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INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE

Meeting Date:	10/12/2020
Subject: REPORT ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING FINANCE COMMITTEE COMPOSITION
Submitted For:	John Kopchik, Director, Conservation & Development Department
Department:	Conservation & Development
Referral No.:	IOC 20/5
Referral Name:	Advisory Body Recruitment
Presenter:	Amalia Cunningham, Affordable Housing Program Manager	Contact:	Kristin Sherk (925) 674-7887

Information

Referral History:

The Affordable Housing Finance Committee (AHFC) advises the Board of Supervisors on the annual allocation of approximately $3.1 million in HOME Investment Partnership Act (HOME), $2.1 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and $650,000 in Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) funds for affordable housing development in Contra Costa County. These funds are allocated annually to the County on a formula basis through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The AHFC typically convenes once annually in the spring to review staff’s recommendations for project funding of applications received through a public request for proposals process. Occasionally there is a second special meeting midway through the fiscal year to reallocate funds.

The AHFC replaced the 6-member HOME Technical Review Committee in 1995. The City and County representatives categories were carried over from the old HOME Technical Review Committee, and three additional community representatives were added to the committee membership roster. The AHFC currently consists of nine seats:

• three city representatives (one each from East, Central and West County)
• three county representatives (live in or serve unincorporated County); and
• three community representatives (live in the County, incorporated or unincorporated).

The subregions have traditionally been defined:

West Cities: El Cerrito, Hercules, Pinole, Richmond, San Pablo
Central Cities: Clayton, Concord, Danville, Lafayette, Martinez, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, Walnut Creek
East Cities: Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Pittsburg

West Unincorporated: Crockett, El Sobrante, East Richmond Heights, Kensington, Montalvin Manor, N. Richmond, Port Costa, Rodeo
Central Unincorporated: Blackhawk, Contra Costa Centre, Diablo, Pacheco/Vine Hill, Saranap
East Unincorporated: Bay Point, Bethel Island, Byron, Clyde, Discovery Bay, Knightsen

By tradition, representatives on the AHFC must live or work in Contra Costa and City and County representatives must have expertise or an identified interest in affordable housing issues and the provision of additional housing for lower-income and special needs populations. The three Community representatives can be anyone who lives in the county and are not required to have experience in affordable housing development and financing.

Nominations for County and Community representatives are solicited by the Department of Conservation and Development and Clerk of the Board through the normal committee application process. All County and Community representative appointments to the AHFC are reviewed by the Internal Operations Committee (IOC) and referred to the Board of Supervisors for approval. However, the three City representatives are nominated by the city managers in each subregion of the county and approved by the Board of Supervisors. All the AHFC terms are for three years and terms are staggered.

Referral Update:

Attached is the current AHFC member list as Attachment A. In summary, there are currently four vacant committee representatives. The West County City representative has been vacant since April 2018 and the Central County City representative has been vacant since June 2019. In addition, two other members' terms expired as of June 30, 2020.

There is historically a challenge to get responses from city leadership to fill the City slots. Five applications have been received so far in 2020 for the existing vacancies, all of which are self-submitted, so would be considered for the County or Community representative slots. Given that there are six months before the AHFC's next annual meeting, it seemed like a good time to give the IOC an update on its status and determine if the IOC would like to direct staff to return with recommendations to streamline the membership categories and process to align it with other committees of the County, and better meet the function it is charged with reviewing. Pending IOC direction and additional staff work on feasibility, these recommendations might look at:

• Taking member applications to just one body for approval – either all to the IOC or all to the Board.
• Keeping three “city” seats, one per sub-region, and allow them to be self-nominated residents within an incorporated city.
• Keeping three “county” seats, one per sub-region, and maintain status-quo of self-nomination by residents of unincorporated Contra Costa.
• Keeping one “community” seat, an “at-large” resident from anywhere in the county; for a total of seven seats overall.
• Developing bylaws for the committee that require members to have professional or personal experience with affordable housing finance, and affirming they must be residents of the county.

Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):

RECEIVE presentation on current status of Affordable Housing Finance Committee membership and CONSIDER directing staff to report back to the Internal Operations Committee in February 2021 with recommendations to better align membership categories with the AHFC’s work, allowing adequate time to appoint new AHFC members to the vacant seats prior to the AHFC’s likely next meeting in April 2021.

Attachments
AHFC Roster_Sept 2020