From: Theresa Marasco
To: Phil Brock; Oscar de la Torre; Christine Parra; Gleam Davis; Lana Negrete; Sue Himmelrich; Kristin McCowan Cc: Clerk Mailbox; David White; Joseph Lawrence; Denise Anderson-Warren Subject: Request re: Housing Commission Appointment
Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2022 4:01:39 PM
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Himmelrich and Councilmembers,
I am writing to humbly request that the City Council in its January 11, 2021 meeting consider me for the 2-year Housing Commission seat designated for a Section 8 program participant with lived experience of homelessness.
While I am very grateful for the City Council’s unanimous vote that offered the 4-year Housing Commission seat to me, this is not the seat I had applied for. Further, I have not been sworn into the 4-year seat and I have not attended a Housing Commission meeting since December 7, 2021 (the date of the Housing Commission appointments).
I am informed by the City that I am not currently a Housing Commissioner and can make a request to be considered for the 2-year designated seat.
Since there has been significant confusion and missteps surrounding my application and the process of Housing Commission appointments on December 7, 2021, I would like to describe the sequence of events leading up to my current situation.
I had originally applied for the designated 2-year seat for a Section 8 program participant with lived experience of homelessness. I do meet all the requirements for the designated seat. I was homeless throughout my childhood, as well as in 2013- 2014 and most recently (2019-2020) in Santa Monica. My section 8 program participant experience spans 25 years and three jurisdictions: Colorado (17 years), Culver City (10 months), and Santa Monica since February 2014.
I am a passionate advocate for citizens experiencing homelessness and those navigating the federally subsidized housing programs administered by the Santa Monica Housing Authority. I was humbled by the many letters of support for my application for the 2-year seat from representatives of these groups, and their allies. It would be an honor for me to serve in the specially designated seat on the Housing Commission, a seat specifically reserved for someone representing the communities that I deeply care about.
On June 14, 2021, I timely submitted my application for the designated 2-year seat for a Section 8 participant with lived experience of homelessness. I checked off the specific boxes that asked what seat I was applying for. My application clearly indicated that I was applying for the designated 2-year seat.
However, at the outset of the appointment deliberations on December 7, 2021, Mayor Himmelrich stated one of the applicants for the designated two-year seats could be appointed to a regular 4-year seat. (Please see the enclosed video clip.) I was surprised and confused when Mayor Himmelrich and Councilmember Davis protested Councilmember Brock’s nomination of me for the 2-year seat, by saying that they preferred for me to be considered for the 4-year seat.
I was surprised and confused because I had never indicated that I was applying for the 4-year seat, and the City Clerk had never reached out to ask if I would be interested in being considered for the 4-year seat instead of the 2-year seat.
After Councilmember Brock’s nomination of me for the 2-year seat, I received three votes (I would have needed four to be appointed), and the incumbent received four votes (she would have needed five to be reappointed to her sixth term).
Thus the Council appeared to “reappoint” the incumbent even though she did not obtain the five votes necessary for a lawful reappointment. The City Clerk did not weigh in on the insufficient number of votes to lawfully reappoint the incumbent.
The “reappointment” of the incumbent was not valid, which the City has acknowledged by now.
As a result, the 2-year designated seat remains open.
On January 4, 2021, I resubmitted my application for the 2-year designated seat. It was rejected by the Clerk’s office. The email from the Clerk’s office stated:
"We have received the application you submitted today for the Housing Commission.
Since you were previously appointed to the Housing Commission, you would need to resign from your current appointment, and then later apply, after the Council accepts your resignation. This means the Council would accept your resignation at the January 11th meeting, and the appointment for your vacancy would not happen for at least 30 days. In the meantime there are still two Housing Commission appointments that will be made on January 11th. That could mean the seat you are interested in, could potential be filled at the January 11th meeting." Today I received an email from City Clerk Anderson-Warren stating that upon further review and advice from the Interim City Attorney it was determined that I did not in fact need to resign from the 4-year seat as I had not accepted it. Ms. AndersonWarren encouraged me to write a letter to the Council requesting that I be considered for the 2-year seat that I had originally applied for. Ms. Anderson-Warren stated that my new application would be accepted by the Clerk’s office along with this letter, and they would be forwarded to the Council for consideration.
At the City Clerk’s encouragement, I submit this letter to the Council. Please consider me for the 2-year designated seat I had originally applied for on June 14, 2021, and reapplied for on January 4, 2021.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Theresa Marasco
(720) 226-4051
Enclosure: Video of the December 7, 2021 City Council meeting is cued up at 7:50:50: https://youtu.be/oKiw7bfdjV4?t=28250
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