TO: TONI TABER FROM: Kristen Clements
City Clerk
SUBJECT: HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DATE: November 21, 2022
DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
APPLICANTS’ EVALUATION
Approved Date
BACKGROUND
Council Policy 0-4, the Consolidated Policy Governing Boards and Commissions, allows the Department staff liaison for the Commission to submit a memo to the City Clerk with its evaluation of applicant(s) based on the powers and duties of the Commission, any special eligibility requirements, and experience, background, and expertise of the applicant(s). For any incumbents eligible for reappointment, the memo should include a statement setting forth attendance, residency information, and compliance with City requirements (e.g., commission training, State-mandated training, Form 700 filing).
COMMISSION’S SPECIAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
San José Municipal Code Section 2.08.2820 describes the special eligibility requirements for the Housing and Community Development Commission (Commission), with item E being a new addition:
A. One (1) member shall be a person recommended by an organization of owners of San José mobilehome parks.
B. One (1) member shall be a person recommended by an organization of residents of San José mobilehome parks.
C. One (1) member shall be an owner or manager of a residential rent stabilized property.
D. One (1) member shall be a tenant of a residential rent stabilized rental unit.
E. One (1) member shall be a person who is currently or was formerly homeless.
F. At least five (5) members shall represent low-income households, which for the purposes of this requirement means a person who meets one (1) or more of the following criteria:
CITY CLERK
Subject: Housing and Community Development Commission Applicants’ Evaluation November 21, 2022
1. The person is a member of a low- or moderate-income household as defined by HUD as at or below eighty percent of the area median income pursuant to 24 CFR 92.2.
2. The person is an elected member of a neighborhood organization in a low- or moderate-income neighborhood (fifty-one percent of the neighborhood is at or below eighty percent of the area median income as defined by HUD).
3. The person is a resident of a city council designated neighborhood targeted under the place-based neighborhoods initiative to receive federal funding.
4. The person is employed by an organization which has as its primary purpose to serve the interests of low-income residents.
G. The Commission should also include members with experience related to [real estate] development, lending, community development, homeless services, and federal funding.
APPOINTMENT PRIORITIES
The City Council must consider three different aspects of Commission appointees:
1. Seats – the commissioner will fill a particular seat, designated to represent a certain population or certain City Council office
2. Required roles – commissioners selected to fill seats must at the same time fulfill required roles for the Commission, which do not have their own designated seats
3. Areas of experience – In general, given the subjects that the Commission addresses, there are desired areas of experience they will bring to the Commission that gives them expertise in some area.
The following summarizes the Commission’s current appointment priorities:
Seats – There are five Commissioner seats to be filled (in no particular order):
1. Mobilehome Park Owner seat
2. Mobilehome Resident seat
3. Lived Experience in Homelessness seat (and alternate, if so desired)
4. District 9 seat, and
5. Mayor’s Citywide seat.
Required roles – When selecting candidates for the five seats, the City Council should keep in mind that those candidates must also fill two required roles:
CITY CLERK
Subject: Housing and Community Development Commission Applicants’ Evaluation November 21, 2022
a) ARO Renter: There remains no seated Commissioner filling the Municipal Code requirement for at least one Commissioner to be an Apartment Rent Ordinance (ARO) renter. This vacancy has been present since 2018. Therefore, one of the pending appointments for the other seats (Mayor, D9, or Lived Experience) must select an ARO renter.
b) Low-income commissioners: Per SJMC 2.08.2820 (F), at least five commissioners must meet the low-income household definition, and currently, only four seated commissioners do. Therefore, at least one commissioner that meets the low-income household definition (above) shall be selected from this applicant pool.
Areas of experience – In addition, HCDC currently needs commissioners with experience in:
• Lending, and
• Federal funding sources.
APPLICANT ASSESSMENTS
The purpose of this memo is to provide the City Clerk and City Council offices with a preliminary review of the 17 applicants indicating interest in the Housing and Community Development Commission. Please see Attachment A for the candidates’ experience summarized by category.
Candidates for the two mobilehome-related designated seats have been nominated by their respective communities, as required. Their summaries are as follows:
Mobilehome Park Nominated Seats
Mobilehome Park Owner Seat
• Nominee: Ryan Jasinsky (current commissioner)
• Applicant Experience: Mr. Jasinsky previously lived in San José in District 4 during his first term in this seat, but now lives in Campbell. He works at Brandenburg, Staedler & Moore as the Director of Property Management.
• Background & Expertise in Special Eligibility Requirements: Mr. Jasinsky has experience as a Property Manager and Real Estate Broker for single family homes, multifamily properties and mobilehomes. He currently serves on this Commission and served as Vice Chair in FY 2021-22. Mr. Jasinsky has regularly attended Commission meetings during his term and has completed all required trainings.
• Organization Recommendation: Mr. Jasinsky was nominated for this seat by Mr. Doug Johnson, the Executive Director of the Western Manufactured Housing Communities
CITY CLERK
Subject: Housing and Community Development Commission Applicants’ Evaluation November 21, 2022
Association (WMA), a California statewide nonprofit organization. Mr. Jasinksy currently serves on the WMA Board of Directors and the WMA PAC Board of Trustees. Mr.
Jasinsky obtained the WMA recommendation with staff’s guidance in lieu of a nomination from a San José owners’ organization, as MHET, which supported his first Commission appointment, no longer is active in San José.
