Senate committee endorses three appointments to Colorado State Housing Board, places them on consent calendar

The Senate Local Government and Housing Committee on Thursday voted 6-0 to recommend three nominees to the Colorado State Housing Board and placed each appointment on the consent calendar.

The confirmations will send the reappointments of Candace Payne and Ryan Moses, and the new appointment of Ryab Jones, to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation and no opposition recorded in committee. The committee heard short introductions from Division of Housing staff and each nominee before the vote.

Teresa Casano, director of the Office of Housing and Finance and Sustainability at the Division of Housing within the Department of Local Affairs, summarized the board's role and the nominees' backgrounds. "The Colorado State Housing Board was created in 1970 to advise the General Assembly, the governor, and the division of housing on Colorado housing needs," Casano told the committee, and she described the board's responsibilities and the seats at issue.

Candace Payne, who spoke to the committee by name and identified herself as executive director of the East Central Council of Governments, stressed her experience on the Eastern Plains and said she wished to continue serving. "I've served the last four years on the state housing board," Payne said, noting her organization runs low-to-moderate income loan programs in that region.

Ryan Moses (appearing in the transcript as Jared Ryan Moses) spoke about his experience in logistics, strategy and working with veteran-serving efforts and asked to continue his service on the board. "My goal is to continue to ensure that housing initiatives deliver maximum value for taxpayer dollars spent while addressing the diverse needs of Coloradans statewide," he said.

Ryab Jones of Boulder, identified in the hearing as president of RCH Jones Consulting and described by staff as a finance and underwriting specialist for affordable housing projects, told the committee he viewed service on the board as a volunteer opportunity to apply his experience in financing and development.

After brief committee remarks thanking the nominees for their willingness to serve, Senator Snyder moved "to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation" for the three appointments; the committee recorded a unanimous 6-0 vote in favor and later moved to place the appointments on the consent calendar. Committee members reported no opposition when asked about consent placement.

The appointments now move to the full Senate on the consent calendar for final confirmation. If confirmed, the appointees will serve four-year terms on the State Housing Board and participate in reviews of financing requests, factory-built structure regulations and multifamily housing matters in counties without building codes.

The committee record shows no separate formal amendments or conditions attached to these recommendations. The Division of Housing said the board currently has eight seats appointed to four-year terms and that today's items were two reappointments and a new appointment.