CHC 2006 Summary

CALIFORNIA HOUSING CONSORTIUM/CHC INSTITUTE

CHC's active participation in housing policy matters in California lead to the successful passage on November 7 of the PROP 1C housing bond - a $2.85 billion general obligation that both sustains catalytic state funding for existing homeless shelter, rental housing, and homeownership as well as creates incentives for infill and transit-oriented development, parks and housing-related infrastructure, and other innovative housing initiatives to address our housing needs across the broad income spectrum.

By way of achieving this notable objective in 2006, staff and CHC members played key roles in a number of efforts, including:

• Spring Lobby Day -- Tuesday, March 7, 2006 in Sacramento: a delegation of CHC members met with lawmakers including State Senate Republicans Dick Ackerman, Dennis Hollingsworth, Jeff Denham, and Abel Maldonado and Senate Democrat Wes Chesbro; Assembly Republican members Kevin McCarthy, Bonnie Garcia, Shirley Horton, Keith Richman, John Benoit and Assembly Democrats John Laird, Judy Chu, Karen Bass, Ron Calderon, and Cindy Montanez; these meetings, particularly with Republican policy makers, were very important in cultivating Republican support to put the PROP 1C housing bond on the November November;
• CHC Spring Forum and Housing Hall of Fame Luncheon -- April 27 -- Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles//"A Better Commute: The Link Between Housing and Transportation"; please visit www.nhc.org to download the NHC Center for Housing Policy report, "A Heavy Load: The Combined Housing and Transportation Burdens of Working Families", published October 2006, that provides compelling information for the California and national contexts;
• California Association of Realtors -- I met with representatives of C.A.R.'s Housing Opportunity Committee at the association's June meeting in Anaheim; in July, a delegation of CHC board members then traveled to Sacramento to meet with C.A.R.'s President and the legislative affairs team to cultivate the organization's support for the PROP 1C Housing Bond and begin a dialogue on establishing a state housing trust fund in the future; largely as a result of this meeting, we were able to successfully lobby C.A.R.'s political action committee for $75,000 in financial support for the PROP 1C Campaign;
• PROP 1C $2.85 Billion Housing Bond -- CHC played a pivotal role in co-directing the campaign along with Housing California; CHC's board members assumed leadership positions -- Carol Galante of BRIDGE Housing served as Executive Committee Co-Chair along with Carl Guardino of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group; Dianne Spaulding of NPH served as Vice President of the Campaign; the Fundraising Committee benefited enormously from the service of Fran Wagstaff (Mid-Pen), Linda Mandolini (Eden Housing), Allan Kingston (Century Housing), Elizabeth Bluhm (Red Capital), Tom Scott and Doris Payne (San Diego Housing Federation), Laura Archuleta (Jamboree Housing), Rodney Fernandez (Cabrillo Economic Development), Peter Carey (Self-Help Enterprises), among others. CHC Executive Director Jeff Loustau served as Treasurer of the PROP 1C Campaign where in 6 months we raised $2.35 million to effectively get the housing message out on a crowded ballot. That the bond measure passed 58%-42% is especially meaningful considering: a) seven counties previously opposed to Prop 46 four years ago (primarily in the Central Valley) supported PROP 1C this year; and b) in 17 of the 23 counties that opposed the measure, the strength of the opposition was less than 1,000 votes. Looking Ahead -- for CHC, our immediate charge is to be an effective voice in the creation of enabling legislation for the $850MM infill development set-aside of the PROP 1C housing bond; in addition to sustaining housing programs for those most vulnerable members of our society (through emergency shelter, supportive services rental housing for seniors and extremely low-income families, emancipated foster youth, and farmworkers), it's important to note that the bi-partisanship necessary to bring the housing bond before the voters was premised on providing more housing choice for low-to-moderate income working familiers by setting aside $750MM for affordable homeownership as well as $1.35 billion in incentivizing funding for transit-oriented, infill development, and housing-related park and infrastructure improvements.

In December 2006, CHC Executive Director Jeff Loustau convened a meeting among some of the Southern California board members to discuss our strategy in 2007 to reach out to the private sector -- developers, builders, realtors, employers -- to articulate the housing need across the broad spectrum and make the case for establishing a 'pay-as-we-go' state housing trust fund lest we be forced to return to the voters in 2 years for another general obligation bond. As we truly value your input and if you think there is a local realtor association, a builders chapter, a chamber of commerce, or major employer who should be approached, please pass along your ideas to me and we'll make a point of reaching out!

Board of Directors Strategic Planning Retreat -- the full BOD will convene on Tuesday, January 23 in Downtown Los Angeles; at this critical juncture between the PROP 1C victory and ramping up to build support for a state housing trust fund, on the eve of CHC's 10th Anniversary this is a time to review our mission statement and examine both the challenges and opportunities of being the state's only 'big tent' housing organization; from a core belief in the importance of facilitating collaboration among the private, public, and non-profit sectors, the day-long retreat will be focused on how CHC can be most effective in its unique role; this important planning retreat will be facilitated by Mark Levine who has served several CHC organizations in a similar capacity.

Save-the-Date! Tuesday, May 8, 2007: Annual Policy Forum and Housing Hall of Fame Luncheon -- Los Angeles Public Library//please plan to attend the morning forum and the awards luncheon at one of the most distinctive art deco buildings in America!