Sunnyvale

The Housing & Human Services Commission met in a regular session in the West Conference Room at 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale City Hall, Sunnyvale, CA 94086, on March 29, 2006 at 7:12 p.m. with Chairperson

Chad Steward presiding.

ROLL CALL

Commission Members Present: Chair

Chad

Steward, Vice Chair Callan, Commissioners Ann Andersen; Damon Kali; Charles Keeler; Patrick Meyering; Timothy Persyn

Staff: Annabel Yurutucu, Housing Officer and Alice Gamboa-Navas, Administrative Aide

Commissioner Meyering commented that he did not second the approval of the minutes of January 25, 2006. Chair Steward asked staff to listen to the tape to confirm who seconded.

Commissioner Meyering further made comments to the minutes and asked that his comments be noted for the record. Four sentences were omitted. 1) The first item is for the record is where the staff report referred to the performance report showing the data from January through June 2005. Next, the second staff person said that the report had not been handed out. Then I made a motion to take five minutes to take that performance report photocopied and distribute to Commission members and the agency representatives. And the fourth sentence omitted, Mr. Steward, I am the chair here and we are not going to do that.

Staff commented that the Commission had received a copy with their packet of the performance report for Fiscal Year 04/05 and the first half of FY 05/06 from July through December 2005.

Chair Steward stated that Commissioner Meyering is asking for more verbatim minutes included at the bottom of the second page. He commented that staff had started to report on the Fiscal Year 03/04. Commissioner Meyering was asking for a copy of that report.

Commissioner Meyering responded that “it was not what I said.” He stated for the record, that staff person referred to the performance report referring to the data from January 2005 through June of 2005.”

Chair Steward responded that Commissioner Meyering was commenting that staff was referring to 2005 data but that staff was referring to the performance report of FY 03/04 and Commissioner Meyering was asking for a copy of that report.

Commissioner Meyering said “no that is not what I said.” I am submitting this for the record that staff report referred to the performance report showing data from January 2005 through June 2005.

Chair Steward responded that there would be difficulty because Commissioner Meyering was saying that staff was referring to 2005 when in fact staff was referring from a report to FY 03/04.

Commissioner Meyering responded that he was actually submitting his comments for the record on what exactly happened.

Chair Steward asked staff to take Commissioner Meyering’s comments for the record as submitted.

Commissioner Persyn commented that he feels uncomfortable that comments given are verbatim and that he does not remember all the details.

Commissioner Persyn asked that perhaps the process of how the minutes will be approved should be discussed later.

Chair Steward responded that he has never dealt with getting into this level of details on what someone said so much or what the procedure would be. He suggested that it would be reasonable for Commissioner Meyering to state what he wants to say.

Commissioner Meyering added to his comments. The third correction is at the bottom of page two inside the box where it states that Commissioner Meyering made a motion a to recess the meeting for 15 minutes so that staff could make a copy of the staff’s notes containing historical information for the FY 03/04 assessment. My motion was for five minutes and I wasn’t referring to staff notes and I wasn’t referring to data from 03/04.”

Next, page 7. There is an omission of a sentence that Staff commented that the Euphrat Program is a recreational activity and there is a correction for the middle of the paragraph at the top of Page 7.

The final thing is a correction. Six lines down in the same paragraph - “I did state that I believe that there are some elusive distinctions with regard to Friends for Youth Program, what I said was that the program’s mentors attends the youth to Great America and that is a recreation activity. However, that one activity do not mean that the Friends for Youth Program is not a human services program. I did not say that the Friends for Youth Program primarily involves going to amusement park.

Commissioner Persyn stated that his comments on page one are accurate; however, he would like the one sentence paragraph broken down. He suggested ending the first sentence with “Outside Group Funding.” Then begin the sentence with “His concerns were that under the …”

Commissioner Keeler commented that on top of page 7, the sentence should be broken into two sentences and should state - “The pressure on the City Council is not going to change. The second should begin with “They have to make a decision…”

Staff commented that there is a concern with taking the comments verbatim from the tape then it becomes problematic because if it is verbatim, it is not quite grammatically correct.

Commissioner Keeler concurred with staff but he said that the sentence does not make sense and stated that if staff has graciously overlooked some of the things Commissioner Meyering commented then probably this could be corrected.

Commissioner Persyn commented that the minutes appears to be a lot more detailed than usual and asked whether there is a new policy in place.

Chair Steward responded that there were some questions about how accurate things are and some debate about what staff and commission said. In this instance, he just wanted to make sure the minutes are as detailed as possible.

