CSHC's 2017 Award Recs

Revised: January 2019

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

[Originally posted under the title, "Salem's 2017 Social Spending."]

The Community Services and Housing Commission (CSHC) was able to make its 2017 recommendations a little early this year.  It's easier to divide the pie when there's plenty to go around. 

At left are the numbers, based on what was said and shown at the meeting held last Wednesday in the conference room of the Urban Development Department.  (The public are not provided the project summaries or  spreadsheets).

This year's awards look a lot like previous years' awards.  The Mid Willamette Valley Community Action Agency (MWVCAA)'s HOME Youth and Resource Center is missing from the recipients (CRP Director flubbed the application deadline and subsequently resigned), as are Women at the Well/Grace House (applied, didn't get anything) and Mano a Mano (also missed deadline).  Other details below. 

* Merit - Multi-year recipient whose long-time executive director was for many years married to the Federal Programs Division manager, who staffed the CSHC in 2017.  The manager left in April to go to work for Catholic Community Services.  In 2018, HUD found the relationship to be a conflict of interest.

HUD also found allowing employees of grant applicants to sit on the CSHC to be a conflict of interest.  St Francis's Executive Director, Kem Lemman, and Center for Hope and Safety's Executive Director, Jayne Downing, were both members of the CSHC in 2017.  They resigned in 2018 after HUD said they couldn't apply for funds while on the CSHC or for the year following.  In January 2019, the City Council repealed SRC Chapter 20G, which created the CSHC. 

** Salem Housing Authority - The City Council pre-approved the first $500,000 for the Yaquina Hall rehab (Statesman Journal article here). 

*** Jason Lee Manor - The Federal Programs manager advised CSHC members that this project might be eligible for $148,200 that had been found in some sort of reserve, and offered reasons why those funds should go toward the project.  Member Arturo Vargas noted that the Commission had said last year it would not award any additional funds to this project, and argued strongly against the award.