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Agendas and Minutes

Housing and Human Services Advisory Committee (View All)

Housing and Human Services Commission Regular Meeting

Agenda
Thursday, January 23, 2020

Ashland Housing and Human Services Commission
Minutes
January 23, 2020
Audio File

Call to Order

Commission Chair Rohde called the meeting to order at 4:02 pm in the Siskiyou Room at the Community Development and Engineering Offices located at 51 Winburn Way, Ashland, Oregon, 97520.

Commissioners Present:	Council Liaison
Rich Rohde	Dennis Slattery
Linda Reppond
Erin Crowley	SOU Liaison
Tom Gunderson	None appointed at this time
Heidi Parker
Jackie Bachman	Staff Present:
	Linda Reid, Housing Program Specialist
Commissioners Not In Attendance:	Liz Hamilton, Permit Technician
Gina Duquenne
Sarah Spansail

Approval of Minutes
Commissioners Jackie Bachman/Heidi Parker m/s to approve the minutes of November 21, 2019, with revisions. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion passed.

Public Forum -None

H&HSC Calendar Overview
Commission discussed and agreed on how to schedule meetings and extra work group time for CDBG, Housing Trust Fund, and Social Service grants.

St. Vincent Utility Bill Assistance Program Discussion
John Englehardt presented information and handout (see attachment A) showing a rise in the need for Utility Bill Assistance for Ashland residents between 2018 and 2019. Rich Rhode calls for volunteers to form work group to meet with OHRA and Senior Center to discuss possible solutions to bring forth to City Council. Work Group will be Rich Rhode, Jackie Bachman, Erin Crowley and Dennis Slattery.

City of Medford Homeless Action Plan Presentation
Angela Durant, Principal Planner presented Power Point presentation (see attachment B) on City of Medford’s Homeless Action Plan. She advised that an Implementation Plan has been adopted at this point as Medford is still working out the Action Plan. Commission requested permission to have a copy of the Implementation Plan for future review of this Commission.



Regional Mental Health Resource Overview
Darin Dale, LCSW, Jackson Care Connect presented information on current “Care” organizations in the Rogue Valley.

Strategic Priority Review and Discussion
2020 Goals for Housing and Human Services Commission

Goal #1: Shelter: Sustainability of the Ashland Winter Shelter
Goal #2: Mental Health/Upstream Services
Goal #3: Affordable Housing: Workforce Housing / SRO Development
Goal #4: Food Resources/SNAP cutbacks
Goal #5: Utility Bill Issues/Education about the Round-up Program
Goal #6: Work with Energy Action Plan
Goal #7: Rent Caps (Renters with Property Management Companies)

Commissioners Linda Reppond/Tom Gunderson m/s to adopt the 2020 Goals for the Housing and Human Services Commission. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion passed.

Liaison Reports discussion

Council (Dennis Slattery)
The Ashland City Council is planning a single-issue Study session in March regarding the Circuit Court ruling against Boise ID, for the issue of criminalizing sleeping on public land but not providing housing.
Staff (Linda Reid)
                Unit on Chestnut has been resolved and will be transferred by sale to a Low-Income eligible person.
General Announcements
Heidi Parker was invited by Jackson County Homeless Task Force to talk about how Ashland encourages volunteering for the Shelters.
Rich Rhode submitted an article on an Oregon Legislature proposal (see attachment C)
Rich Rhode announces that Echo Fields has been appointed to take position 2 on the Commission

February Agenda
Commission decides on Agenda items for February: Boise Court Case, Medford 14-page Implementation Plan, CDBG, March Council Study Session.

Next Housing Commission Regular Meeting February 27, 2020

Adjournment:   Rich Rohde adjourned the meeting at 6:10p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Liz Hamilton