Commissioner Meyering stated that his comments are being submitted for the record.

Chair Steward explained the possible actions regarding the minutes. One, someone makes a motion to approve the minutes with the recommended changes and if everyone agrees with the changes, then the minutes are approved. Second, the motion would be not to approve the minutes and continue it for staff review of the tape and return the minutes to the Commission for action.

Comm. Meyering made a motion to continue the consideration of the Draft Minutes of February 22, 2006 to April 13, 2006 after staff review of the tape of the recommended changes.

Commissioner Persyn commented that he has a problem with approving the minutes with the recommended modification since he doesn’t actually remember Commissioner Meyering’s comments.

Commissioner Callan commented that he was absent at the January 25, 2006 meeting but since the motion is for a continuance, he would be delighted to second the motion.

Comm. Meyering made a motion to continue the consideration of the Draft Minutes of February 22, 2006 for amendments as recommended to April 13, 2006. Vice Chair Callan seconded.

Commissioner Keeler commented that the modifications recommended by Commissioner Meyering are not substantive to warrant a continuance. He added that continuing the approval would mean that the Commission would have to go through the same process again. He felt that there are a lot of activities going to happen in the next few months, he would prefer approving the minutes than a continuance.

Commissioner Andersen asked the Commission for a point of order that there is a motion currently on the table.

Chair Steward stated that Commissioner Keeler was making comments to the motion.

Commissioner Keeler continued with his comments that there are major issues coming up and that he does not see substantive changes to the minutes to warrant further discussions.

Commissioner Persyn commented that he would rather approve the minutes as submitted with the grammatical modifications.

Motion failed 3-4 with Chair Steward, Commissioners Andersen, Keeler and Persyn dissenting and Commissioners Falk and Seshadri absent.

Commissioner Andersen made a motion to approve the Draft Minutes of February 22, 2006 as corrected. Comm. Keeler seconded.

Commissioner Persyn asked Chair Steward if the minutes were to be approved with the recommended correction but if there were inaccuracies, could the Commission go back to make the changes. Chair Steward responded that the Commission could put anything in the minutes.

Motion carried 4-2-1 with Commissioners Meyering and Kali dissenting, Vice Chair Callan abstain and Commissioners Falk and Seshadri absent.

Staff noted that the verbatim excerpt in terms of Commissioner Meyering’s comments will be provided to the Commission for review at the next meeting if there were discrepancies between the tape and the corrections.

Commissioner Andersen made a motion to approve the Draft Minutes of the Special Meeting of March 14, 2006 as submitted. Commissioner Keeler seconded.

Motion carried 7-0 with Commissioners Falk and Seshadri absent.

A. Presentation on Draft Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (To City Council on May 2, 2006

Annabel Yurutucu, Housing Officer, introduced Suzanne Bayley, Consultant, who had worked for the City of Palo Alto managing its CDBG Program. Ms. Yurutucu summarized Ms. Bayley’s experience and expertise. She stated that Ms. Bayley will discuss the Analysis of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing Choice, state the requirements of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for this document and explain the reasons for the staff recommended changes to AI.

Suzanne Bayley, Consultant, reported that the AI was completed three years ago. She explained that Analysis of Impediments (AI) to Fair Housing Choice is a required document for both Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Funds. She stated that the AI discusses the fair housing environment of the City, any impediments to fair housing choice and what is the City’s plan to address these impediments. She also noted that HUD requires the City to address certain items that have become important and the proposed revisions will address these items. She explained the relationship of the AI to the CDBG funding, the Action Plan and the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation (CAPER).

She further reported that the AI includes an Affirmative Marketing Plan. The Affirmative Marketing Plan addresses the issues of how persons of limited English proficiency are able to access the federal funded services. She stated that the City excels in this area as a service translating city documents into the several languages is provided, and that the agencies are so diverse that employees and volunteers are able to assist with language translation. Another issue is the visitability of housing for people with physical disabilities. HUD has a universal housing concept that allows access for those with a mobility impairment to use or visit the common area.

Ms. Bayley reported that the 30-day public review period began on March 29^th and that the AI would be presented to City Council for action on May 2. She corrected the error on page 28 of AI. It should state that the City collaborated with the north county cities of Mountain View and Palo Alto and not Menlo Park.

Commissioners asked questions about various aspects of the AI. Staff clarified that AI was completed in 2002 as a countywide effort with essentially all entitlement cities as well as the counties collaborated on the process of the background study. The study looked at what could be done countywide to increase opportunity for fair housing choice in Santa Clara County. Staff discussed the successful collaborative efforts of the cities in gathering the information.

