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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-04-25 Housing MIN ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 25, 2001 CALL TO ORDER - The meeting was called to order by Chair Larry Medinger at 4:10 p.m. Other Commissioners present were Joan Legg, Jan Vaughn, Richard Seidman, Diana Goodwin Shavey, and Cate Hartzell. Joe McKeever arrived at 4:30 p.m. and Nancy Richardson arrived at 4:50 p.m. Madeline Hill was absent. Staff present were Bill Molnar and Sue Yates. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - The Minutes of the March 28, 2001 meeting were approved. ELECTION OF OFFICERS - Medinger hesitated to hold elections because Hill, McKeever and Richardson were not present. He wondered if it was absolutely necessary to have elections today. Hartzell said it was her understanding the Council wanted the Commissions to rotate chairs. Medinger feels like the Commission has taken on new members and is taking some new initiative and he feels like he is just hitting his stride as Chair. Goodwin Shavey nominated Medinger. The motion was seconded. Hartzell said after reading the minutes from the last meeting, she believes Medinger sees his role as advisor or an expert. Hartzell feels equally as strong about implementing the Strategic Plan and she would like to see people on this Commission who are ready to participate in subcommittees and get the work done. Legg suggested if we want to help people gain knowledge and learn leadership roles, the Commission should have standing subcommittees. Look at those we can pull in from the community to serve on the subcommittees. We can take leadership of those subcommittees. She suggested convening as an executive committee right before the meeting and set the agenda from that--the chairs, the subcommittees and the officers. That is a real good low-key way to learn leadership skills. Medinger believes it would be a good way to learn leadership skills but it has nothing to do with producing a program for the city to deal with the affordable housing program. He thinks Hartzell is missing the point if she thinks Commission members can spend time in the trenches. Commission members need to spend time as the collection of talent. In her experience with commissions, Hartzell sees the chair as someone who facilitates the commission. The commissions' members she has worked with are in the trenches. She believes they need people who can spend a couple more hours a month working on some of the projects outlined. She does not think the money is going to come for a staff person and if it does it is going to be part-time, temporary funding. Medinger said it if it does not come he is resigning. The plan will never go anywhere. Hartzell sees that the Planning Department can do some of this. Medinger disagreed. Hartzell spoke with McLaughlin today and she is confident that with some citizens and the Planning Staff and the Planning Commissioners, that there is an impetus to get this done. Some of the things that need to be done around funding may be definitely within the purview of finding somebody to hire. She really thinks the Housing Commission can provide a great deal of leadership. Seidman is concerned about putting everything on one staff person. He has found a staff person along with subcommittees work well. Broad-based participation would allow for full product. Medinger said he believes the subcommittee meetings we have had this month are indicative of how we can still function as a Commission and still participate in extra-curricular activities. At no time did he feel he could do anything beyond that. Some did. He can do a lot as contributing as a Commissioner but he would not have time to read all the HUD documents and do the research. This would not lead to a successful pattern of accomplishment. Goodwin Shavey said a good commission would be just like a good business. It will have people with finance, operations, information and executive skills on it and people will take on those roles. She is of the opinion that a Housing Commission is a very difficult commission to compare to most other commission the community has. Most other commissions effect the whole community and interest people. Housing ultimately benefits the whole community but very few people see it that way. Housing effort takes an incredible amount of money. You have to get your hands on the resources and you have to control them. She can give what she can give to this Commission but she can’t give ten or 20 hours a week. The biggest step is to get other people involved. Hartzell is not suggesting spending ten to 20 hours a week on housing. She is looking at the Strategic Plan as something that needs to go forward all at the same time. And, that each Commissioner would be called to certain of those areas and start putting in two to three hours a month if possible to help. Seidman said even if we have a staff person, we still need commission participation. He asked if everyone on the Commission would be willing to spend two to three hours per week. Everyone said they would be willing. Legg discussed continuity. She does not think they see hiring a staff person as a way of putting off things the Commission should be doing. She has a renewed interest in the Housing Commission. She is willing to do the thing that is closest to her heart and that is getting everybody involved--public meetings, etc. Housing is another story. It is detailed and she does not have all the necessary information to work on this. They returned to the topic of election of officers. The motion to elect Medinger as Chair carried. Vaughn was nominated for Vice Chair, the motion was seconded it carried. Goodwin Shavey moved that the Chair serve for one year and the Vice Chair automatically succeed the chairmanship. Legg seconded the motion. The motion carried. Seidman explained he abstained because three members were missing. Richardson arrived at 4:50 p.m. Seidman proposed setting up some subcommittees. Possibilities could include Land Use Practices, Funding, and Education. Goodwin Shavey objected to Land Use Practices because there is a Land Use Commission. Medinger said the Commission has been grappling with refocusing our earlier efforts to use density bonuses into a more viable program that works in current market conditions. Seidman asked if anyone would be willing to take a leadership role on these. Medinger said he would be willing to serve on Land Use Practices. Legg would be interested in Community Outreach. She would also be willing to spend some time on Funding. Hartzell asked if there was any reason the Strategic Plan needed to go before the Council. Molnar did not believe there was a reason the Council had to approve it. It would be worthwhile to present it in September at their regular presentation. Goodwin Shavey referred to Resolution 95-25, creating the Housing Commission. It appears Hartzell is a voting member. Does the Commission get to see the grant allocations and make recommendations (CDBG)? Molnar said they can see these. She would be interested in a CDBG allocation subcommittee. She believes the subcommittees should line up with the powers outlined with the Resolution. There was considerable discussion on defining subcommittees. No final decision was reached. Shavey moved to extend the meeting another 45 minutes. The motion was seconded and carried. There was additional discussion surrounding the job description for the staff person. It was decided the subcommittee would meet on Wednesday, May 16th to work on this. Aaron Benjamin has heard this type of discussion a million times before. There are dozens of cities like Ashland that have been through this agony. He has a lot of information he has given to Molnar. Conan, SOU student, has been meeting the past few months with The Pines Mobile Park residents. He is offering whatever help he can give to the Commission. ADJOURNMENT - The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 p.m. ASHLAND HOUSING COMMISSION 2 MINUTES APRIL 25, 2001