Housing is a basic necessity that is not always affordable for everyone. Therefore, housing authorities across the country help thousands through public housing initiatives.
Just like city council meetings, housing authority meetings require a record of meeting minutes. Using the right software solutions for local governments proves essential to effectively and efficiently craft minutes, agendas, and action items and manage in-person, hybrid, or remote meetings. Read on to learn more about what a housing authority is and how to write housing authority meeting minutes.
What is a Housing Authority?
A housing authority is an independent agency governed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that is responsible for the management and administration of affordable housing programs. These programs, typically funded through federal or state grants, are designed to help low-income families find safe and affordable housing.
Although housing authorities are local governing bodies for their geographical areas and must follow certain operation guidelines established by HUD, the independently-run agencies operate with their own boards, managers, and area-specific rules and policies. Despite the housing authority being a separate entity from local governments, the local government often has some role in housing board appointments, depending on the HUD-approved rules for each authority.
A housing authority plays a vital role in its community by helping ensure affordable shelter is available for those who need it. The important role of a housing authority means that running effective meetings and keeping accurate housing authority meeting minutes is essential.
5 Tips for Writing Meeting Minutes
Much information is shared and covered during housing authority meetings, making it challenging and sometimes confusing to keep track of throughout the meeting. However, writing effective housing authority meeting minutes is crucial to maintaining accountability and productivity throughout the agency. It is also an important way to share information with the public and other involved parties.
Follow these tips for writing comprehensive and effective housing authority meeting minutes.
1. Organize Notes by Discussion Point
Organization is key to effectively writing minutes, so developing a template beforehand is extremely helpful. Within the template, add the discussion points for each meeting so you can easily reference and recall the main points. You can use the agenda to pre-populate most discussion points, then you’ll only need to add ad hoc discussions.
2. Record the Meeting
Since there are usually multiple discussions, keeping up with all the details can be challenging. Recording the meeting allows you to listen to it when finalizing the minutes afterward to ensure accuracy. It is also important to inform the attendees beforehand if you plan to record the meeting.
3. Make Notes Public
Sharing notes with fellow members can allow others to contribute to them during the meeting. Collaboration from others will help ensure everything is covered in the minutes, as it can be hard to keep up during fast-paced meetings or when multiple discussions happen at once.
4. Summarize Meeting Notes
Trying to write entire conversations word-for-word is time-consuming, and during fast-paced housing authority meetings is not viable. Include only what is necessary by summarizing the discussions and clearly stating what happened during the meeting.
5. Utilize Board Meeting Technology
Technology, such as eScribe, helps local governments effectively write meeting minutes. eScribe’s Minutes Builder unifies your workflow, enabling you to take minutes directly within the platform. The note-taker can effortlessly make notes, create tasks, track attendance, and mark motions as the meeting progresses.
How eScribe Powers Effective Housing Authorities
Technology plays a vital role in improving housing authority meeting effectiveness by automating processes and enhancing communication among board members and the public. The right technology solutions help streamline housing authority meetings.
eScribe offers the ultimate solution in government meeting software, with all the tools and features needed to host and manage housing authority meetings effectively. For housing authority agencies, the software allows its members to focus on more important tasks by automating time-consuming processes, such as taking housing authority meeting minutes. A few features of eScribe that housing authorities will find invaluable include:
- Meeting Manager: Create, share, modify, and collaborate on meeting materials without printing anything or chasing anyone down.
- Meeting Minutes: Streamlines the capturing of accurate meeting minutes, reducing the risk of errors and ensuring all critical points are noted.
- Reporting and Workflows: Manage deadlines, track statuses, save time, and handle reports and approvals with ease.
- Collaboration Tools: Make it easy for planning commission members to work together, regardless of their physical location, by providing secure access for searching for and reviewing content, downloading meeting materials, and keeping track of comments, notes, and action items.
If you’re interested in seeing how eScribe’s features help improve the effectiveness of planning commission meetings, check out the City of Greensboro case study or request a quote for your organization.