More Workshops on CA Affordable Housing Program

California's Strategic Growth Council is holding a second round of workshops on its guidelines for spending cap-and-trade funds on affordable housing and sustainable communities. The draft guidelines [PDF] incorporate input gathered over the summer as well as at several packed workshops held throughout the state in August of this year.

The Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program was created this year with $130 million in funding from California's cap-and-trade system. Its goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by funding projects that connect land use and transportation, support infill and compact development, and contribute to other public policy goals including reducing air pollution, increasing mobility options, and increasing transit ridership.

The program is trying to do many things with not very much money. However, it is slated to receive an ongoing twenty percent of future annual cap-and-trade funds, which are expected to grow considerably in the next few years.

The draft guidelines set program requirements and eligibility, application procedures, and performance requirements. "We want to hear your ideas about the program and how it can best benefit your communities," said Mike McCoy, the Strategic Growth Council's executive director.

One of the sticking points at the last workshops was how to define and quantify benefits to disadvantaged communities, which by law must benefit from half of the program's funding--but that was only one of many points of discussion. This round of workshops will not include the small group discussions of the past round, but staff members say there will be plenty of time for discussion and public comment.

The first in this round of workshops will be held in Merced today, October 23, from 1 to 4. Preregistration for all the workshops is necessary, and they will probably fill up, if the last series is an indication. However, as of today there are still tickets available for all of them.

Other workshops are in:

• 
Oakland on Friday, October 24, from 9 am to noon. Register here.
• 
Los Angeles on Monday, October 27, from 1 to 4 pm. Register here.
• 
San Diego (via satellite) to coincide with the L.A. Meeting. Register here by choosing the San Diego option.
• 
Sacramento on Tuesday, October 28, from 1:30 to 4:30 pm. Register here.

The Sacramento workshop will be webcast, and both the L.A. and Sacramento workshops will be available on the Strategic Growth Council's website shortly after the meetings.

Written comments on the guidelines can be submitted online by October 31 here. If you can't make a workshop and want to comment, it might help to watch one of the presentations from their August meetings, one of which is embedded below.