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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.20.22_APPROVED_SKHHP-EB-MinutesP a g e | 1 SKHHP Executive Meeting May 20, 2022 MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Vice-Chair Dana Ralph called the virtual meeting to order at 1:02 PM. a. ROLL CALL/ESTABLISHMENT OF QUORUM Executive Board members present: Collen Brandt-Schluter, City of Burien, Joseph Cimaomo, City of Covington; Traci Buxton, City of Des Moines; Brian Davis, City of Federal Way; Dana Ralph, City of Kent; Eric Zimmerman, City of Normandy Park; Mark Santos-Johnson, Alternate City of Renton until Ryan McIrvin, City of Renton joined at midway through; Kelly Rider, King County (in and out of meeting); De’Sean Quinn, City of Tukwila Other attendees: Angela San Filippo, SKHHP; McCaela Daffern, King County; JC Harris, City of Des Moines; Laurel Humphrey, City of Tukwila; Nigel Herbig, King County Regional Homelessness Authority; Earnest Thompson, City of Normandy Park; Hannah Bahnmiller, City of Renton ; Kaitlin Heinen, SKHHP Advisory Board Member; Marty Kooistra, Civic Commons; Mark Santos-Johnson, City of Renton; Merina Hanson, City of Kent; Nicole Nordholm, City of Des Moines; Adria Buchanan, Fair Housing Center of Washington; Amanda DeFisher, Fuse Corps; Isaac Horwith, King County; Matt Torpey, City of Maple Valley II. REVIEW AGENDA/AGENDA MODIFICATIONS No agenda modifications. III. APPROVAL OF APRIL 15, 2022 MINUTES Joseph Cimaomo moved to approve the April 15, 2022 minutes as presented; De’Sean Quinn seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously (8-0). IV. OLD BUSINESS a. Election of Chair and Vice-Chair officer positions to serve for the remainder of 2022 City of Auburn Mayor, Nancy Backus indicated interest in continuing to serve as Chair. Hearing no other nominations for Chair, Mark Santos-Johnson moved to appoint City of Auburn Mayor, Nancy Backus to Chair, Traci Buxton seconded. Motion passed unanimously (8-0). Mayor of Kent, Dana Ralph indicated interest in continuing to serve as Vice-Chair. Hearing no other nominations for Vice-Chair, Santos-Johnson made a motion to appoint City of Kent Mayor, Dana Ralph to Vice-Chair, Cimaomo seconded. Motion passed unanimously (8-0). b. SKHHP Housing Capital Fund Guidelines During 2021 the SKHHP staff work group and Executive Board developed capital fund guidelines, working through individual sections in great detail. With the formation of the Advisory Board, held off on setting funding priorities so that we could incorporate the Advisory Board’s voice and perspective into this process. Advisory Board was formed and members appointed specifically to bring voices of those most impacted by the housing crisis into the SKHHP decision making process. Because of the in depth work done by the Executive Board in 2021, Angela San Filippo provided a high level review of the guidelines including an overview of the process and schedule and opportunities for communication and involvement from SKHHP member jurisdictions and specifically jurisdictions where projects are being proposed. The intention is to communicate with member P a g e | 2 Councils through the Executive Board, and staff work group to keep everyone apprised of the process and potential projects. In addition to using the combined funders application, the proposed application contents include a letter of consistency from staff of jurisdiction where project is sited demonstrating consistency with community priorities and plans, and a letter of community support from a community organization, church, community center, or school that serve the community where the project is located. Suggestion to broaden language to religious institution rather than church. Discussion ensued regarding establishing jurisdiction support during the application process. Some of the questions and comments that came up during the Board’s discussion regarding demonstration of jurisdiction support included: • Communication and coordination built into the process allows for substantial opportunities for jurisdictions to weigh into process • Concern that legislative body may not need/want to take the level of ownership for a project that a letter of support implies • Intent that projects would not be funded by SKHHP without support from the jurisdiction where the project is sited • Concern regarding application timeline, alignment with other public funders, and feasibility of requiring a letter of jurisdiction support within that timeline • Concern regarding relationship between SKHHP and member jurisdictions if jurisdictional support is not established as part of the overall funding process In addition, there were concerns shared regarding calling out specific populations within the funding priorities and a recommendation was proposed to use low-income households as a clearer and more inclusive beneficiary target. San Filippo will follow-up with a summary of the conversation, solicit additional Executive Board feedback, as well as have conversations with the staff work group and Advisory Board with the intention of coming up with a recommended path forward to be presented at the June meeting. The funding guidelines will need to be adopted in June, in order to keep the application timelin e on track. V. NEW BUSINESS a. 2023 SKHHP Work Plan and Budget San Filippo provided an overview of the process and timeline for developing the 2023 work plan and budget. This meeting was intended for initial review which will be followed up by engaging each member jurisdiction’s Council to provide feedback on the work plan and budget. The work plan and budget will be brought forward for approval by the Executive Board in August with final adoption by partner jurisdictions during the fall and winter. The work plan identifies 5 goal areas for the upcoming year that build upon and add to previous work. Within each goal area staff have identified work plan items that are critical, important, and in some cases desirable. Given SKHHP is a staff of one right now, it was important to draft a work plan that created space for flexibility based on staff capacity, this also recognizes