Housing and Human Services Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Housing and Human Services Commission Wednesday, February 28, 2018 7:00 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Chair Grossman called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Grossman led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Joshua Grossman Vice Chair Avaninder Singh Commissioner Diana Gilbert Commissioner Ken Hiremath Commissioner Minjung Kwok Commissioner Elinor Stetson Absent: 1 - Commissioner Patti Evans Commissioner Patti Evans (excused) Council Liaison Michael S. Goldman (present) PRESENTATION 18-0130 Proposals for CDBG/HOME Capital and Housing Projects for FY 2018/19 Housing Officer Suzanne Isé noted that one proposal was received in response to the request for proposals that was released in January for CDBG/HOME Capital and Housing Projects for FY 2018/19. That proposal was submitted by Sunnyvale Community Services. Ms. Isé gave a brief review of the types of projects that can be funded with these funds, and noted that funding levels for next year are still uncertain, except for the program income that has already been received. Ms. Isé introduced staff from Sunnyvale Community Services (SCS) and Downtown Streets Team (DST) who gave a short presentation about their Work First City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final February 28, 2018 Commission Sunnyvale proposal. SCS Executive Director Marie Bernard noted that the Work First Sunnyvale program has been a partnership with DST for the last five years. The program model addresses homelessness through the dignity of work. DST staff provide job training and assist with job placement, and manage the Sunnyvale Streets Team which is a work-readiness program. DST Sunnyvale Team Manager Chris Anderson gave a summary of the current year accomplishments, such as picking up 150,000 cigarette butts and over 1,500 lbs. of litter from City streets. Ms. Bernard introduced Donna Beres of Our Daily Bread, and added that Our Daily Bread has been providing lunches for DST members for the last five years. Downtown Streets Team meets at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesdays at Trinity Church, and all community members are encouraged to visit to learn more about the program. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Donna Beres shared that she attended the County outreach meeting at the Cold Weather Shelter on Hamlin Ct. in Sunnyvale. It was an emotional meeting because the night before, a long-time Sunnyvale shelter client, who had also volunteered at the shelter for 18 years, passed away at the shelter due to a terminal illness. She wanted to convey her gratitude for the shelter, because it was where he chose to die because he felt like it was home. Although home means something different to each person, to him home was the relationship with all the people that he had met and become close to at the shelter. CONSENT CALENDAR 1.A 18-0129 Approve the Housing and Human Services Commission Meeting Minutes of January 17, 2018 Chair Grossman asked if there were any comments or discussion needed on the consent calendar item, which was comprised of the draft Minutes of the Housing and Human Services Commission Meeting of January 17, 2018. He noted that the wrong set of minutes had been included in the agenda packet, but the correct set was distributed at the meeting and made available to the public. There were no questions or discussion. Chair Grossman asked for a motion. MOTION: Vice Chair Singh moved and Commissioner Hiremath seconded the motion to Approve the Housing and Human Services Commission Minutes of January 17, 2018 as submitted. City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final February 28, 2018 Commission The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Grossman Vice Chair Singh Commissioner Gilbert Commissioner Hiremath Commissioner Kwok Commissioner Stetson No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Evans PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 18-0131 Overview of 2017 Housing Strategy (CDD 17-09) Housing Officer Suzanne Isé referred Commissioners to the Report to Council (RTC) 17-1069 that was included in the agenda packet to provide background on this item. That report was considered by Council on December 12, 2017 for this project. She noted that two items were added to the scope of work by Council at that hearing: 1) to prioritize and fast-track the development of a new rental inclusionary ordinance consistent with recent state legislation; 2) explore new shared equity models for home buyer assistance. She listed the main work items which include: rent stabilization programs or options for mobile home parks as well as exploring options for possible acquisition or non-profit models for some of the parks; age-friendliness in housing for seniors; supply-side housing efforts; demand-side approaches; and if funding permits, a closer look at development review, new opportunities through new state laws, ways to bring unpermitted accessory dwelling units into compliance; and a look at any Housing Element policy objectives that have not been completed. Ms. Isé added that staff is working with Purchasing staff to finalize the request for proposals to bring a consultant team on