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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-10; Housing Commission; MinutesMinutes of: Time of Meeting: Date of Meeting: Place of Meeting: CALL TO ORDER HOUSING COMMISSION 6:00 P.M. JANUARY 10, 2019 COUNCIL CHAMBERS Chairperson Newman called the Meeting to order at 5:58 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Williams led with the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: Staff Present: Commissioners: Alan Newman Kristy Randall Shaunee Williams Arline Carrillo Joy Evans Community & Economic Director: Debbie Fountain Community Services Manager: Marie Jones-Kirk APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of October 11, 2018, were approved as written. ITEM NOT ON AGENDA There were no comments on non-agenda items. NEW BUSINESS Chairperson Newman brought the meeting to order. Marie Jones-Kirk, Community Services Manager, gave a presentation on the Homeless Response Plan. Some of the key points are: • Another social worker has been added. • Holly, who you met at a previous meeting, is filling the position for the second social worker, and she will eventually be the supervisor once that position is filled. • We had another success in housing a person who had been homeless for two and a half years. • The police are working to get a new vehicle that can drive on all terrain. • Laureen Ryan, Management Analyst in Community & Economic Development, is part of the program. She managed the point in time count for two years for the Regional Task Force on the Homeless. She has put together a cost analysis for the City of Carlsbad. • I have extended an invitation for Laureen Ryan to come and speak with the Housing Commission and present the cost analysis. • The point in time count is on Friday, January 25, 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. Something we do every year. In the count, we count individuals as well as vehicles. We have gotten to know some of the homeless which is a benefit. We work with the GIS department to provide maps of the city to HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES January 10, 2019 PAGE 2 of 5 help pre-plan the count. In other communities such as Salt Lake City, they not only count the individuals, but they also do a survey where they ask questions. This year, the Regional Task Force on the Homeless has combined the count and survey to take place at the same time. There are 22 questions on the survey and we do not feel we will get accurate answers at 4 a.m. We will extend the surveys over the weekend. Chairperson Newman questioned doing surveys at 4 a.m. Ms. Jones-Kirk said the time of count is set by the federal government, while the dates are set by RTFH. Chairperson Newman commented that is hard. Ms. Jones-Kirk said she shared that with the team on Tuesday. It would not be feasible to walk up to people at 4 a.m. and ask them to complete a survey. There is a lot of money made available to service providers based on the point in time count. Therefore, the count is very important to these agencies. Chairperson Newman asked what type of funds do they receive. Ms. Jones-Kirk answered they receive federal funding. Ms. Debbie Fountain added that the Housing Commission is invited to help with the point in time count. You just need to contact Marie. Ms. Fountain said we have piloted a new program in our home share program and we have Ms. Becky Mayeaux who is working with us part-time and she has brought in a contractor from Elder Help to set up a program in Carlsbad. Ms. Mayeaux said she began working with Housing & Neighborhood Services in August 2018 and one of the projects that she has been working on is a pilot project with Elder Help. They provide several services including roommate matching. Dana will tell you more about the program. She will be collecting additional information from the clients to find out what other services the clients may need. Ms. Dana Vacante-Garcia from Elder Help in San Diego. They have served seniors for 45 years and the HomeShare program is launching here in Carlsbad. It has been in existence for 25 years. We are a roommate matching service for seniors and people of all ages. We can match students with seniors, anyone who needs affordable housing. It is a unique program where we match people with homes that may have a room for rent. We also provide a service exchange program where a person rents a room and provides a service, such as laundry or transportation, in return for the room. We also provide a program with a combination of both. The provider would be the person who comes up with the rental amount. They do go through an in-depth process that makes the seeker and provider more comfortable. Then we sit with them and facilitate a rental agreement. Once the agreement is complete, we do not step away. We continue to be involved as much as we can. We will do home visits, and if there are problems, we will provide mediation. Ms. Mayeaux asked if the Housing Commission has any questions. Chairperson Newman asked how Elder Help is funded. HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES January 10, 2019 PAGE 3 of 5 Ms. Fountain asked if Elder Help gets other funding. Ms. Vacante-Garcia said we do have grants as well as we do fund raisers. Ms. Fountain added that they have been in business for quite a while in San Diego and have been doing the home sharing program for some time. We are funding this pilot program, and if it is successful and we can get good statistics from it, then we would come to the Housing Commission to make a recommendation to the City Council for a permanent appropriation. We continue to have all our other programs. This program will allow some seniors to stay in their homes. They won't have to downsize if they can bring in a roommate. In addition, having someone else in the house could make them feel more secure. It is a safe way for seniors because someone else will be doing the screening process. One of our challenges is getting the word out that the program is available. We do have one provider who has signed on. It is interesting because we have city employees who rent a room close by because they live far away. This is just formalizing that process. Chairperson Newman said it sounds like a win-win situation. Commissioner Williams commented it is a great idea. Ms. Mayeaux added that Dana will be at the Senior Center sharing office 119 on Monday afternoons and Friday mornings. With the HomeShare Program, the people are screened with a background check. In the future, we hope to host a meet and mingle event so the providers and seekers can get together. Tomorrow Dana has an appointment with