Minutes 01-16-2026 - Retreat - Laserfiche WebLink

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42 compilation. This capacity issue often leads to hiring outside consultants or relying on work from groups, raising questions about which experts to trust. Commissioner Greene said the Collaborative used to have a broader mission but was grafted onto serving as the HOME Consortium based on a former Chapel Hill Town Manager's suggestion. She said the Collaborative was meant to foster an understanding of what each jurisdiction is doing to work on affordable housing. She recalled unsuccessful attempts to fund a consultant for a "strategic housing plan" that would have created a coordinated vision. Blake said that staff can do a better job of bringing that perspective when preparing the meeting agendas. He acknowledged there is an opportunity for more collaboration and conversation between municipalities in these meetings. Commissioner Carter said, given the need to understand the various efforts and plans happening in each municipality and the county, and how each is addressing the continuum of housing needs and identifying where the gaps are, the Board should take another look at the purpose of the AHAB and reorient it around the mission Commissioner Greene articulated. She asked if the Board thinks it is the right time to do that and if it would be valuable. Commissioner Bedford pointed out that the members of the AHAB don't have the expertise needed to start or complete that work. Commissioner Carter said part of the reorientation could be looking at the skill sets that are needed. Chair Hamilton said she'd like the Board to look at the AHAB's mandate and decide what to do differently. She agreed with Commissioner Bedford that having non-experts do the work would not be successful, and she pointed out that staff have already done a lot of work on affordable housing issues that could be leveraged. She agreed with looking at how to use the AHAB and the other boards most effectively, acknowledging that other elected bodies would have to weigh in on changing the structure of the other boards. She asked if other board members were interested in exploring other options. Commissioner Greene said she is not in favor of combining the Executive Team with the Collaborative because the purposes of each group are distinct and important. She said the Executive Team was created as a "watchdog" over the larger Partnership to End Homelessness project, and the elected officials who make up that body represent the four funders of the project. Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she understands that point somewhat but is supportive of looking at how things are done and why they are still done the same way, and if there are better ways to do it. Commissioner Bedford said the Board needs to have a systems-level discussion about housing in Orange County, and even regionally. She suggested thinking bigger picture about integrated approaches, like the behavioral health task force model, and asked staff to explore that. She said right now, the approach to affordable housing is piecemeal. Commissioner Portie-Ascott said part of what she hoped to learn from this presentation was which board could move forward with the work identified by James Bryan, staff attorney in the County Attorney's Office, which would allow affordable housing to happen here. She said this information was shared by the County Attorney, John Roberts, with the Board in an email. Blake said the AHAB could do some of that work if given specific instructions. He said there are other ways to do this work, but he warned that experts can be found to confirm any point of view. Chair Hamilton said there are economists and urban planners who go back and forth on this issue. She said she hopes the person who is scheduled to come to the half-day retreat on Planning will talk about housing and will be able to answer some of the Board's big questions. She reiterated her concern about tasking general advisory boards with questions requiring expertise, suggesting the board itself needs sufficient understanding to provide direction.