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Community raises transparency and equity concerns over MOCI/OEWD merger and proposed CDBG shifts
Summary
Dozens of community leaders and supervisors at a Budget & Finance hearing urged more transparent process and safeguards after the mayor merged the Mayor's Office of Community Investment into the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and released preliminary Community Development Block Grant recommendations that reallocated funding toward a Neighborhood Markets initiative.
The Budget & Finance Committee devoted its longest discussion to the December 2008 merger of the Mayor's Office of Community Investment (MOCI, formerly MOCD) into the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), proposed changes to Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocations, and the Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative (NMI).
Chair John Avalos opened the hearing describing concern that the reorganization had proceeded with little public input and that the city risked losing a unified community development frame that historically combined affordable housing, public facilities, economic supports and capacity building for community-based organizations (CBOs). Jennifer Entine Matz, deputy director of OEWD, said the merger is intended to align funding streams and reduce redundancy, and she described proposed departmental roles: MOH (Mayor's Office of Housing) would interface with HUD for CDBG compliance, OEWD would lead economic and workforce and manage capital and economic grants, DCYF would administer public services and…
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