a provider. In addition, the North Coast News will be running an article. Commissioner Randall said the program is called Elder Help, does the provider need to be an elder? Ms. Vacante-Garcia said only one of them must be an elder. We are looking forward to our match and mingle as it is another way for people to come together and hopefully feel more comfortable. Ms. Fountain said we are working very hard to get the word out regarding this program. The Senior Center has been great, but if you as a commissioner have any ideas, staff would be welcome. Chairperson Newman said if he is given some formal information, he can give it to his homeowner's newsletter as providers. We also do the quadrant that does a monthly meeting on the first Monday of each month. Bill Mitchell organizes it and they are always looking for speakers. They meet at 8 a.m. That may be worthwhile. Commissioner Williams said what about an announcement on Nextdoor.com. Ms. Fountain said if you are on Nextdoor.com, you can do that. Ms. Fountain said she has a final item. She passed out a memo that came to her from our City Attorney in December and since we cancelled that meeting, I am bringing it to you now. The City Attorney and the City Clerk have been going through a process of updating the municipal codes, including the Boards and Commissions and their roles and responsibilities. They are reviewing the codes to see if there should be any changes. They would like each board and commission to provide a work plan and then HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES January 10, 2019 PAGE 4 of 5 given to the City Council for their review. Then at the end of the year, each board and commission would provide an Annual Report. You can take this information home and think about it. We would like to know if you would like to see changes in the ordinance or what you as a commission are charged with. Currently, the City of Carlsbad is working off a four-year certification of the Housing Element. I think it will come back for review in 2021. We haven't had many requests for financial assistance lately since the recession. The Housing Commission also review project concepts, this refers to two developers working together to build a project. You as a commission also review requests to purchase housing credits. Most of the credit requests are two, three, four and are done administratively and then approved by Planning and the City Council. It is my feeling that it is a perfect opportunity to change the rules of the Housing Commission. Recently we did add to the commission the Homeless Advisory Committee. We would like to step up the role for the Housing Commission presentation, such as having Laureen Ryan to present a cost analysis. The Housing Commission can host the presentations, and they do not need to be at the City Council Chambers. They could be at the library or another building. Your role as the Housing Commission is to represent the community and to make recommendations. It might be helpful to have the Housing Commission on the Homeless Response Plan and to then walk through the strategic plan and then you can give us feedback. We added quite a bit to the initial Strategic Plan. We would like to have the Housing Commission to be more involved in the Strategic Plan. Pursuant to Government Code Section 7266, the Housing Commission is designated as the relocation appeals board for the city. We have not had any of those appeals. There will be interesting discussions coming up as we look at our new regional numbers and what is coming from the state in our Housing Element. We have a growth management cap for housing and it is expected to blow out the cap. We do not know how to deal with the state growth management cap. The court may dictate what will happen. The state has increased the numbers due to the affordable housing number. The State of California needs to produce 170,000 units. Each region will receive a number. Our organization is called SANDAG. They take the number we are given and distribute them among the eight jurisdictions. With that formula, if you are out of whack, you will get a higher number of units. City of Carlsbad is out of whack. Chairperson Newman commented that one produces money and one costs money. Ms. Fountain said that most people who work in Carlsbad live somewhere else so we will look at that seriously. Negotiations will probably not happen because of the new legislation. It will be a few years out. Staff is looking at it from a policy standpoint, and it will be difficult. Chairperson Newman added that we do not have the land. Ms. Fountain agreed. It will be a big policy discussion. This is something the Housing Commission could take a larger role in and host come of those discussions. I am asking you tonight to take this paperwork and give it some serious thought. I can draft up a work plan or changes to ordinances or if you have some thoughts tonight, I will take them back. It is not an item to approve so there is no action. I will bring it back to you at the next meeting. Chairperson Newman asked what the timeline is. Ms. Fountain answered they are starting to work through them now. It will be good to make some decisions at the February Housing Commission meeting. HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES January 10, 2019 PAGE 5 of 5 Commissioner Randall said it was helpful you went through this point by point. To hear the possibilities is exciting. Ms. Fountain sa id there are a lot of good things out there, but the problem is that we are not consistent. Sometimes we have a bunch of projects at one time, and sometimes we don't have anything for years. Also, the Housing Commission is working with the CDBG Program. We do need representatives on the Housing Commission from the Section 8 Program. I would like you to get a satisfaction out of being on the Housing Commission. Ultimately, it will be the City Council's decision. We need to make recommendations and then take it back to the City Council. Several of the current positions are about to expire. Commissioner Williams said she thinks it is a good idea to have the Housing Commission to work with the CDBG Program. Ms. Fountain added that the staff recommendation was CDBG, but the City Council did not think so, but we can always ask aga in. Commissioner Williams agreed that we should put that in there. Ms. Fountain also agreed. Chairperson Newman adjourned the Housing Commission Meeting at 6:53 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ilia_),~~ Deborah Fountain Community & Economic Director PATRICIA CRESCENTI, Minutes Clerk MINUTES ARE ALSO RECORDED AND KEPT ON FILE UNTIL THE WRITTEN MINUTES ARE APPROVED.