Human Rights Commission Meeting Minutes Housing Committee Meeting August 5, 2021 Virtual/Electronic Meeting 6:30 pm Public link to meeting rebroadcasts on Boxcast: https://boxcast.tv/channel/vabajtzezuyv3iclkx1a Public link to HRC documents on Box: https://app.box.com/s/xty3wnn2s1tj8h7trkknvd79bipyxezy 1. WELCOME a. CALL TO ORDER i. Chair, Kathryn Laughon, called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. b. ROLL CALL i. Kathryn Laughon ii. Mary Bauer iii. Ernest Chambers c. MISSION (recited by all): Act as a strong advocate to justice and equal opportunity by providing citywide leadership and guidance in the area of civil rights. i. Commissioners chose to bypass mission statement. 2. MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC a. PUBLIC COMMENT i. None. b. COMMISSION RESPONSE TO MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC i. None. 3. MINUTES a. Review of minutes from 3/31/21 i. Commissioners chose to bypass review of minutes. 4. BUSINESS MATTERS a. Chair update i. None. b. OHR Staff report i. None. 5. WORK SESSION a. Next steps regarding eviction right-to-counsel program i. Chair believes work to continue is a short-term commitment to a pilot using federal money—wants to move forward in a year or so to ensure program becomes permanently included in City’s budget ii. Commissioner asks if it is possible to request a legal analysis from the City about whether HRC can push for passage of ordinance 1. OHR staff says Commission could write recommendation to Council and also add in that the program should become a line item in the City’s budget 2. Commissioner suggests that due to Council not approving entire amount, HRC can also include that the program may become more expensive over time 3. Mary volunteers to write this letter. 4. Chair suggests that including LAJC statistics concerning right to counsel would be helpful a. Mary offers contacting LAJC about this data 5. Commissioner asks how much money City Council allocated a. $300,000 per year for one year i. Chair thought that money was for three years-- Mary will confirm by crafting short letter for review b. Chair proposes asking Sunshine Mathon (Head of Piedmont Housing Alliance) and/or Dan Rosensweig (Head of Habitat for Humanity) to come talk to the Commission regarding their proposed changes to the Land Use map and other work anchored in equity i. Could also ask the consultants who have been leaving the project to talk to the Commission 1. One of HRC’s roles is to educate how seemingly mundane topics like zoning contribute to white supremacy ii. Commissioner suggests that having Sunshine and Dan come to a Housing Committee meeting would possibly unnecessarily delay the talk iii. Chair agrees that they can come to just the general HRC meeting iv. Kathryn will ask them if they are available to come to the September HRC meeting and sit down with them to talk about the discussion 1. Commissioner would like to know how the HRC can support their work c. Commissioner notes that even if it is not possible to make big changes in fixing zoning issues right now, it is necessary to put pieces in place so that HRC is ready when an opportunity arises i. Expresses concern about unknown projects or other obstacles that could deter progress 1. Chair notes that the biggest deterrent for progress is the slow progress ii. OHR staff suggests asking John Sales (Executive Director of CRHA) to sit on the panel with Sunshine and Dan, as CRHA and PHA are currently the new developers of subsidized and affordable housing iii. Chair asks if a panel vs. new guests one at a time over the course of multiple meetings is more helpful 1. There is general agreement that a panel would be more helpful due to timing concerns and the benefit of having multiple groups sharing ideas in the same space iv. Chair asks OHR staff if there is anyone else who should be on the panel 1. Staff responds that in terms of who has control of land development, the people already listed are best to ask d. OHR staff asks if Committee wants to begin reading the draft ordinance for substantial equivalent of Federal Fair Housing Law (which is still pending review with Eric Steinecker and HUD) before it goes to the rest of the Commission i. Chair will begin reading the draft ordinance 6. MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC a. PUBLIC COMMENT i. Brandon Collins 1. Enthusiastic that Commission is learning more about the Future Land Use map 2. Encourages them: a. To support Sunshine and Dan’s overlay design that addresses many concerns, like questions if design will provide affordable housing, will desegregate, etc. b. To include overlay on actual Future Land Use map in some way rather than just as a narrative c. To take a very broad leadership role i. Feels that City Council and Planning Commission are supportive of positive changes rolling back segregation, but does not feel that Charlottesville leadership has made this clear to the public ii. Believes there needs to be voices selling changes to the broader public ii. Adrianne Dent 1. Echoes everything Brandon said 2. Suggests the fund allocation to explore affordable housing is oriented toward understanding the past and how the past has situated the city—the comprehensive plan can only move forward by understanding this past 3. Suggests the Commission use united voices to put equity at the forefront when going forward with this project 4. May email a link that contains Arlington’s work in 2020 that applied equity to different aspects of policy, especially housing b. COMMISSION RESPONSE TO MATTERS BY THE PUBLIC i. Chair says that another complication is that the process is very complex—people are having trouble finding a way to engage, so giving concrete tasks may increase involvement and move the project forward 1. OHR staff adds that Commission could be powerful navigators for understanding public policy 2. Commissioner adds that there is a lot of important work to be done, and the Commission can be a voice for equity and racial justice in the community 3. OHR staff asks HRC Chair Mary if anyone from HRC is on CLIHC a. Mary is unsure b. OHR staff suggests reaching out to Emily and Elaine to fill gaps c. Mary will ask Elaine about CLIHC while asking about right to counsel matters 7. COMMISSIONER UPDATES a. None. 8. NEXT STEPS a. Kathryn i. Will ask Sunshine Mathon, Dan Rosensweig, and John Sales to attend September regular HRC meeting to talk on panel about Future Land Use Map and equity plans about land development around the City ii. Will begin reading FHAP draft ordinance b. Mary i. Will draft letter to City Council regarding legal analysis request and right- to-counsel line item concern ii. Will contact LAJC about right-to-counsel data iii. Will draft short letter confirming allocation for right-to-counsel program for review iv. Will ask Elaine about CLIHC when asking about right-to-counsel matters 9. ADJOURN a. Meeting adjourned at 6:59 pm.