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MAYOR’S TASK FORCE ON AFFORDABLE AND WORKFORCE HOUSING
recommended action
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Council adopt a resolution to reestablish a Mayor’s Task Force on Affordable and Workforce Housing and appoint members to serve on the Ad-Hoc committee.
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Summary
Stockton’s housing stock has grown increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible for Stockton residents. As such, the Council named housing and homelessness a Tier 1 priority at its January 29, 2018 City Council Priority Setting meeting and approved the formation of a Mayor’s Task Force on Affordable and Workforce Housing on February 26, 2018 to advise the Council. That Task Force concluded its work and presented its findings on affordable housing production at the March 19, 2019 City Council Meeting, where the Council asked that the Task Force be reconstituted to look further into housing protections, placement, and preservation policies. Once appointed, the Task Force will meet regularly to develop recommended policies on these issues and report its findings to the Council by the end of the calendar year. This would include review and comment on current city policies, programs, and actions relating to housing, best practices in use or being considered in other jurisdictions, as well as market measures and public-private partnership opportunities.
DISCUSSION
Background
Pursuant to Chapter 3.04 of the Council Policy Manual, the Council can establish ad-hoc committees targeted toward specific issues. The Mayor’s Task Force for Persons with Disabilities, for example, is one such ad-hoc committee. As outlined in the Policy, ad-hoc committees “shall be established by resolution of the Council, with appointments to be made by the Mayor.” Ad-hoc committee terms “shall not exceed one year unless reestablished or extended by resolution of the Council.”
In 2017, Stockton had some of the fastest rising rents in the nation, with rental costs increasing over 10 percent from 2016. Additionally, from 2012 to 2017, Stockton home prices increased 92%. Moreover, a 2017 biannual census showed that the number of unsheltered homeless residents in San Joaquin County continued to increase, with a majority (55%) of those unsheltered living in Stockton.
Given this growing crisis, the Council named housing and homelessness a Tier 1 priority at its January 29, 2018 City Council Priority Setting meeting. In response and to advise the Council on how to focus on this priority, the Council approved the formation of a Mayor’s Task Force on Affordable and Workforce Housing at the February 6, 2018 City Council meeting.
The Task Force was comprised of business leaders, for profit and nonprofit housing developers, local officials, and partner organizations. The Task Force adopted a final slate of recommendations at its November 7, 2018 meeting. These recommendations focused particularly on housing production challenges and opportunities and were presented to the Council at the March 19, 2019 City Council Meeting. That Task Force concluded that additional topics around housing affordability, including preservation, placement, and protections, be further studied by this Task Force, though with a different composition that can speak to those issues more closely.
At the March 19, 2019 City Council Meeting the Council asked that the Task Force be reconstituted to look further into housing protections, placement, and preservation policies and that it present its findings to the Council by the end of the calendar year.
Present Situation
The Mayor is requesting the creation of this Ad-Hoc Committee to reestablish the Mayor’s Task Force on Affordable and Workforce Housing for a term ending January 31, 2020. The nominated Task Force appointees are:
• Kristine Williams, Enterprise Community Partners (Chair)
• Carol Ornelas, Visionary Home Builders of California
• Peter Ragsdale, Housing Authority of the County of San Joaquin
• John Beckman, Building Industry Association
• Vernell Hill, Jr., NorCal Rental Property Association
• Christine Corrales, San Joaquin Council of Governments
• David Garcia, Terner Center for Housing Innovation
• Fred Shiel, STAND
• Monica Sousa, California Rural Legal Assistance
• Robert Brooke-Munoz, San Joaquin Fair Housing
• Darryl Rutherford, Reinvent South Stockton Coalition
• Toni McNeil, Faith in the Valley
The Task Force Chair may recommend additional members be added to the Task Force as she determines is necessary to fully address the issues that will be discussed.
The Task Force will present periodic reports and recommendations to the City Council.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
There is no immediate financial impact to the City for this action. Depending on how the Task Force will be supported, there may be impacts to City staff time.
Attachment A - Redacted Applications