Housing Commission

Page 1 of 2 MINUTES Human Services Advisory Council Housing Commission City of Falls Church PURPOSE OF MEETING: Joint meeting of the Human Services Advisory Council and Housing Commission DATE OF MEETING: April 18, 2017 PLACE OF MEETING: Dogwood Room, City Hall MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY: Julio Idrobo at 6:33 p.m. THOSE PRESENT: HSAC Members: Staff: Craig Cheney (chair) Nancy Vincent Alisa Macht Student Representative Nicole Newnam Esther Kim Anne Norloff City Council Liaison Debra Roth Marybeth Connolly Commission Members: Staff: Julio Idrobo, Chair Dana Lewis M.T. Gutmanis City Council Liaison: Don Brobst Letty Hardi Brenda Heffernan Planning Commission Liaison: Lindy Hockenberry FCHC Liaison: Student Representative: Thom Vaccaro Camille Borja OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: Phil Duncan APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Housing Commission minutes from February 21, 2017 and HSAC minutes from February 16, 2017 were approved. NEW BUSINESS: Planning for Review of Affordable Housing Policy The Policy is scheduled to be updated in 2018. • Community education on affordable housing should begin soon. • Participants suggested submitting an article to the Falls Church New Press summarizing the Affordable Housing Report, updating tables, and presenting general facts about the state of affordable housing in the City. Note that this is an issue that can affect all of us. • Education and cross jurisdictional implementation are part of the policy and need to be implemented. • Research how Falls Church can tap into successes in Arlington and D.C. • Have a booth at the Fall Festival.  Page 2 of 2 • Hold a round table with other jurisdictions and with civic groups. • Meet individually with City Council members. • Submit a joint letter to City Council requesting the review. • Create committees to begin the process at the May meetings of both groups, e.g. education, interjurisdictional cooperation. • Gather historical data. CDBG/HOME Week April 24-28, 2017 In honor of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) week, Housing Commissioners will be visiting the Community Services Council (CSC) on April 25th for a luncheon. CSC receives funds to provide emergency rent and utilities. Commissioners are also invited to attend the City Council meeting on April 24 for a proclamation. The group talked about the possibility of combining the CDBG and Community Services Fund application and how this would work. Fair Housing Month-April 2017 Fair Housing Month will be celebrated with a proclamation on April 24. A Fair Housing 101 training will be given by Fair Housing Management Consultants on Friday April 28. The group talked about adding a protected class in the City. Councilmember Hardi shared that she met with the City Attorney about this once before and the State would prevent us from doing this. Commissioner Heffernan shared that Alexandria and Arlington seem to have been able to find a way. She will set up a meeting with the City Attorney and report back next month. Staff is directed to publicize that there have been no findings from fair housing testing and that federal regulations are being followed in the City. Housing Expo The 2017 Housing Expo was held in Loudoun County and was very well attended (over 700 participants). In two years it will be back in Falls Church. State Rental Assistance Program for persons with Disabilities – Partnership with Fairfax Housing The City is amending a cooperative agreement with Fairfax County so that City residents may participate in the State Rental Housing Assistance Program. This is a voucher program for people with disabilities and is run by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services. CDBG/HOME Federal Budget Cuts – Update The presidential budget proposed cutting CDBG and HOME funding. MEETING ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m. SIGNATURE OF RECORDER: Dana Lewis, Nancy Vincent The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This document will be made available in an alternate format upon request. Call 703-248-5005 (TTY 711).