Commissioner Persyn asked about the disparities of home mortgage rate between the black and white applicants. Ms. Bayley responded that the data was also from the previous report serving as a benchmark material. She added that the Task Force was asked to revisit the data to determine whether there are statistical changes.

Commissioner Persyn would like to know more about the data specific to Sunnyvale. Staff responded that the data was not broken down into cities but rather countywide.

Commissioner Andersen commented that the statistical sample has to be the same as a benchmark. She added that the numbers could be skewed depending on the raw data. Commissioner Persyn requested to have more current information to better understand the disparities specific to Sunnyvale.

Commissioner Kali concurred with Commissioner Keeler’s comments that there appears to be a racial discrimination perception of sales and rental activities and disparities.

Ms. Bayley reported that the data used was from the 2002 study and was not updated. She was not aware of another county who has completed a similar study but would certainly revisit the study.

Commissioner Keeler stated that one of the problems Sunnyvale Community Services is facing is that during the economic downturn, a larger household size is allowed to rent a smaller unit but may be evicted when the market improves. Staff added that Commissioner Keeler’s comment is that during a slow economy landlords tend to not consider the larger household size for a smaller unit. She further added that Project Sentinel is valuable to assist in any punitive eviction actions.

Commissioner Keeler suggested that perhaps Project Sentinel should consider more advertising efforts of its services. Staff responded that the agency does a major marketing effort but there is always room for improvement. Ms. Bayley added that there are other forms of discrimination where the landlord has created a discriminatory environment to larger family size with different rules such as household member cannot play in the lawn or cannot use the pool.

Staff stated a plan to conduct an educational workshop for landlords and tenants on this type of possible discriminatory environment and to know landlord and tenants’ rights may be implemented.

Staff reported that the Commission will be considering the Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice at the April 13^th meeting and that it is scheduled for City Council consideration on May 2^nd.

B. Discussion and Recommendation for City Council Consideration on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and General Funding of Outside Group Funded Agencies for FY 2006/2007 (To City Council on May 2, 2006)

Chair Steward commented that at the last meeting two agencies that are under performing made presentations and discussed how they are going to meet their goals.

Staff provided the Commission with a summary of the funding allocations. She noted that CDBG funds have been reduced. As a result, staff looked at the maximum amount that could be budgeted towards public services. Based on the current income and the grant funds for FY 06/07 there would be $271,853 of CDBG funds available. The total General Fund commitment that was made last year and staff was advised to include for the FY 06/07 cycle was $97,458 for a grand total of $369,321, an overall 17.46% reduction from the prior year. Ms. Yurutucu noted that two agencies, currently not meeting their goals, made a presentation to discuss their plans on how to meet their goals. She noted that Friends for Youth sent updated information regarding their performance activities in meeting their goals for the current quarter. However, Community Association for Rehabilitation has not contacted staff.

Chair Steward asked the Commissioners if they have any questions or comments to the proposed funding allocation submitted by staff.

Commissioner Andersen commented that the total allocations do not equal the grant total reductions. Staff responded that it is caused by the rounding off and is off by a few dollars.

Commissioner Andersen asked for the absolute amount of money subject for allocation. Staff responded that the total amount is $271,853 for CDBG and $97,458 of General Fund.

Commissioner Kali asked what is the specific task of the commission. Chair Steward responded that the Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council on funding allocation for the FY 2006/07. Chair Steward explained that the allocation is the second part of the two-year cycle and staff’s recommendation includes the CDBG reduced funding.

The Commission discussed the methods of how to objectively allocate the funds based on the reduced CDBG funding.

The Commission discussed at length the performance of some agencies. The Commission also discussed how to allocate equitably the funding between agencies that are exceeding their goals and those agencies that are under performing, what are the factors affecting their performance, and the percent of performances achieved versus the program plan.

Commissioner Persyn made a motion to recommend to City Council the across the board reduction of 17.46% funding and Friends for Youth and Community Association for Rehabilitation an additional reduction of $1,000 for each agency. The $2,000 reduction will be added back to the total funds to be allocated to the remaining agencies with the across the board reduction of 17.46% for Fiscal Year 2006/07. Commissioner Andersen seconded.

Vice Chair Callan made a friendly amendment to redistribute the $2,000 reduction from Friends for Youth and Community Association for Rehabilitation only to CDBG eligible agencies.

