CITIZENS' COMMITTEE ON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
FULL COMMITTEE MINUTES
Members of the Citizens' Committee on Community Development held their monthly meeting at the location and on the date indicated below:
Monday, June 18, 2007
1 South Van Ness Avenue, 5th Floor
Conference Room 5080
5:45 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.
Citizens' Committee Attendees:
Alexis Gonzales
Daniel Wong
John Lucero
Jordan Klein
Maria De Lourdes Villanueva
Nadine Burke
Ralph Romberg
Vincent Chao
Richard Kempis
MOCD Staff Attendees:
Fred Blackwell, Director
Mélange Matthews, COO
Vivian Hopkins, Executive Assistant
1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 6:07 p.m.
2. Approval of May 21, 2007 Minutes
There were the following amendments to the May minutes:
1) Remove Rene Cazenave from the attendees list;
2) Change the verbiage from postpone to cancel for the July and August meetings; and
3) Change Max to Matt ; change the BOS did not take Max's recommendation to compromise on Mission Housing to the Finance expressed concerns with Matt's recommendation regarding the allocation to Mission Housing , and add Committee member Alex Gonzales ask whether or not there was going to be consideration for affordable housing in the Mission, if that allocation wasn't made.
A motion to approve the May 21, 2007 minutes with the amendments was passed unanimously.
Opposed: 0
3. Topics
Fred Blackwell reported that he is convening a taskforce with Mayor Newsom and Supervisor Maxwell to assess the declining African American population in San Francisco. There has been upwards of a 20-30% decline in the African American population in San Francisco over the last 20 years. MOCD will contract with San Francisco State University to conduct research on the topic. The taskforce will use the research findings to develop recommendations to the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor, around what we can do.
Fred Blackwell reported on the visit by the Regional Director of the HUD Community and Planning Division. HUD sees MOCD's Consolidated Plan, Action Plan and CAPER as best practices and visited MOCD to learn more about our systems and operations. The Regional Director was impressed with our contracting and monitoring systems and wanted to know
if we were interested in meeting with other jurisdictions to show them what we are doing. He also wanted to know if the online applications could be applicable to other jurisdictions.
Fred Blackwell updated the Committee on SF HOPE. The task force is proposing a $95 million revenue bond that would require a payback of $5 million a year in General Fund over the next 30 years. This will enable the City to develop 800 to 900 units of public housing on mixed-income housing sites that would include another 800 to 900 units of market rate housing. Another 350 to 400 units of affordable rentals and ownership opportunities would also be built. Fred Blackwell explained that revenue bonds don't go to the ballot. A revenue bond only requires six votes from the Board of Supervisors. The bond would probably not be voted on by the Board of Supervisors until the budget process has been completed.
Fred Blackwell updated the Committee that the MOCD employees in the 9700 series should have received a letter informing them of their eligibility. Over the next couple of weeks MOCD will be conducting interviews to complete the process and to move forward with permanent staff. Mélange Matthews explained that the staff who are incumbents inside the 9700 series have all met the minimum qualification to compete for the positions.
· By-Laws Update
Mélange Matthews reviewed the draft of the By-Laws with the changes from the City Attorney. The following items were highlighted, clarified or discussed:
1) The purpose of the Committee is to provide advice .
2) The phrase in accordance with all HUD and City requirements, as amended from time to time , is used so that when HUD and/or City requirements change, the By-Laws don't have to be continuously revised.
3) The Committee shall be staffed by MOCD. The Committee shall make recommendations through MOCD and MOH, to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors on annual expenditures.
4) The Committee shall be comprised of not less than 13 or more than 17 members.
5) The requirement to file Economic Interests Statements.
6) The residency clause.
7) Election of Officers has been changed to September.
8) If a meeting will be at a site other than One South Van Ness Avenue, Fifth Floor, notice of the special meeting and the location shall be posted on the MOCD website at least 15 days before the meeting, to give the public an opportunity to attend the meeting.
9) All Committee meetings shall be held in compliance with all applicable laws that apply to the City and County of San Francisco passive meeting advisory bodies, including but not limited to, applicable provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act (Cal. Gov. Code, Sections 54950 et. seq.), the California Public Records Act (Cal. Gov. Code, Sections 6250 et. seq.), the San Francisco Charter, the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance (S.F. Admin. Code, Chapter 67), the Ordinance and these By-laws. The meetings shall be governed by Robert's Rules of Order.
10) Setting of Agenda - The order of business for any regular meeting shall include: roll call; discussion and approval of minutes; Director's report; main agenda items; Chair or subcommittee reports; new business or issues to consider at future meetings; public comment; and adjournment.
11) Quorum was changed to read, To be deemed present , Committee members must be physically present at the meeting, and presence by telephone, video conference, or other telecommunication device shall not be permitted .
12) Public Comments – as a passive advisory body, the Committee may meet in closed session to act as a selection panel.
13) Members shall serve on at least one Standing subcommittee; they may choose to serve on multiple subcommittees.
14) The meeting per diem will end at the end of this fiscal year.
Mélange Matthews will send Committee members a clean copy of the By-Laws for review and post the By-Laws on the MOCD website for 30 days. Vivian Hopkins will contact Committee members for fax votes. Members were asked to let Mélange Matthews know if they had any issues within the 30 days. Mélange Matthews would bring the issues back to the full body to discuss at a regular meeting.
· NCDA Update
Fred Blackwell reviewed this week's NCDA conference schedule, which includes plenary sessions, technical workshops, an evening reception, neighborhood tours that highlight MOCD-funded projects and a variety show fundraiser event. The conference includes a mini conference for the San Francisco Building Construction and Trades Council. All the events will be held at the Moscone Center except for the Tuesday evening reception that will be held across the street at the Californian Academy of Science Aquarium. The Committee was invited to attend the sessions, reception, and fundraiser event.
4. Miscellaneous
Maria De Lourdes Villanueva will be submitting her resignation.
Fred Blackwell reported that the Committee has four openings and that the Mayor's Office has three appointees.
A Committee member asked about the SOMA Stabilization Fund and the availability of money from the fund. Fred Blackwell explained that the SOMA Stabilization Fund has a separate citizen oversight body that's appointed by the Board of Supervisors. Fred Blackwell will provide more information for the Committee at the September meeting.
5. New Business
None.
6. Public Comments
None.
7. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 7:32 p.m.