Agenda - 05-10-2016 - 1 - Discussion of the Proposed Orange County FY 2016 - 2020 Affordable Housing Strategic Plan

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6 4. The plan should reference the Greene Tract as a future site for affordable housing, and the opportunity it offers for collaborative development with the other jurisdictions and affordable housing community partners. 5. We would like to emphasize the importance of the Action/Recommendations under Goal 9 of the plan. Without a reliable source of funding for affordable housing, it will be impossible to approach the overarching goal of 1,000 units. Partnering with community and municipal partners will leverage additional resources and increase the efficient use of funds. 6. The plan recommends that the County expand its current Urgent Repair and other repair programs. We agree that there should be a significant expansion of existing repair programs, but believe that there should be thoughtful consideration of how best to maximize the resources for repairs through increased collaboration with non-profits already actively engaged in repair programs. It is likely that resources could be used more efficiently and stretched further by partnering with those programs, which are able to leverage outside dollars and volunteers, 7. The plan recommends that the County Housing Authority manage and maintain county- owned affordable housing inventory. We recommend that rather than creating an entirely new capacity within the Orange County Housing Authority, the County negotiate with a range of affordable housing providers in the County, to manage and maintain affordable housing inventory owned by the County. A range of affordable housing providers exist in our County with the capacity, knowledge, databases, application processes, and skillset to maintain and manage affordable rental housing inventory, some of whom are actively seeking opportunities to build new units in Orange County. Other possible providers include both current governmental and non-governmental affordable housing development managers. In short, we recommend not adding new functions in property management that could be met by other community resources more efficiently and in a more community-based manner. 8. We recommend revising NR 13 to read as follows: Expand resources to recruit and retain providers of rental housing for the Housing Choice Voucher program, permanent supportive hosing, rapid re-housing, and veteran housing programs. Assess operational, administrative, and programmatic changes that can improve landlord satisfaction with engagement with these subsidy programs, and dedicate resources to these improvements. The lack of landlords and property managers accepting housing subsidies in Orange County is a dire situation for beneficiaries. This challenge leads to an overall greater deficit in the affordable housing supply in our community. This recommended change in the plan emphasizes the magnitude of this problem. 9. Under Goal 3, we recommend adding a new Action/Recommendation: Incorporate a preference for homelessness status in the review and approval process for new recipients of Housing Choice Vouchers. One other strategy to support the local Continuum of Care's efforts to house families who are homeless is to leverage to a