Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Solano County approves housing authority plans, officials push to recruit landlords as dozens of vouchers go unused
Summary
The Solano County Board of Supervisors, sitting as the Housing Authority, approved revised administrative, five-year, annual and Move-to-Work supplemental plans and two administrative-plan versions to align with federal rules; supervisors pressed staff on converting and placing roughly 92 unused vouchers and on landlord recruitment.
The Solano County Board of Supervisors, acting as the County Housing Authority, unanimously approved a suite of Housing Authority documents and supplemental policies after a public presentation and a period of board questions.
Celinda Aguilar Vasquez, housing and community services administrator for the Solano County Housing Authority, recommended approval of the Housing Authority's revised administrative plan (two versions, A and B), the agency's five-year plan, the annual agency plan and the Move-to-Work supplemental plan. She said the two versions of chapters 6, 8 and 11 are intended to preserve continuity until the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development finalizes rules under the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA).
"I recommend that the board hold the public hearing and approve the Solano County Housing Authority revised public housing agency five-year plan, annual plan, moving to work supplemental plan, and two versions of the administrative plan," Aguilar Vasquez said during her presentation.
Staff told the board the authority manages up to 368 vouchers and allocates nearly $3 million in funding annually. Aguilar Vasquez gave a program breakdown: 251 regular Housing Choice Vouchers, 19 tenant-protection vouchers, 45 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers, 50 mainstream vouchers and 3 mainstream care vouchers.
Supervisors focused their questions on placement barriers and landlord recruitment. Supervisor Bryant pressed staff on whether the county could convert some unused Housing Choice Vouchers into project‑based vouchers to support affordable development and on outreach strategies to recruit new landlords. Aguilar Vasquez said pilot efforts so far have reached mostly landlords already in the program, that city partners have run landlord workshops and that financial constraints limit larger outreach events such as sponsored breakfasts.
"We are trying to get more housing available to fulfill that need," Aguilar Vasquez told the board, adding staff are working on landlord incentive programs including sign-on bonuses and damage-claim payments.
A member of the public, Kevin Phillips, asked how people and landlords access the program; county staff advised that coordinated-entry Resource Connect and housing authority offices are the usual starting points but acknowledged the wait list is currently closed.
Supervisor Bryant noted there are roughly 92 housing choice vouchers not in active use and volunteered to help organize outreach efforts to recruit landlords: "I'm happy to pick up the tab for some of that to make this happen," he said.
After discussion the board voted 5–0 to approve staff's recommendation, adopting both versions of the administrative plan (to preserve continuity until HUD implements HOTMA-related changes), the five‑year plan, the annual plan and the Move-to-Work supplemental plan.
What happens next: Staff said they will continue landlord outreach, consider programmatic tweaks such as converting vouchers when permitted, and follow up with the board on outreach strategies and data (board members requested a heat map showing voucher use and housing stock to better target recruitment).
