City of Sunnyvale
Excerpt Meeting Minutes - Draft
Housing and Human Services
Commission
7:00 PM Online and City Hall,
Bay Conference Room,
456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Duncan called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.
SALUTE TO THE FLAG
Chair Duncan led the salute to the flag.
ROLL CALL
Chair Scott Duncan
Commissioner Jim Davis
Commissioner Morgan Friedlander
Commissioner Elizabeth Steward
Present: 4 -
Vice Chair Carol Weiss
Commissioner Ken Hiremath
Commissioner Leesa Riviere
Absent: 3 -
Council Liaison Murali Srinivasan (present)
2 24-0966
Evaluate and Consider Adoption of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) Pilot Program (Study Issue)
Affordable Housing Manager Ernie Defrenchi gave a slide presentation and answered questions from commissioners.
After some clarifying questions, Chair Duncan opened the public hearing a 8 p.m.
Sunnyvale Community Services (SCS) Executive Director Marie Bernard shared that just prior to the pandemic, SCS had started working on the development of a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) program in collaboration with Google, but the effort couldn't move forward. Ms. Bernard offered to collaborate with Sunnyvale staff and share data that SCS already collects to facilitate further development. She also
shared current statistics on the population that SCS serves and noted that many of Attachment 7
September 17, 2024Housing and Human Services
Commission
Excerpt Meeting Minutes - Draft
the families that go to SCS for assistance are food and housing insecure and could benefit from a GBI program.
Gail Rubino, Sunnyvale resident, spoke in support of continuing to explore ways to provide additional assistance through a GBI program. However, Ms. Rubino cautioned about starting a program that is not long term and sustainable and acknowledged that this was a complicated project. Lastly, she recommended that the assistance focuses on families with children.
Chair Duncan closed the public hearing at 8:07 p.m.
After a lengthy and robust discussion, Chair Duncan asked for a motion.
MOTION: Commissioner Steward moved and Chair Duncan seconded the motion to Recommend to the City Council Alternatives 1 and 4: 1) Accept the Final GBI Report, including the recommended Programmatic Components; and 4) Direct staff to continue to look for non-City funding opportunities, and report back to Council in one year with a funding update.
The motion failed by the following vote:
Yes: Chair Duncan
Commissioner Steward
2 -
No: Commissioner Davis
Commissioner Friedlander
2 -
Absent: Vice Chair Weiss
Commissioner Hiremath
Commissioner Riviere
3 -
Commissioners Davis and Friedlander noted their opposition to the proposal as presented but chose to not propose any amendments or modifications.
Chair Duncan encouraged Council to watch the video of the meeting to get a clear understanding of the discussion and opposition.
Housing Officer Carloni noted that when this item goes to Council it would reflect that there was no recommendation from this commission.
Affordable Housing Manager Defrenchi noted that an excerpt of the minutes would be
included.
Attachment 7