Minutes 02-10-2026 - Work Session

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5 Matthew Ferguson said the community meeting will take place on March 10, and the developer meeting will be in May. Blake Rosser, Housing Director, said they will work with the Community Relations department to publicize the community meeting. Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked what barriers the developers mentioned at their meeting. Blake Rosser said he would send a summary of that to the Board. Jana Murdock-Doherty of the Orange County Housing Authority Board said their main area of work is facilitating the housing choice voucher program. She said they supported residents during Tropical Storm Chantal. She said they moved the project-based vouchers to the admin plan so they can work with those. She said they released an RFP for project-based vouchers, which is the waitlist selection for new participation assistance. She said they had their first selection on their waitlist in five years, which meant they had to update preference points on the waitlist. She said they've started providing additional information sheets for participants to help them understand the program and how they can utilize it. She said they developed a plan to transition emergency housing voucher clients to the normal housing choice voucher program after funding was discontinued. She they made updates to termination policies to be fair to both residents and landlords. She said they held a meet and greet between the board and residents. She said staff puts out a twice-yearly newsletter and hosts landlord roundtables. She said they work closely with the Affordable Housing Advisory Board and the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness. She said the collaboration with the partnership is with waitlist referral and the move on initiative, which is how they issue vouchers to clients to utilize various transitional housing options. She said they want to transition graduating foster youth to housing choice vouchers. She said their biggest activity will be project-based vouchers. She said that the lack of affordable housing inventory is the biggest obstacle for getting people into the program and utilizing vouchers. She said the funding outlook for 2026 is also a concern, specifically the HUD appropriations bill. She said that they heard funding will remain steady, but potentially won't increase. Blake Rosser said the HUD bill was passed since the work plan was developed and there was a normal increase. He said they still have concerns about stability. Commissioner Bedford asked what a project-based voucher is. Blake Rosser said project-based vouchers are attached a unit rather than a household. He said it allows for more stable inventory. He described the department's efforts to develop the program. Commissioner Bedford asked if the goal is for a person on a project-based voucher to find more permanent housing with the typical voucher. Blake Rosser said the resident could stay as long as they'd like, or they could get a voucher after a year and move somewhere else. He said they would create a waitlist for project- based voucher recipients. Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked how many units are part of project-based vouchers. Blake Rosser said about 51 units total. Judson Williamson of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board will distribute $1.3 million to the community. He said they are seeing a slow down in sales which will affect community grant distributions. He said they are looking to build an ABC store in the northern part of the county. Commissioner McKee said declining revenue is a two-edged sword in this case. Commissioner Carter asked how a new store in northern Orange County would impact sales. Judson Williamson said they anticipate drawing customers from other counties. He said the location is at a busy intersection. Commissioner McKee agreed with Judson Williamson's assessment.