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13 <br /> 1 PUBLIC COMMENTS: <br /> 2 David Remington said he has been involved with Justice United for many years. He <br /> 3 thanked the Board for making the LHA program possible and expanding it. He said it made <br /> 4 property taxes more affordable for many people. He thanked Housing staff for all their work. He <br /> 5 said this is an excellent proposal and he hopes the Board will approve additional funding to <br /> 6 continue the program. <br /> 7 Horace Johnson thanked the Board for continuing this program. He said part of the reason <br /> 8 this started was because there is a need for it. He asked if they know how many people have lost <br /> 9 their homes due to foreclosures. He said that over the last 10 years people's home values went <br /> 10 up without their income changing. He said that people got out and figured out the people were <br /> 11 hurting. He said that hopefully, this will save people's homes. He said that the numbers of people <br /> 12 getting tax assistance continues to rise. He said better care needs to be taken of the original <br /> 13 people who built this community. He said it is tragic the number of people who lost their homes to <br /> 14 foreclosure in the past 10 years. <br /> 15 George Barrett, the executive director of the Jackson Center, said he is speaking for many <br /> 16 neighbors who were not able to be present. He lifted up Paul Caldwell (lifelong resident of <br /> 17 Northside) who said, "believe it or not, I've been asked numerous times to sell my property but <br /> 18 that's my little piece of the rock... and I have pride in being a resident of Northside". He said this <br /> 19 is the importance of staying in place. He thanked the Board for continuing LHA for another year <br /> 20 and said that it is essential to helping people stay in place. He thanked the Board and Housing <br /> 21 staff for their work with the community and Justice United. <br /> 22 <br /> 23 Chair Bedford said this program was continued with the approval of the budget, and this <br /> 24 is to consider some program changes. <br /> 25 Commissioner Fowler said she agrees with the recommendations and would like to <br /> 26 consider and revisit the program each year. <br /> 27 <br /> 28 A motion was made by Commissioner Fowler, seconded by Commissioner Richards, to <br /> 29 approve the design changes for the Longtime Homeowner Assistance program as recommended. <br /> 30 <br /> 31 Commissioner Richards thanked Housing and Tax staff for their work on this program and <br /> 32 their recommendations. She said that this is a great example of what can come out of a <br /> 33 partnership. She said she appreciates the way they broke down the data on who is served by the <br /> 34 program. <br /> 35 <br /> 36 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> 37 <br /> 38 d. Proposed Designation of County Surplus Property and Proposed Release of Request <br /> 39 for Proposals for Use of County Capital Investment Plan (CIP) and Bond Funds and <br /> 40 Designated Surplus Land for Affordable Housing <br /> 41 The Board received the timeline to release Request for Proposals (RFP) for use of County bond <br /> 42 funds and CIP funds for affordable housing projects, and approved the following: <br /> 43 1) A resolution declaring eleven (11) County owned parcels surplus land for the purposes of <br /> 44 affordable housing development and authorizing the County Manager the convey these <br /> 45 parcels to affordable Housing developers by private sale or other means; and <br /> 46 2) The schedule for release of the Housing Department RFP for use of the remaining amount <br /> 47 of affordable housing bond funds, the first$5 million distribution of CIP affordable housing <br /> 48 funds, and eleven (11) County-owned parcels for affordable housing development. <br /> 49 <br /> 50 BACKGROUND: Orange County voters approved $5 million for affordable housing development <br /> 51 in 2016. The Housing Department distributed the bulk of these funds in two rounds— $2.5 million <br />