Southwest Partnership Housing Committee
8.10.17 Meeting Minutes
Next Housing Committee meeting is scheduled for 9.14.17 at the UMB Community Engagement Center
Attendees: Jarret Horst, Bret Elam, Michael Seipp, Nancy McCormick, Jamie Pitts, Suzanne Welch,
Debra Young, Jonathan Law, Taylor Smith-Hams, Robert Meyer
Agenda
Introductions
Updates:
o Community Solar refresher and some opportunities were identified with WarHorse and
Abell Foundation. Maryland Sun was identified as a resource for private residences.
They have a Baltimore co-op initiative where installation costs can be shared by
property owners with adjacent participants.
o Michael provided an update on the receivership status of (79) properties (see attached)
in the seven neighborhoods.
o CORE announcements are hoped for on 9/30/17 but that seems unlikely.
Old Business
o The grant request for the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership funds (Casino fund) has
been submitted for the restabilizing of 71 homes in Pigtown in the amount of 1MM.
The application made it through the first two rounds of review; Michael believes that
about 50 of the properties remain viable.
o SWP has received the City contract for 10 vacant properties on the 1600 block of W.
Pratt that was awarded under last year’s CORE funding for review.
o Michael has been in contact with Michael Braverman about the letter he has drafted
about the receivership disconnect (see Old Business below). He was informed that the
city utilizes a third party negotiator “One House at a Time” to manage the auction of
affected properties. Michael proposed replacing One House at a Time with the SWP as
the auctioning institution. M. Braverman agreed that there is a problem with the
receivership process and agreed to pass Michael’s proposal on to the city’s Legal
department.
o Suzanne informed the group that there is a (48) unit cluster of buildings that has been
listed for sale in the 900 block of Lombard St. She has toured two of the properties and
reported them to be in very poor repair.
o The group was reminded that the SWP Housing Committee (SWPHC) can serve as a
tenant advocate for neighborhood associations who encounter poor living conditions
(ex. Poe Homes ((public)) and Amity Ramble Apartments ((private)) but the SWPHC will
only mobilize when assistance is requested by these groups.
o Lou put out an open call for help needed for the SWP Education Committee who is
undertaking a study on Community schooling across the seven neighborhoods.
o Jarret stated that he would need to step down from serving as Committee Secretary
from September 2017 to May 2018. He offered another resource from the University of
Maryland Medical Center or suggested the committee could fill the position internally.
o Michael requested the support of the committee for writing a letter to the housing
commissioner intended to address the misalignment between how receivership is
handled by the City (favoring the property owner versus honoring the desires of the
community). The motion was approved and Michael will draft this letter and bring
share with the group upon completion.
o Housing projects in the pipeline
Franklin Square 25 – 40 houses in receivership
Mt. Clarie 40 – 50 houses
Poppleton 10 houses
Pigtown 70 houses
New Business – none
