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Board directs staff to pursue joint assessments and clearer governance with SHRA to improve housing coordination
Summary
The Board of Supervisors unanimously directed county and SHRA staff to pursue a package of measures — including governance review and independent assessments — intended to strengthen coordination on affordable housing and voucher operations.
The Board of Supervisors on April 22 directed county staff to pursue a set of measures intended to improve coordination with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA), including clearer lines of decision‑making, regular executive briefings and independent assessments of development financing and voucher operations.
Deputy County Executive Shivank Kothari and Dave Defonti outlined five staff recommendations the board had requested after workshops last fall. Those included: (1) continuing quarterly executive‑level meetings between county and SHRA staff; (2) asking SHRA to report back on the split of authority and what matters are handled by the Housing and Redevelopment Commission versus what comes to the Board of Supervisors; (3) commissioning an external process review of financing and development procedures; (4) a separate assessment of public‑housing and Housing Choice Voucher functions (including a process map for vouchers); and (5) asking SHRA to fund the consultant work while the county holds contracts.
Defonti said the proposed third‑party reviews would mirror prior county development‑process improvement efforts: assess policies, processes and customer service and propose opportunities for efficiency and clearer roles. SHRA Director Michelle Dozier told the board she supports continuous improvement but cautioned that the agency has been subject to numerous state and federal audits and currently has limited administrative staffing because recent budgets froze positions. Dozier said additional consultant‑led studies would need to be scoped so they do not pull critical staff away from delivering services.
Supervisors supported the proposals with two clarifications: consultancy scopes should be developed collaboratively with SHRA to avoid duplicating federal or state audits, and staff will return with cost and staffing plans to ensure substantive work is not displaced. The board approved the recommendations unanimously.
County staff said the next step is to develop a draft scope of work with SHRA for the two independent assessments and return to the board with a funding and implementation plan before issuing any RFPs.
