President's Corner

Sheila Miller, President

The Housing and Community Development industry is involved in challenging and interesting times. With a full blown mortgage foreclosure crisis, legislative initiatives such as asset management, SEVRA and the 2009 appropriations under consideration, legislative advocacy could not be more important at this critical time. Now that our Representatives are in recess and back in our communities, it is a good time to schedule a visit with your Representative. Invite them to your Agency and show them, with pride, your viable housing. Discuss with them the concerns you personally have for the housing and community development needs in your community. The NAHRO
website has excellent advocacy information to share with your Representative. You can review it, and personalize it for your Agency. Let your representative know your Agency’s needs and how you are impacted by the funding shortages
our industry is experiencing.

The 2008 Republican National Convention is being held in our Region this year, and with the Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota comes an opportunity for us to educate the candidates, our Representatives and the voters about our industry. National NAHRO and Minnesota NAHRO on behalf of NCRC, will in a joint effort host a Housing America Symposium to discuss the foreclosure crisis, and making affordable housing possible. There will also be resident testimony, and industry perspectives from some of our Housing America partners.

This election year means that change is in the air, and how our industry will be impacted is yet to be known. We must be vigilant, informed and remain active to keep our programs in the forefront. We will all have an opportunity this fall to affect change with the power of our vote. I hope you will get out and vote, and encourage your residents to vote as well.

It is a privilege to introduce another of NCRC’s Rising Stars. NAHRO and NCRC are committed to recognizing and recruiting our new generation of leaders who are making
and will be making an impact in the Housing and Community Development industry. If you know someone who is an employee or Commissioner of your agency and would
like to see them recognized, please contact me.

RISING STAR (submitted by Cindi Ring): Have you noticed the recent increase of retirements in our industry? With all of the stress of reduced funding and regulatory changes, I frequently hear that another colleague has jumped ship. This observation hasn’t escaped the sharp eyes of your NCRC board. Last year we asked our members to mentor individuals for future leadership positions and a new effort to recruit members “under 40” began!

One person stood out in Ohio. Michael Krause is General Legal Counsel and Deputy Executive Director at the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority (Youngstown, Ohio). I don’t know his age, but I do know that he is not yet 40!

Michael earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Westminster College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law. Previous to coming to YMHA as the
director of Human Resources, Michael had been a city and county prosecuting attorney.

At YMHA, Michael is responsible for the overall management of the agency’s Public Housing program, Housing Choice Voucher Program, Development Department, Internal
Auditing Department, Procurement Department, as well as the Human Resource and Risk Management functions. In addition, Michael is the Chief negotiator of all collective
bargaining unit agreements.

Michael has an impressive educational background, and he certainly had leadership experience at YMHA. My role was very simple, and it is something each of you can do to recruit new members. I asked Michael to become involved. I encouraged him to use his talents and become active in leadership beyond the state level. Michael took the challenge and became an Ohio representative on the NCRC Board. Last fall he was appointed to NAHRO’s Member Services committee.

Thanks to an “invitation” from Jim Inglis, I became involved in NCRC not that very long ago. I’ve discovered that it is a natural step to go from being active in your State Chapter, to participating in the region (NCRC Board), and then giving your time to the NAHRO board or committee of interest.

I encourage each of you to look for those rising stars in your own organizations and promote their development. If you are an Executive Director, please allow your *stars* to attend training opportunities at the State, Regional and National conferences. Sometimes it only takes one invitation or opportunity to make a difference!