Economic Opportunity Commission Meeting
Wednesday December 13th, 2017
2525 Mount Vernon Ave.
Alexandria, VA
In Attendance
Canek Aguirre
Gila Harris
June Shih
Kelly Stone
LaDonna Sanders
LaVon Curtis
Maani Stewart
Geoff Caldwell
Genevieve Fields
Jessica Lurz
Samantha Pitts-Kiefer
Salina Greene
Greg Parks
Racquel Williams-Jones
Excused
Richard McPike
Sal Biberaj
Thomas Gibson
Hope Nelson
Unexcused
Fara Islam
Call to Order
The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.
Resolution 830
The EOC has been officially invited to have a representative on the Resolution 830 commission and we are seeking volunteers for that role. There will be four meetings: January 10th (evening – current context of funding, resolution), January 31st (morning), Feb 21st (morning- expansion of resolution 830), March 14th (evening – formal recommendations). The representative will hopefully be able to attend all four meetings, report back to us and advocate for low-income residents.
As a reminder, resolution 830 is the resolution on the books to replace affordable housing (for ARHA and the City) 1 for 1. There will be several commissions, organizations, and stakeholders on the panel. 830 has been on been on the books for 70 years but, ARHA Is facing a very challenging financial situation and model of funding for affordable housing. As EOC, we have been supportive of 830 and would like to expand, but we do recognize that ARHA is facing real financial challenges.
Saalina volunteered, but cannot make the 10th. Raquel will be the alternate. All EOC members are highly encouraged to participate.
Route 1 Charrette
The City Planning and Zoning office will do a Route 1 Charrette. Quite a bit of affordable housing is owned by Alfred Street Baptist Church and some other churches in the area being looked at in this process. The loans are coming to an end and the affordability of those units will be up. The small area development plan. Concern that the voice of the people who live there might not be heard. Route 1 corridor.
Community Meetings are in January and February. We need a volunteer by the 18th of January.
There are four pop up meetings that have been announced for January (6, 18, 23 and 31st). Sat Jan. 6th pop up is at ACE Hardware.
The major time commitment is Monday Feb 26th – Friday March 2nd when these meetings are expected to be all day. LaDonna will commit to 3 of the days. Canek will be in and out. June will stop in. Kelly will also try to attend.
EOC member raised concerns about these meetings being all day, limiting who can attend. We also raised the possibility of trying to organize some community members
EOC Community Needs Assessment
EOC member went through each question on the draft Needs Assessment Survey and made multiple edits, captured by Jessica Lurz.
Raquel made a motion to approve the survey with the changes made tonight. Samantha seconded. The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote.
Announcements
Everyone is encouraged to volunteer at Winter Wonderland at Charles Houston next week. It’s a great event; reading instructions before the event is highly recommended. Canek will send out information.
Adjournment
Raquel motioned to adjourned. Geoff seconded. Chair adjourned at 8:57pm.
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