there are emerging needs and opportunities that come before us during the year and we wanted to make sure that there was space to be able to address those and establish expectations around which work plan items are of highest priority. Critical work plan items are those necessary to carry out SKHHP’s ILA or to fully execute work plan items that began in previous years P a g e | 3 Important work plan items are those that are a priority but not absolutely necessary, this means they may need to be delayed based on staff capacity or other emerging needs Desirable work plan items would be nice to be able to get to during 2023 but are not as high on the priority list. Suggestion to incorporate measures of success that go along with the work plan to help assess whether we are achieving what we set out to achieve and track progress in meeting the goals. VI. EDUCATIONAL ITEM a. Fair Housing Center of Washington San Filippo introduced the fair housing education topic and the importance of understanding fair housing laws in the context of the history of the United States and the d iscrimination and segregation that are also deeply ingrained in our local history. Access to housing was historically a key tool to perpetuate segregation, and will be critical for its undoing. Very excited to welcome Adria Buchanan, Executive Director of the Fair Housing Center of Washington to help us to collectively better understand fair housing laws. The Fair Housing Center of Washington is a fully operational qualified fair housing organization serving western and central Washington by accepting and investigating complaints of housing discrimination, and educating housing providers and housing consumers to help prevent and address discrimination. Adria Buchanan introduced the Fair Housing Center of Washington. They work in several key areas: investigate allegations of discrimination in conjunction with Washington Human Righ ts Commission, conduct various types of fair housing testing including testing on rental housing providers and mortgage lenders, education and outreach presentations and trainings for housing providers and housing authorities, and research and reports including analysis of impediments to fair housing choice. Buchanan provided some background on the Fair Housing Act, Washington State Landlord Tenant Act, and Americans with Disabilities Act. Buchanan also provided an overview of the seven key federal protected classes (race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability). Additional protections from Washington State include: marital status, military veteran status, and citizenship and immigration status. There may also be additional local protections depending on where you are located. Buchanan reviewed the types of testing done on protected classes and types of fair housing violations. Overview of housing provider responsibility and the applicability to all types of dwellings – nursing homes, time share properties, homeless shelters, group homes. There is an exception to owner occupied units as long as they have no more than three units and are not using a third party to advertise. For folks with disabilities there are additional requirements for reasonable accommodations or modifications. Buchanan also reviewed the broader fair housing definition of an assistance animal versus the American with Disabilities Act definition. Jurisdiction’s that receive CDBG funds have a responsibility to affirmatively further fair housing, and they must regularly certify they are in compliance with the Fair Housing Act through conducting an analysis of impediments. The last analysis of impediments for King County was condu cted in 2019. Field testing conducted found violations in about half of all tests and black residents are half as likely to apply for a home loan but twice as likely to be denied. New round of testing is going to be done this year and results will likely be available this summer. In South King County about half of all testing resulting in some type of discrimination, including more than half for national origin and more than half for race. P a g e | 4 Recommendations included doing further testing, and make violators aware of actions and bring into compliance. Ten goals in King County including investing in programs that provide fair housing education, enforcement, and testing; engage underrepresented communities on an ongoing basis; provide more housing for vulnerable populations; provide more housing choice for large families; support efforts to increase housing stability; preserve and increase affordable housing in communities at high risk of displacement; review zoning laws to increase housing options and supply in urban areas; invest in historically underserved communities; support the Affordable Housing Committee’s efforts to promote fair housing; and report annually on Fair Housing Goals and progress. Other recommendations include ensuring new housing units are affirmatively marketed; assuring housing information is available in different languages; ensuring landlords, realtors, and HOAs are educated in fair housing laws; fight NIMBYism, holding banks accountable for lending practices; advocating for housing in a range of sizes; and advocating for acceptance of different types of housing income. VII. UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS The South King County Subregional Housing Action Framework received a Vision 2050 Award! PSRC will be announcing the winners at their May 26 General Assembly and we anticipate the award will be presented to the SKHHP Executive Board this summer. Recognize Mark Santos-Johnson, this is Mark’s last meeting with us as he moves on to the next phase and enjoys much deserved retirement. Mark has served on the SKHHP staff work group and as an alternate on the SKHHP Executive Board since the very beginning of SKHHP and his advocacy and vision were instrumental in the formation of SKHHP. As Mark steps into retirement we are also happy to welcome Hannah Bahnmiller who serves on the SKHHP staff work group as Renton’s appointed alternate to the SKHHP Executive Board. VIII. ADJOURN Ralph adjourned the meeting at 2:56 pm.