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 September 21, 2005 at 7:02 p.m. with Chairperson

Chad

Steward presiding.

Commission Members Present: Chair

Chad

Steward, Vice-Chair James Callan; Commissioners Charles Keeler, Patrick Meyering, Timothy Persyn and Jana Seshadri

Staff: Annabel Yurutucu, Housing Officer, Coryn Campbell, Neighborhood and Community Manager and Alice Gamboa-Navas, Administrative Aide

A. Presentation – Timeline for Noticing Council Meeting Agenda and the Distribution of Agendized Reports to Council

Coryn Campbell, Neighborhood and Community Manager, presented the Study Issue. She gave an overview of the study and the legal noticing requirements associated with the City Council Agenda and Reports to Council. She noted what the driving force of the study was. Ms. Campbell stated the existing practices and procedures. She provided a synopsis of the proposed recommendations and added that a Report to Council was not ready for distribution at the time of the meeting. She noted that City Council will consider the Study Issue on October 4, 2005.

Comm. Keeler commented that it appears that the existing process is working well and that a change is not warranted at this time. He added that the proposed change would suggest increased preparation time and may cause delay of some projects, and felt that there is no reason to change the process. He further added that if the public was unable to read the report prior to the hearing date, the City Council has the option of continuing the item.

Comm. Keeler made a motion to recommend to the City Council to make no changes at this time.

Motion died due to lack of second.

Comm. Meyering suggested that more information be provided as to the reasons for the proposed changes.

Chair Steward stated that each commissioner can make comments to be forwarded to staff rather than be limited to one recommendation from the Commission.

Comm. Seshadri supported giving the public who are affected by a project more time to review the staff reports.

Comm. Persyn commented that he is not impacted by the present process, therefore had no comment.

Vice Chair Callan commented that he understands the concerns expressed by the Chamber of Commerce. However, he would prefer to change the process in terms of time only when necessary. He hoped that the City Council could address the public concerns on a case by case basis.

Chair Steward commented that he sees the value of adding one or two days of agenda notification. However, adding more days for the staff reports may be much more cumbersome than what is currently practiced.

Each Commissioner’s comments were provided to staff to be included in the Study Issue Report to City Council.

Annabel Yurutucu, Housing Officer, provided an overview of the CAPER. She explained the Financial Summary Report and each line item. She also explained each line item of the IDIS expended accounts and activity summary report.

Staff responded to Commission questions about unexpended funds, the allocation of funds, the total available funds and the demographics of recipients. The Commission noted that there were discrepancies in the number of services provided between the Narrative of the CDBG Program and the IDIS Project Activity Report. Staff will reconcile the numbers.

Staff reported that the rehabilitation activity for Fiscal Year 2004-2005 was a successful year because of the rehabilitation of the Homestead Park, despite the absence of a full time rehabilitation specialist.

Comm. Persyn made a motion to approve and submit the Draft FY 2004-2005 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) with modifications to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Vice Chair Callan seconded.

Comm. Persyn asked staff to undertake stronger public outreach efforts to promote the availability of the HOME Access and Rehabilitation Program.

Motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Staff was unable to present the PowerPoint presentation of the City of Sunnyvale Housing Programs due to technical difficulties.

Comm. Meyering made a motion to continue the presentation to the next Commission meeting. Comm. Keeler seconded.

Motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Annabel Yurutucu, Housing Officer, reported that staff is conducting additional research about the proposed study issue and means of accomplishing the goal of encouraging more affordable housing developments. She noted that the study issue paper will be e-mailed to the Commission.

Chair Steward asked the Commission if there are other study issues that they felt should be considered.

Comm. Keeler suggested identifying ways to assist and protect the citizens who are affected with the conversion of mobile home parks and apartments. Ms. Yurutucu responded that there is an ordinance on the conversion of mobile home parks addressing these concerns.

Comm. Persyn mentioned the need to follow-up on the Socio Economic Element update to ensure that it is included in the 2006 Study Issue process.

Comm. Meyering suggested adding in the agenda the action required of the Commission where necessary.

Annabel Yurutucu, Housing Officer, updated the Commission about the Charities Housing Project noting that the applicant is in a process of renegotiation with the seller due to the recommended reduced number of units that could be developed on the site. She added that the financials presented were based upon a seven-unit development.

Ms. Yurutucu invited the Commission to the Boards & Commissions Recognition Reception to be held on Tuesday, October 11, 2005 at 5:30PM at the Senior Center- Orchard Pavilion – 550 East Remington Drive. This reception is for former and current members of the Boards and Commissions.

Further, she reminded the Commission that Live Oak Adult Day Services, one of the City’s CDBG recipients, invited the Commission and staff to attend the launching of its website. The event is on Thursday, September 29, 2005 from 4:00PM to 7PM. She gave an overview of the agency and its services. She noted that she will be out-of-town but she encouraged the Commission to attend.

Ms. Yurutucu reported that every three to four years, HUD conducts monitoring of the CDBG funds. Recently, HUD conducted the monitoring of activities for the City of Sunnyvale. She reported that the overall result is good. She added that staff gave the auditor a city tour and he was very impressed with the housing construction and BMR housing activities in Sunnyvale.