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Alameda board debates new scope of work; staff recommends three subcommittees and an advisory role
Summary
Housing & Human Services staff presented a draft scope of work proposing three subcommittees — policy, program oversight/performance, and funding review — to guide the Social Service & Human Relations Board’s FY 2026–27 work plan; staff emphasized the board’s advisory role and Brown Act constraints for subgroup meetings.
Simone Falls, the Housing & Human Services division manager, presented a draft scope of work to the Social Service & Human Relations Board on April 23 and asked members to review the proposal in subgroups before a planned May vote.
Falls proposed three subcommittees: a policy group to review HUD-related documents and departmental policies (including the five-year consolidated plan and CAPER), a program oversight/performance group to conduct site visits and review CDBG-funded program performance, and a funding-review group to advise on RFPs and funding priorities across all CDBG categories. "Our board is designed to look at social services in the city... The way that we see the board structure is really to support the division and to be an advocacy group," Falls told members, describing the draft as advisory in scope.
Board members asked for clarification on whether the role was advisory or oversight; Falls replied, "I would say I would use the word advisory." Members discussed consolidating existing subgroups to avoid duplication, Brown Act limits on subgroup discussions, and the need to publish notes or agendas for subgroup work so that the full board can see subcommittee output. Staff requested that members review scope drafts in working groups so the final scope and work plan can be presented to city council in July (with the board aiming to finalize in May).
Next steps: staff will circulate the draft scope to working groups, bring notes from subgroups to the May meeting for discussion and a potential vote, and, if approved, forward the board’s work plan to the City Council for inclusion in the July council packet.
