Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: APPOINTMENT OF JOINT REPRESENTATIVES FROM
COTATI AND ROHNERT PARK TO THE HOMELESS
COALITION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Date: January 23, 2024
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a motion re-appointing Rohnert Park Council member Jackie Elward as the primary joint representative to the Homeless Coalition Board of Directors and re-appoint Mayor Sparks as the alternate representative Background
The Homeless Coalition Board (HCB) is the governing body that determines policy and acts as the Homeless Coalition's decision-making group. Mandated by HUD's Continuum of Care Program, the board is responsible for oversight of funds designated to the Homeless Coalition and regional planning/policy development for addressing homelessness. Its roles include allocating substantial Federal and State funding, setting policy (such as prioritizing who has access to shelter), and selecting the Lead Agency (the organization to manage programs, funding, and data).
In 2021, the HCB approved a new Charter which includes a single combined "appointed“ seat for Rohnert Park and Cotati, which took effect in the spring of 2022. The appointment to that seat is to be made jointly by the two City Councils and was generally expected to alternate between the two cities on some periodic basis, depending on the interest and/or expertise of the appointee. There are no restrictions on the appointee; it can be a Councilmember, staff person, or member of the community, but the initial call for interest is sent to Councilmembers as elected representatives of the community. The cities may also select an alternate member, and the appointee can also designate a proxy for any meeting that they miss. The HCB consists of local elected officials, nonprofit representatives, subject matter experts, and individuals with lived homeless experience. The full roster of seats for the HCB is in the table below.
Similar to the process used by the Sonoma County Mayors and Councilmembers Association, for new appointments, staff solicited messages of interest from Councilmembers of the two cities for consideration at their respective Council meetings in January. If the two Councils agree on the appointees, staff forward that information to the HCB staff. If there is no agreement, the City Councils previously agreed on January 11, 2022 (respective City Council actions) that the two Mayors and Vice Mayors meet to discuss the issue before returning to the full Councils in February.
At the respective January 11, 2022 City Council meetings, both City Councils also agreed to revisit this appointment annually and if one of the Councils wants to make a change that the Mayors and Vice Mayors of the two cities convene.
Using this process, in 2022, the initial joint representative from Cotati-Rohnert Park was Councilmember Moore. At the January 10, 2023 City Council meeting, the Cotati City Council appointed Jackie Elward (Rohnert Park City Council) as the primary with then Councilmember Sparks as the alternate.
It is important to note that the time commitment expected of HCB members is substantial. It holds meetings monthly that typically take a full afternoon. It also holds occasional additional meetings. Much of its work is done through committees, each of which meets once or twice a month for several hours. HCB members can expect to hear with some frequency from advocates, providers, or others. The topic of homelessness is also highly complex, with a significant learning curve required to be an effective HCB member.
Analysis/Discussion
Governed by a seventeen-member Homeless Coalition Board, the HCB is a countywide effort responsible for oversight of funds designated to the HCB and planning/policy development for addressing homelessness. The HCB consists of local elected officials, nonprofit representatives, subject matter experts, and individuals with lived homeless experience, as indicated in the following table. The County of Sonoma Community Development Commission currently serves as the Lead Agency of HCB.
The Goal of the HCB is to achieve Functional Zero homelessness in Sonoma County using a Housing First model. The system of care program is designed to accomplish the following:
• Promote a community‐wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness • Provide funding for efforts to quickly re‐house individuals and families who are homeless, which minimizes the trauma and dislocation caused by homelessness • Promote access to and effective use of mainstream programs • Optimize self‐sufficiency among individuals and families experiencing homelessness There are also 7 “elected” seats on the HCB. Each member entity of the HCB (a long list of public entities, non-profits, healthcare providers, etc.) can have a voting delegate. The voting delegate is not a Homeless Coalition Board member, so the sole purpose of the voting delegate is to vote on the elected positions. The voting delegate for the City of Cotati is the City Manager.
Seat
s
Appointed
or Elected Categories
1 Appointed Santa Rosa
1 Appointed Petaluma
1 Appointed
North County; appointed by Cloverdale/HB/Windsor
Councils
1 Appointed West County; appointed by Sebastopol City Council 1 Appointed Sonoma Valley; appointed by Sonoma City Council 1 Appointed Rohnert Park/Cotati; appointed by City Councils 1 Appointed Board of Supervisors
1 Appointed County Safety Net Departments
1 Appointed Largest Homeless Service Provider
1 Elected Elect by Lived Experience group or HCB Voting Members 1 Elected Elect by Youth Advisory Board or HCB Voting Members 1 Elected Second homeless services provider
1 Elected Licensed Health Care Organization
1 Elected Advocate
3 Elected At Large
0 Elected Funder
17 TOTALS
Prior to this City Council meeting, staff of both Rohnert Park and Cotati inquired with their respective City Councilmembers to determine continuing interest in serving on the HCB. At this time, Councilmember Elward (Rohnert Park) has requested to continue to serve as the primary representative on behalf of Cotati and Rohnert Park. Mayor Sparks has requested to continue to serve as the alternate for the HCB.
Financial Considerations
None.
Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378.