board for this project. Lastly, Ms. Isé noted that Commissioners did not need to take a formal action on this item at this time, but this hearing was mainly an opportunity to gather input from the public on the future Housing Strategy. Chair Grossman opened the public hearing at 7:29 p.m. Elisha St. Laurent, SCS Housing Specialist, spoke in support of the Housing City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final February 28, 2018 Commission Strategy and expressed gratitude for the support from the Sunnyvale community to focus on housing for all, but especially for very low income individuals. She added that she has seen an increase in seniors being priced out of the area because they typically live on fixed incomes. Ageism is an important issue and she is pleased that it is being addressed as part of this project. Mike Serrone, member of Livable Sunnyvale, acknowledged that affordable housing is a crisis in this area and acknowledged the work being done through the Housing Strategy. He expressed some frustration that work cannot be done until the consultant comes in, but now understands the process a bit more clearly and the reasons why. Marie Bernard noted that although rents may seem to be stabilizing, based on SCS data, they have increased an additional five percent in the last year, but wages are not keeping up. She shared that recently, elderly folks that have lived in Sunnyvale for most of their lives have had to move out of Sunnyvale to Sacramento or Stockton with the help of SCS. David Wessel, member of Livable Sunnyvale, shared that he recently became a senior and is fortunate to be able to still live here because he owns his home. He noted that, although the City does a good job listening to and communicating with residents, it could be even better. He also mentioned that the City has a large pool of community experts that the City could tap into and would be happy to be involved. He encouraged that a citizen committee could be formed rather than waiting to get consultants on board. Angela Rausch (BPAC) requested that the City look at creative housing solutions because no one fix fits all. She suggested housing near transit and encouraged extensive community outreach to inform the community that there is a housing problem. She shared that she recently built an ADU and thinks that aside from the expense, the permitting process could be streamlined to encourage others to build ADUs. Tim Kerr, member of the Sunnyvale Mobile Home Park Alliance, expressed support for the Housing Strategy and gratitude for the continued study on mobile home rent stabilization. He shared that the one of the largest mobile home parks was bought by what he would consider a predatory Wall Street investor who charges $2,100 per month for space rent to new tenants. He acknowledged that it was not the case for every mobile home park, he has lived at another mobile home park for nearly 25 City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final February 28, 2018 Commission years and it is still very reasonable there, but he is concerned for the folks that are being pushed out of their homes. Gail Rubino, member of Livable Sunnyvale and mobile home park resident. She shared that she used to own a home in the City of Santa Clara and compared the amount that she used to pay in property taxes for her $600,000 home to the amount of space rent for her $70,000 mobile home, and couldn't imagine it would ever be almost the same. She suggested to "modularize" the Housing Strategy study in order to complete the different objectives more quickly. Chair Grossman closed the public hearing at 7:47 p.m. STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES None. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Hiremath asked about the status and results of the ADU policy project the Commission had considered last year. Staff responded that the code amendments had been completed and provided detail on the reduced lot size minimums. Chair Grossman encouraged the City to have the same sense of urgency to streamline processes for affordable housing as it does when large developers want to come to Sunnyvale to build projects in Sunnyvale. Commissioners asked several questions about the info-only reports included with the agenda. Staff responded to the questions. -Staff Comments Ms. Isé thanked al the members of the public present for attending the meeting and providing their comments, and encouraged everyone to sign the sign-in sheets, if they hadn't already, to be added to the outreach list for the Housing Strategy. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS 18-0133 RTC 17-1069: Review Draft Work Plan for 2017 Housing Strategy (Study Issue) City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Housing and Human Services Meeting Minutes - Final February 28, 2018 Commission 18-0134 RTC 17-1208: Review of 2017 Housing Legislation ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Commissioner Stetson moved and Vice Chair Singh seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:01 p.m. Motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Grossman Vice Chair Singh Commissioner Gilbert Commissioner Hiremath Commissioner Kwok Commissioner Stetson No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Evans City of Sunnyvale Page 6