Area Leaders Forming CoC Development Council

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

Jan Calvin updates MWVCOG Board on CoC formation progress

The Yamhill County reps present at the June 24th meeting of the Mid-Willamette Council of Governments Board of Directors (Newberg Mayor Rick Rogers, Chehalem Parks & Rec Director Lisa Rogers and Amity Mayor Michael Cape) had to hear it from Yamhill County Commissioner Casey Kulla that another Yamhill County Commissioner (unnamed) was perhaps reconsidering his vote to keep Yamhill County in the Rural Oregon Continuum of Care (ROCC), and was planning to meet with Yamhill County mayors "in a few weeks" to discuss.

The other commissioner is, of course, Board of Commissioners Chair, Rick Olson, as reported here several weeks ago.  All four Yamhill County representatives seemed skeptical.  "We'll see if the promised meeting materializes", Rick Rogers later commented.  For now, however, the regional CoC formation efforts are focused on Marion and Polk counties.

Kulla's comments about Olson's possible change of heart followed a presentation to the MWVCOG board by Jan Calvin, who is under contract with MWVCOG to serve the Mid-Willamette Homeless Initiative Steering Committee, who is leading the effort to re-form the regional CoC.  Calvin's presentation was basically a repeat of the report she gave to local providers on June 17, 2019.  See "HUD Joins 2d Regional Providers Convo" (providers who'd seen Calvin's first presentation said of the second presentation that there was "nothing new").  It's expected that, at its next regular meeting on October 16, the MWVCOG board will be asked to house the regional CoC's Development Council and governing board and to act as the CoC's unified funding agency.  

MWHISC June 2019 Meeting

The next day, the MWHI Steering Committee met in the very same room with non-member "guests" to nail down the details of a "Memorandum of Agreement Relating to the Creation of a Development Council to Form a Continuum of Care Collaborative Governance Structure for the Marion and Polk County Region."  (Around the "u" table in the photo at right, starting far right: Jimmy Jones (MWVCAA), Colm Willis (Marion County), Sean O'Day (MWVCOG), Scott McClure (Independence), Kristin Retherford (Salem), Kathy Clark (Keizer), Jan Calvin (MWVCOG), Ron Hays (United Way), Christy Perry (SKSD), Chris Hoy (Salem), Tom Pessmier (Monmouth), Denise VanDyke (MWVCOG).)  Notably absent: anyone from Polk County.  Notably present in the audience: Robin Winkle (Shangri-La). 

Development Council members are expected to make a "substantial contribution" over two years, cash or in-kind, to the cause of reforming the regional CoC.  Cash contributions are needed to cover administrative costs until HUD funding comes available in 2021.  As of now, the members are expected to be Marion and Polk counties, the cities of Salem, Keizer, Silverton, Monmouth, Independence, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the Salem-Keizer School District 24-J, the Mid Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, the United Way of the Mid-Willamette Valley, and the Union Gospel Mission (all voting members) and MWVCOG (non-voting member).  The chart below indicates what each entity is being asked/has agreed to contribute and, in most cases, how the contributions were calculated.  Christy Perry indicated that the school board had not yet approved the $23,000 contribution shown in the chart.  UGM's contribution has not been determined/defined.

CoC providers were told at their June 17, 2019 meeting that "there's no process" for getting a seat on the Development Council (see "HUD Joins 2d Regional Providers Convo").  Strictly speaking, that seems to be true.  However, as always in this town, a little cash in hand and a whisper in the right ear would seem to be a good place to start.

Page 1 of draft MOA re Development Council

A great deal of meeting time was spent discussing whether those contributing >$40K in a given year should have two votes during that year, with Colm Willis pressing in favor, and Ron Hays raising equity concerns (United Way has committed to contributing $20K this year and $40K next year).  Ultimately, the committee decided to give Salem and Marion County two votes/two people on the Development Council, irrespective of the amount of their contribution.    

The Development Council is expected to complete its work over the next six months.  That work includes developing a charter and bylaws for the regional CoC and its yet-to-be elected board of directors, a conflict of interest policy, some sort of electoral process, committee structures, a budget and funding strategy, position descriptions, and establishing a unified funding agency, all of which are subject to HUD's approval.

The MWHISC will not meet in July.  Its next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 29, 2019, from 3-5p at the MWVCOG offices.