City staff briefed the Pleasanton Human Services Commission on changes to the housing and human services grant cycle and the joint application process shared among Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore.

Leah (staff) and Steve Fernandez (housing manager) said applicants may submit one ZoomGrants application to apply to all three cities but must upload each separate project within that application. The application period opened Nov. 25 and closes Jan. 17 at 4:00 p.m.; staff advised applicants to plan ahead because the system is online-only. Staff will vet applications for completeness and eligibility before making them available to commissioners for review.

The timeline has two funding phases this year because Pleasanton’s final general-fund allocations depend on a city two‑year budget that council must adopt in June. Staff proposed committing HUD-related awards (CDBG, HOME and LIFT/housing funds) in April so the city can develop its HUD action plan; general‑fund awards would be scheduled for decision after the budget is adopted in June.

Procedural changes for commissioners

- Commissioners will score each application using seven evaluation criteria that total 100 points. Two weighted categories are the commission’s priorities (weighted about 30 points) and benefit (about 20 points).
- Commissioners will not recommend dollar amounts in the scoring tool; staff will use scores and eligibility criteria to recommend funding once final budgets are known.
- Individual commissioner scores (not comment fields) will be published as required under the Brown Act; the comment field on ZoomGrants was removed for this cycle.

Key dates and review steps noted by staff

- Application deadline: Jan. 17, 4:00 p.m.
- Commissioners will be given access to vetted applications after the deadline; scoring opens in January and will be available through Feb. 14.
- A joint applicants’ presentation meeting for Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton will be held Feb. 11 in Livermore (staff asked commissioners to arrive prepared and with any questions after reviewing applications).
- Commissioners’ deliberation meeting (Pleasanton only) is scheduled March 5; staff will compile scores for council review.
- April: staff will forward recommendations for HUD‑eligible funding (CDBG, HOME, LIFT) to council and begin HUD action-plan work.
- June: final general‑fund awards will be considered after the council adopts the two‑year budget.

Staff said the joint process reduces duplicate applicant work (one application, multiple city requests), reduces the number of uploaded documents required for non-capital projects, and aligns application questions with commission scoring to simplify review. Staff also encouraged commissioners to submit clarifying questions to staff before the Feb. 11 presentations so agencies can respond in advance.

Commission reaction and administrative items

Commissioners asked how staff will assign funds across the various sources if the final budget differs from assumptions; staff said eligibility (for example, HOME and LIFT require housing-related activities) and ranking by score will guide allocations and that certain funding sources are restricted to eligible project types. Commissioners discussed the Eastern Alameda County Human Services Needs Assessment (ICHNA) and agreed the assessment should inform scoring priorities; staff noted draft goals and strategies will be returned to commission and council in spring 2025.

During the meeting the commission took several procedural votes: it approved the consent calendar and minutes, set the commission’s 2025 meeting schedule and start time (6:00 p.m.), and selected a 2025 chair and vice chair. Staff said more detailed application access instructions and schedules will be sent to commissioners when vetting is complete.