The city of Lompoc and almost every other jurisdiction in the United States oversees federal and state funds (taxes) that are dispensed to provide low/moderate income families the ability to acquire “affordable housing” and other services.

These funds are either loaned directly to families to help buy a home, or to developers who provide multi-family low-income housing or other service providers.

Community Development Block Grants and loans are the funding mechanism for this important program. But the loans administered by the city are just that; they are loans that must be repaid so funds are available to future recipients.

That’s how the system works – funding is recycled to sustain housing assistance. The term used to describe folks receiving the loan is “subrecipient.”

The money from the state and federal government comes with strings attached.

For example, the city is required to perform physical inspections of properties using a federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) checklist and review property management documents and tenant files.

As part of the funding, the feds allow a percentage of the funding amount to be used for administration and oversight.

According to the 2021-23 city budget document the objectives for Fiscal Years 2021-23 were for the Community Development Department to provide “Complete annual and semi-annual monitoring reports to City Council.”

This is consistent with the language of previous budget cycles, and I am told they routinely provide compliance reports meeting regulatory agency requirements.

I would think it reasonable for a council member to assume they are going to receive what they are told they will receive. But budgets are hard to comprehend for the average citizen who is elected to serve.

It’s plausible that this objective addressed the federal and state reporting requirements and not those added by the council.

In May 2014 the City Council created a monitoring policy that involved additional effort that was not funded by the grants or loans following the failure of one nonprofit to pay back its loans and maintain its properties to federal HUD-established health and safety standards.

The council wanted periodic reports; however, a look at the CDBG/Housing Division webpage indicated the last compliance monitoring report was prepared in 2017.

I thought this might be an administrative error on the webpage, so on May 23 I submitted a public records request and asked if the 2017 report was the most current for the Subrecipient Financial, Programmatic, and Monitoring Requirement policy.

On June 9 I got this response from the city: “I have checked with the Community Development Department and was informed the report on the City’s website is the most current information available. An updated report will be presented to Council at the July 18, 2023 City Council Meeting.

The City Council also established a Compliance Committee, made up of two council members, as well as one member from both the Human Services Commission and the Senior Commission, and one staff member. Since it is a Ralph M. Brown Act committee, there must be an agenda and minutes.

Both the Senior and Human Service commissions members have passed away and replacement members were not selected. There are no minutes or agendas posted on the city Compliance Committee webpage, so it’s unknown when they last met or what they discussed.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, but the June 3-9 City Manager report indicated that CDBG/Human Services, Affordable Housing staff performed “Affordable Housing inspections of 37 Units; review of property management documents and tenant files.”

As Lompoc Councilman Dirk Starbuck put it, “The people count on the council to monitor these things.”

But when will the Compliance Committee be reconstituted, how much effort (funding) will the report desired by the council cost, and what purpose would it serve?

Reports like this are only of value if they lead to some tangible and enforceable goal.

Resources:

Lompoc CDBG Multi-family monitoring report: https://www.cityoflompoc.com/home/showpublisheddocument/100/636652698042900000

HUD checklist: https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/OCHCO/documents/52580.PDF