Although Mr. Jasinsky has moved from San José to Campbell, City Council Policy 0-4, Section
1.A.3 allows a non-San José resident to be appointed to a commission (italics added):
3. City Residency Requirement: Except as provided below, all applicants to Boards and Commissions must be San José residents. Except for Charter Commissions and the Neighborhoods Commission, in specific cases where a qualified San José resident has not applied to fill the vacancy, the Council may appoint a non-resident.
Mobilehome Resident Seat
• Nominee: Dan Finn
• Applicant Experience: Mr. Finn is a resident of District 4 and has lived in San José for more than six years. He is a retired City of San José employee. • Background & Expertise in Special Eligibility Requirements: Mr. Finn has experience as an OE3 union steward from 2000 to 2010, member of the San José City Labor Alliance from 2001 to 2010, and speaker for the City Labor Alliance for 1.5 years from 2008 to 2010. • Organization Recommendation: Mr. Finn was nominated by the Golden State Manufactured Home Owners League (GSMOL) for the Mobilehome Resident seat.
In summary, both Mr. Jasinsky and Mr. Finn meet the requirements for their designated seats.
Table 1 below and Attachment A to this memo summarize the qualifications of all applicants, both those seeking designated seats and others desiring appointments to general seats.
Applicants are listed in descending order by the number of their self-identified qualifications.
Applicants that tied on the number of qualifications they indicated are presented in Council District order within that ranking.
Note that applicants may be eligible for more than one seat. Candidates eligible for the Lived Experience designated seat are also eligible for appointment to general seats appointed by City Council district offices.
CITY CLERK
Subject: Housing and Community Development Commission Applicants’ Evaluation November 21, 2022
Table 1: Summary of All Applicants
Name Owner or
Renter
Council
District
Years in
San
José
Employer Self-Identified Experience
in Desirable Issue Areas
Eligible for Mobilehome Park Nominated Seats
Ryan Jasinsky Renter 4 3-5 Brandenburg,
Staedler &
Moore
• None
Daniel Finn Renter 4 6+ Retired • None
Eligible for Lived Experience Seat (and Alternate)
Sketch Salazar Renter 6 3-5 Unemployed • Development
• Community Development
• Homeless Services
• Federal Funding
Michael Eckhart Renter 3 6+ 4n1 Extracting • Development • Community Development
• Homeless Services
Ramsey Raymond Renter 3 6+ Retired • Homeless Services
Jerome Shaw N/A N/A 1 Silicon Valley
Mechanical
• None
Eligible for Lived Experience and ARO Renter
Nia Taylor Renter 5 1-2 N/A • Homeless Services
Yamille Jimenez N/A 5 3-5 Next Door
Solutions
• Homeless Services
Zenia Cardoza Renter 3 6+ Stanford
Healthcare
• Homeless Services
Eligible for ARO Renter
Jeremiah Wilson Renter 6 6+ Unemployed
None
Eligible for General City Council-appointed Seats
Elizabeth Agramont-
Justiniano
Renter 3 6+ LUNA • Community Development
• Homeless Services
Antonio Shelly Renter 3 1-2 CoreSite • Community Development • Homeless Services
Roma Rodriguez Renter 3 6+ IHOP • None
CITY CLERK
Subject: Housing and Community Development Commission Applicants’ Evaluation November 21, 2022
Name Owner or
Renter
Council
District
Years in
San
José
Employer Self-Identified Experience
in Desirable Issue Areas
Don Jackson Owner 9 6+ Self-Employed • None
Joe Lovelace Owner 9 6+ Unemployed • None
Pravin Patel Owner 4 6+ Retired • None
Michelle Brenot Owner 3 6+ Unemployed • None
CONCLUSION
All 17 applicants meet the eligibility requirements for appointment to the Housing and Community Development Commission. Table 1 identifies applicants’ eligibility categorized by required seats, roles, and general applicants.
Seats
Mobilehome Park Nominated Seats – Two applicants meet the requirements to fill the two seats that will be vacant starting in January 2023 seat under San José Municipal Code Sections
2.08.2820.A and B.
Lived Experience – Seven applicants meet the requirements of lived experience with homelessness required for the new Lived Experience seat under San José Municipal Code Section 2.08.2820.E. The Commission needs one commissioner appointed, and one alternate also may be appointed.
Required roles
ARO Renter – Four applicants indicated that they reside in a property that could qualify them for the special eligibility role of ARO Renter per San José Municipal Code Section 2.08.2820.D.
The City Attorney’s review for Conflicts of Interest will validate these applicants’ eligibility for ARO Renter role. The Commission still needs this required role filled, and has been without this required role filled since 2018.
Low-Income – Ten applicants indicated that they qualify as low-income under San José Municipal Code Section 2.08.2820.F, including the nominated Mobilehome Resident candidate.
CITY CLERK
Subject: Housing and Community Development Commission Applicants’ Evaluation November 21, 2022
The Commission needs at least one more low-income commissioner to meet the requirement of at least five commissioners fitting the low-income definition (above).
Experience areas
According to self-reported experience summarized in Table 1 and Attachment A, the following two applicants self-rated in the highest number of experience area categories:
o Sketch Salazar
o Michael Eckhart
Funding and Lending are the two areas with the least subject matter experience on the Commission at this time. No applicants indicated knowledge Lending, while the following applicant self-rated as having experience with Federal Funding:
o Sketch Salazar
Please feel free to contact me or my Housing Department colleague, Luisa Cantu, with any questions. I can be reached at [email protected] or 408-535-8236, and Luisa can
be reached at [email protected] or 408-535-8357. Thank you.
/s/
KRISTEN CLEMENTS
Housing and Community Development
Commission Acting Secretary
Attachment A: Housing Department Analysis – HCDC Candidates Recruitment, December 2022