Turlock council faces opposition to housing scheme change
Community attorney Miguel Donoso speaks February 9, 2022 against the Turlock City Council’s decision to no longer run a housing partnership with the county.
Town of Turlock
Turlock City Council’s recent vote to remove the town from running a housing partnership and give responsibility to the county doesn’t mean the issue is set in stone, said Angela Freitas, director of planning and development. Stanislaus County Community Development.
The program, called the HOME Consortium, provides financing for first-time home buyer loans (FTHB) and property acquisition for seniors, low-income households, transitional housing, victims of domestic violence and affordable housing for the homeless.
If Turlock goes ahead with submitting a notice of intent, essentially resigning as manager, Stanislaus County will need to reapply for the program and qualify to continue receiving direct HOME funds.
(Although the acronym seems to make no sense, HOME is the Home Investment Partnerships Program, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the California Department of Housing and Community Development.)
“These funds are very important for affordable housing, and it’s something we need,” Freitas said in a phone interview with The Bee. “Not having (Turlock) received annually as a jurisdiction of law puts us in a position where we have to compete, with every jurisdiction having to compete at the state level.”
Turlock Council’s decision went against community feedback and staff recommendations. Several residents called into the January 25 meeting to support Turlock as the primary entity and questioned why council members wanted to change the successful program. Community complaints continued on Tuesday, February 9, when a small protest took place outside City Hall.
Protest and public comment
About six members of the Families of the Raza Unida de Turlock gathered with signs to protest the decision before heading to the meeting. Public comments are usually heard at the start of city council meetings, but members have chosen to push them back until the end of the three-hour meeting.
Community lawyer Miguel Donoso told the meeting that the council failed to get public input, adding that materials and Spanish translation were not provided to encourage participation. of the Latin American community.
As a result, he said four families contacted legal representatives from California Rural Legal Assistance and plan to sue the city. “I think you commit a lot of violations,” Donoso told council members.
Turlock Mayor Amy Bublak clarified at Tuesday’s meeting that the town would still receive funding as a member town of the program, but simply does not have the staff to continue to run it.
Given that Turlock has run the program for nearly 22 years, said MaryLu Pelyo, organizer of Families de la Raza Unida de Turlock, she just doesn’t think the town has the capacity for it anymore. She said the move made her feel like the city council was choosing not to run her anymore in order to complicate matters and discourage the growth of the low-income and homeless population.
“It’s total discrimination,” she said in Spanish. “It seems to be easier for (Turlock) to eliminate the program than to do something about it.”
The county does not want change
It is the county’s preference that Turlock remain the primary entity, but the county is ready to take over, Freitas said at the Jan. 25 meeting.
“If the county takes over as the primary entity, it will essentially be building a program from scratch,” she said. “Now is not the best time, from a staffing capacity perspective, to create a new program.”
Freitas shared that the decision to have Turlock as the main entity was made because of staffing expertise, and that over the past two decades Turlock has expanded that expertise and has a stronger staffing capability. to administer the program. Staff also said that keeping Turlock as a lead is the only option where a general fund contribution would not be required.
The city currently leads the HOME Consortium in partnership with Stanislaus County. The consortium includes Ceres, Hughson, Newman, Oakdale, Patterson, Riverbank, Waterford and unincorporated areas of the county. Since its inception in 2000, the program has received nearly $27 million in grants.
Turlock would still be responsible for current undisbursed HOME funds, outstanding prior projects, and long-term HOME program liabilities throughout the affordability periods of its completed projects, which is approximately 30 years, according to a City Council document. Turlock. There are 54 FTHB loans outstanding, said Turlock housing and finance specialist Maria Ramos.
Prior to the partnership, each jurisdiction applied for HOME state funds. Although jurisdictions were successful in securing funds, the application process was competitive and at least once failed at the local level.
As a result, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors and Turlock City Council agreed that it would be best to secure annual funding with a new method. The city and county formed a participating jurisdiction to provide both areas with entitlement status and a direct annual allocation from HUD.
This eliminated the need to compete annually for HOME state funds. But all that could change at the end of September, when the current three-year agreement ends.
The city does not have the authority to reallocate the program, Freitas said. But he can choose to step down and must submit by March 1 a formal intention that he plans to do so.
If Turlock does so, county staff will then have to present the item to the Board of Supervisors, who will then have to authorize staff to submit a notice that the county intends to lead and apply for the program. .
“At the moment, we plan to take an article on March 1,” Freitas said. “But Turlock has indicated they may ask HUD for an extension.”