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Rules Committee considers charter amendment to create Housing and Development Commission; item continued for more amendments
Summary
Committee members and public speakers debated a proposed charter amendment to establish a Housing and Development Commission to oversee OEWD and MOHCD. Supporters sought transparency and strategic planning; supervisors expressed concerns about charter prescriptiveness. The item was continued to allow more amendments and to preserve ballot timing.
Clerk introduced Item 3 as a second‑draft charter amendment to create a Housing and Development Commission to oversee the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and to appear on the Nov. 8, 2016 ballot. Sunny Angulo (Supervisor Peskin's office) summarized proposed changes intended to narrow the commission's scope, remove workforce functions from commission jurisdiction, require a citywide strategic plan for housing and community development every five years, and add both an at‑large seat and a mayoral appointee with homelessness/supportive‑housing experience.
Public comment featured neighborhood and housing stakeholders who largely supported the measure for increased transparency and earlier involvement on development agreements. George Wooding (Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods) urged an appeals process for grant and RFP decisions and earlier strategic planning. Gabriel Medina (Mission Economic Development Agency) described difficulties obtaining development agreement documents in the Mission and sought stronger local representation for Latino communities. Several speakers cited the need to streamline MOHCD's funding approvals and asked for clear procedural guidelines. MOHCD and OEWD staff responded to questions about use of small‑sites funds, loan counts and program administration; MOHCD staff said part of inclusionary funds are set aside for a small sites program and that some loans (about five to six) have been made for first responders under a specified program.
Supervisors debated whether a new commission is the best mechanism to address identified gaps or whether improved Board oversight and reporting could resolve them without creating an additional charter body. The committee agreed to continue Item 3 to the July 14 meeting to allow Supervisor Peskin and staff to work further on amendments while keeping the charter timeline intact.
Provenance: Discussion and public comment for Item 3 are recorded starting at the clerk's introduction (SEG 1223) and include Sunny Angulo's presentation (SEG 1228–1373), public testimony (SEG 1386–1573), staff responses about program spending and loan counts (SEG 1798–1864), and a motion to continue the item (SEG 1761–1774).