Commissioner Persyn made a motion to recommend to City Council to reduce the funding allocation as submitted by staff with the 17.46% reduction for Friends for Youth and Community Association for Rehabilitation with an additional reduction of $1,000 each. The $2,000 reduction will be added back to the total funds to be allocated to the remaining agencies that are CDBG eligible included with the across the board reduction of 17.46% for Fiscal Year 2006/07. Commissioner Andersen seconded.

Motion carried 7-0 with Commissioner Falk and Seshadri absent.

C. Discussion and Recommendation for City Council Consideration on Community Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Funding of Housing Proposals Requesting Funding for FY 2006/2007. (To City Council on May 2, 2006)

Annabel Yurutucu, Housing Officer, reported that Senior Housing Solutions acquisition of the property is still in negotiation. Since the final purchase price has not been established it would be difficult for the Commission to make a recommendation. However, she added that since the City has an open door policy for housing projects the agency can come back to the Commission when they are able to finalize their commitment to the project and could then proceed to City Council. Ms. Yurutucu further reported that for the funding of the Homestead Park rehabilitation proposal, staff has reviewed the balance available in the revolving loan fund. The revolving loan fund is used to fund rehabilitation. She reported that the maximum available is $700,000 for FY 06/07. This amount may increase if the City were to receive an unexpected payoff of an outstanding loan.

Chair Steward asked staff whether there would be funding available for other agencies if the $700,000 is allocated to Mid Peninsula. Staff responded that the $700,000 is the maximum that could be allocated for FY 06/07. She added that there are two activities that revolving loan funds are used for – acquisition and rehabilitation program, which are on-going programs. There are funds available in HOME funds for housing proposals.

Commissioner Andersen asked staff what action is required of the Commission. Staff responded that the Commission should determine whether the expense is a prudent use of the funds, then the Commission could make a recommendation.

The Commission discussed the proposed rehabilitation project, the scope of rehabilitation possible funding, any stipulations on how to rehabilitate the units, the added costs to the proposed funding request, the agency’s ability to repay the loan and its longevity.

Chair Steward added Commissioner Falk’s comments since she was unable to attend the meeting. She commented that she was impressed with the agency and that they are worthy of the funding for the proposed rehabilitation project.

Commissioner Meyering commented to staff that it would be useful to get the CDBG amount that could be allocated. Chair Steward explained that the dollar amount that could be allocated for this particular project is $700,000. Staff added that this particular rehabilitation proposal is qualified for CDBG revolving funds.

Chair Steward commented that the $700,000 revolving funds is the amount that could be approved for the rehabilitation proposal and he summarized the options discussed – 1) not make a recommendation at this time; 2) modify the scope of the project or 3) limit the budget for the project to targeted unit cost.

Commissioner Keeler made a motion to fund the rehabilitation of the Homestead Park at the available funds of approximately $700,000. Commissioner Andersen seconded.

Commissioner Meyering mentioned that for planning purposes to provide the description of the fund sources are such as CDBG funds, HOME funds and revolving loan funds for the total dollar amount for the fiscal year before making a decision on how to allocate the funds.

Motion carried 6-1 with Commissioner Meyering dissenting and Commissioners Falk and Seshadri absent.

Commissioner Keeler commented that one of the best things about living in Sunnyvale is the services provided to the residents. He suggested encouraging volunteers to provide services to more people.

Staff added that there is an agency doing this activity in Los Gatos. She will get the Volunteer Coordinator to provide more information for the Commission.

Commissioner Persyn asked about the April 13, 2006 meeting. Staff mentined that the next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 13, 2006 at the Public Library, Program Room A.

Chair Steward stated that Commissioner Seshadri’s father passed away and a sympathy card from the Commission will be appropriate.

Staff reminded the Commission of the Joint Study Session meeting with the City Council on May 2, 2006 at the West Conference Room.

Staff noted that the Commission received at this meeting a copy of the letter submitted to HUD which contains an Amendment to the Action Plan. It also contains a copy of the IDIS Project Activity.

Vice Chair Callan commented that the City Engineer mentioned at the City Council meeting the comments provided by the Housing and Human Services Commission. Staff reported that Public Works staff received bids that were below the projected cost and the contract award was considered by the City Council on Monday, March 27^th.

Staff reminded the Commission of the invitation for the Volunteer Recognition Day on Tuesday, April 25, 2006 at the Senior Center.

Further, staff noted that the Commission received a binder for their packets. Staff suggested that the Commissioners insert new documents where appropriate for the next scheduled meetings.

Staff noted that in their packet was a copy of the Planning Commission Report on “Zoning Tools to Encourage Home Ownership” scheduled to go to the Planning Commission on March 27^th. The report was continued to April 24^th.