Sonoma County Community Development Commission
Sonoma County Housing Authority
141 Stony Circle, Suite 210, Santa Rosa, CA 95401
P.O. Box 12025, Santa Rosa CA 95406-2025
Telephone (707) 565-7500
FAX (707) 565-7583 ● TDD (707) 565-7555
Members of the
Commission
Rebecca Hermosillo
Chair
Chris Coursey
Vice Chair
David Rabbitt
Lynda Hopkins
James Gore
Michelle Whitman
Executive Director
April 6, 2026
Damien O’Bid, City Manager
City of Cotati
201 West Sierra Avenue
Cotati, CA 94931
Re: Urban County Joint Powers Agreement Renewal for Participation in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Entitlement Programs for the Period of 2027-2029 Dear Mr. O’Bid:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that the “Urban County”, the entitlement entity for federal CDBG, HOME, and ESG grants, re-qualify every three years to continue receiving an annual allocation of these grants. This is the opportunity for each jurisdiction that makes up the “Urban County” to inform HUD of its intention to continue participating in the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA). The Urban County entitlement jurisdiction is currently comprised of the County of Sonoma, the Town of Windsor and the cities of Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, and Sonoma. It is time to communicate to HUD our intentions to remain an Urban County of eight jurisdictions for years 2027 through, and including, 2029. HUD specifies the process and timeline associated with the renewal process, and the Sonoma County Community Development Commission (Commission) manages the process on behalf of Sonoma County and the Urban County.
Pursuant to HUD regulations that govern the qualification process for Urban County status, Sonoma County, as the funding administrator, is required to notify each participating city and town of the following:
1. The County of Sonoma, Town of Windsor, and cities of Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, and Sonoma must re-qualify as an Urban County, for the period of 2027-2028 during the current fiscal year.
2. Your jurisdiction is automatically included as part of the Urban County, unless you choose to be excluded.
3. The Urban County cooperation agreement, in the form of a JPA executed in 2017, will automatically be renewed unless you choose to terminate the agreement and not participate during the 2027-2029 qualification period.
4. If you choose to remain as part of the Urban County, your jurisdiction may continue to participate in the CDBG, HOME, and ESG programs as a grant beneficiary.
5. If you choose to remain as part of the Urban County, your jurisdiction will be ineligible to apply for grants from appropriations under the Small Cities or State CDBG, HOME, and ESG programs for the duration of the 2027-2029 Urban County agreement. Your jurisdiction may only receive formula allocations for CDBG, HOME, and ESG through the Urban County.
6. If you choose to be excluded from the Urban County, or if you choose to terminate the Urban County JPA and not participate during the 2027-2029 qualification period, you must notify both the Commission and HUD Field Office by letter no later than July 10 2026.
A copy of the current JPA is enclosed for your reference. Please note that failure to respond by the date noted above shall be considered as agreement to continue participation in the Urban County JPA.
As a means to document intent to remain an eight-jurisdiction Urban County for 2027-2029, and thereby exercising the automatic three-year renewal feature in the existing JPA, we ask that you please sign the certification below and return this document to the Commission at your earliest convenience. The Commission will need this document for submission to HUD to conclude the renewal process.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Veronica Ortiz-De Anda, Community Development Assistant Manager, at (707) 565-7520 or via email at veronica.ortiz[email protected] .
We thank you for your attention to this important matter and appreciate your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Rhonda Coffman
Deputy Director
Cc: Noah Housh (email)
Enclosure: Joint Powers Agreement
INTENT TO RENEW JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT
I certify that the City of Cotati intends to remain a participant in the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA), enabling the eight-jurisdiction Urban County to continue to participate in the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Partnerships (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) programs as an entitlement jurisdiction, and that the City of Cotati has been made aware of the option to exit the JPA and elects to remain a participating jurisdiction for the 2027-2029 renewal cycle. Furthermore, as requested by HUD, I certify that the execution of the original 2017 JPA was performed by the duly authorized City Manager at that time.
_______________________________
Damien O’Bid, City Manager
Date: __________________________
Cotati JPA Letter 4-6-26
Final Audit Report 2026-04-07
Created: 2026-04-06
By: Veronica Ortiz-De Anda ([email protected]) Status: Signed
Transaction ID: CBJCHBCAABAAKK9W7mVlLoaI2EqDLekuyfLpttwRfCyy "Cotati JPA Letter 4-6-26" History
Document created by Veronica Ortiz-De Anda ([email protected]) 2026-04-06 - 11:19:12 PM GMT- IP address: 209.77.204.154 Document emailed to Rhonda Coffman ([email protected]) for signature 2026-04-06 - 11:19:41 PM GMT
Email viewed by Rhonda Coffman ([email protected]) 2026-04-07 - 2:59:03 PM GMT- IP address: 209.77.204.154 Document e-signed by Rhonda Coffman ([email protected]) Signature Date: 2026-04-07 - 2:59:20 PM GMT - Time Source: server- IP address: 209.77.204.154 Agreement completed.
2026-04-07 - 2:59:20 PM GMT