaction.
• A discussion ensued with respect to the wait list and different wait times. The Committee noted that there is a perception that while new applicants are housed, people who have been waiting for years are still waiting. The AHCI Board Chair confirmed that such a perception is real and that there is no immediate solution to solve it.
• The Committee requested some clarification with respect to poor performance in customer service (is consistently in red), while the primary objective is customer service improvement. The AHCI Board did not find these results acceptable and met with the General Manager to address how to improve performance in this area.
• The Committee and AHCI Chair discussed AHCI’s management performance and reviews conducted to date.
• While there was no AHCI Board evaluation conducted, a self-evaluation of the directors was in place, focusing on attendance and oversight role.

The Committee thanked the AHCI Board Chair for his insightful responses and assessment of the current situation. The AHCI Chair invited the Committee to attend any of AHCI’s future Board meetings.

Termination

ON MOTION DULY MADE by Councillor John Parker, seconded by Mr. Brian Kwan, the Corporate Affairs and Audit Committee meeting terminated at 2:07 p.m.