Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Homelessness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves draft CAPER and authorizes submission to HUD; city highlights nearly $4.16 million in allocations
Summary
San Bernardino’s City Council approved the draft FY 2024–25 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) and authorized submission to HUD, detailing nearly $4.16 million in federal allocations and projects including affordable‑housing developments and neighborhood infrastructure investments.
The San Bernardino City Council on Sept. 17 approved the city’s draft fiscal year 2024–25 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) and authorized the city manager to finalize and submit the document to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The CAPER is the federally required year‑end report that explains how HUD grant funds were spent and how the city met goals in its consolidated plan. Trina Perez, housing division manager, told the council the city allocated about $4,160,000 in HUD formula funds for 2024–25 across the three main programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) and the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG).
Why it matters: the CAPER documents use of federal money for homelessness prevention and shelter operations, affordable‑housing production and rehabilitation, public‑service programs, and neighborhood infrastructure — key measures for HUD compliance and for continued funding.
Funding highlights and projects
Perez described how CDBG funds supported fair housing programs, landlord‑tenant mediation, the police department’s quality‑of‑life team and critical park and infrastructure work in neighborhoods including Encanto, Gutierrez Park and El Sol Neighborhood Education Center. HOME funds supported affordable housing production, with projects noted in the CAPER including Arrowhead Grove Phase II (multifamily low‑income units), a Jamboree project at Fifth and Meridian and a hillside infill single‑family program, together representing roughly 200 low‑income units in the pipeline.
ESG funds, Perez said, supported emergency shelter operations, homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing programs; the CAPER lists ESG expenditures and the number of households served during the reporting year.
Public comment: concerns about ESG administration and housing conditions
Several public commenters used the CAPER hearing to raise concerns about how homelessness funding and rapid‑rehousing assistance are administered locally. Alisha Nash said ESG‑funded rental assistance and rehousing programs had, in at least one instance she described, placed a tenant with a management company she described as a problem landlord. "Some of the ESG funding was provided to [property managers] and basically the slumlords in our city," Nash said, asking the city to examine which property managers receive public rental assistance.
Tenant organizer Ashley Bridal said she and other tenants have reported habitability and code problems in private rental properties and urged the city to ensure federal funds do not place households into unsafe or noncompliant units. Bridal also said code enforcement had recently issued a red‑tag to an unpermitted rehab in a property where rehousing had occurred.
Council action
A council member moved and the council voted unanimously to authorize submission of the draft CAPER to HUD and to allow the city manager or designee to take necessary steps to finalize the report. The motion passed without recorded dissent.
Context and next steps
Perez said the CAPER is essential to maintain HUD funding flows and to document progress against the city’s consolidated plan goals for housing, homelessness and neighborhood improvement. She noted that the housing division continues to negotiate grant deed and development agreements for infill and multifamily projects and that a ground‑breaking for one infill project is expected in the winter months, with completion projected the following year.
Council members and staff asked for follow‑up on program outcomes, and multiple council members pressed staff to monitor housing providers that accept ESG or other federal funds to ensure units meet habitability and code requirements before tenants are placed.
Ending
The council’s vote authorizes the city to file the CAPER with HUD and directs staff to continue oversight of ESG and rapid‑rehousing placements; residents who raised concerns asked the city to provide additional scrutiny of property managers who accept public funds.
