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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCP 88 MM W D:0)1EU1wWMM9UEW 1I N a Oro 'son .P!61 POLICY PROPOSAL DATE FILE NUMBER SUBJECT PAGE�,OF_5 PROPOSED REORGANIZATION OF 8/25/81 CP-88 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL PROPOSAL PROPOSED BY: CITY MANAGER'S REVIEW Dwaine Johnson s Background In August, 1974, Congress passed the National Community Development Block Grant legislation. The main objective of the legislation is the development of viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities primarily for low and moderate income persons. On September 30, 1974, the City of Fort Worth adopted Ordinance No. 7069„ creating the Community Development Council (CDC). This Council consists of 19 members representing 14 designated organizations and 5 at-large places. The CDC was created to serve in an advisory capacity to the City Council and to assist the City Council in setting priorities for projects eligible under the community development legislation. The by-laws of the CDC provide for a number of standing committees which are to serve the CDC by reviewing various programs at the committee level before recommendations are made to the Executive Committee and the full CDC. Since my election to the City Council, I have discussed the working relationship and the existing organizational structure of the CDC with Councilmembers, CDC members, City staff and other interested individuals who have expressed some concern about the manner in which this board operates. While everyone acknowledged that the CDC has done a commendable job, it was generally agreed that the City Council should take a serious look at the functioning of the CDC, its committees, and where possible modify this Council so that it will continue to provide valuable input to the citizens and to the City Council. It was agreed at the .July 10, 1981 Council workshop that all Boards/Commissions should be reviewed in light of their size, composition, goals and objectives. A review of the CDC at this time will be the first step toward implementing this Action item. Proposal my policy proposal, if adopted by the City Council, will provide for the review and analysis of a number of issues that I believe will make the CDC function better. The adoption of this draft proposal is essential because of some of the changes that are being proposed by the Reagan Administration in the area of social programs. - LEGALITY FISCAL NOTE CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS POLICY PROPOSAL (cont'd) PAGE--2-OF—�_ Reduction of the Board My first proposal is to reduce the size of the CDC from 19 members to 11 members. The reason for reducing the CDC in size is because some of the organisations that were specified in the original ordinance are no longer needed to obtain citizen input and liaison with local organizations. For example, the Community Action Agency designation has been revoked by both the City and the County and a new anti-poverty agency has been created, operating under the City of Fort Worth's Human Resources Department. The designation of this agency in the existing Community Development ordinance needs to be changed. The original ordinance also provides 3 places for representatives from the Sector Planning Council. Since there are 11 Sector Planning Councils, the designation of 3 places on the CDC is not representative of the entire sectors. Therefore, I propose that all sector positions be eliminated from the CDC ordinance because the sectors can be represented at the community level through the CNR concept. The place designated for the Fort Worth Independent School District should be deleted from this ordinance because we now have a City-School Liaison Committee that functions in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce. Many of the city and school issues are now being handled by the City-School Liaison Committee which is comprised of representatives of the City staff, City Council, Fort Worth ISD staff, School Board, Chamber of Commerce staff and board members. The City-School Liaison Committee is the appropriate committee to coordinate the various liaison activities between the City of Fort- Worth and the Fort Worth Independent School District. Another position that should be eliminated from the CDC ordinance is the Fort Worth Housing Authority. This position is no longer necessary because of the close working relationship between the City staff and the Fort Worth Housing Authority staff and board. In addition, the City Council has adopted a Fair Share Allocation Plan for Public and Assisted Housing and Site Selection procedures that will result in the cooperation that is needed between the City of Fort Worth and the Housing Authority. Finally, the current representation by the City Planning Commission and Zoning Commission should be changed and only provide a slot for the Planning Commission. The City Council should determine whether a need still exists for representatives from the Council to serve on the CDC. This is the only board with Council representation except for those boards created to serve a regional or special need, such as Dallas Fort Worth Airport and the Employment and Training Policy Committee. The Council should also determine the number of at-large slots that should remain in the reorganized CDC. I would suggest that no more than five of the slots be retained for .community-at-large representation. While this proposal would require the removal of several individuals now serving on the CDC, the City Council could place these persons on other boards as vacancies occur. Committee Structure The second area that should be reviewed is the committee structure of the CDC. This reorganization should lead to streamlining of the block grant process and reduce the administrative cost associated with carrying out the CITY OF FORT WORTH POLICY PROPOSAL (cont'd) rAaE_.3oF -S various committee functions. The Housing and Community Development Department staff spent approximately 300 staff hours during the month of June to carry out the staff responsibilities for —the standing committees of the CDC. These 300 hours do not include the time that staff = from Planning and Human Resouces Departments spent on committee activities. I believe that the present structure is cumbersome and requires far too many hours of staff time preparing committee packages and attending committee meetings. Another justification for reviewing the committee structure relates to the level of participation by the various committee participants. I am aware that in some committee meetings as few as two or three committee members actually attend the meetings and make decisions regarding proposals before the various committees. This minimum participation does not provide the kind of input that the City Council and the CDC had in mind when establishing the committee structure. Therefore, it is proposed that the various standing committees be eliminated with the exception of the Housing Grants and Loans Committee and the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee can serve in the capacity of all the other committees by reviewing all proposals and making recommendations to the full CDC. The Housing Grants and Loans Committee can continue to review all loan applications for the various housing programs operated by the City as well as review new housing programs that are being considered for funding through the CDC. The Citizens Participation process should be done by an ad hoc 'committee that will review new proposals and respond to proposals submitted for reallocation for block grant funds. Thus, the Citizen Participation Committee should only be active during the time of receipt of proposals and during the grant application process. The Monitoring and Evaluation Committee should be abolished and the activities' of this committee be assumed by the full CDC which has the responsibility for receiving information regarding the status of its various block grant funded programs. The Supportive Services Committee should be abolished because of the anticipated funding decrease of supportive services or social service programs. With the creation of the Neighborhood Resource Development (NRD) Program, major responsibility for social services should be with the NRD staff utilizing funds from the Community Services Administration. The Community Facilities Committee should be eliminated since it is unlikely that additional public buildings will be funded. The City has met its commitment to build multi-purpose centers in the major target areas. In my opinion, these proposed changes will not adversely affect the CDC since they will have the authority to appoint ad hoc committees and special committees as the need arises. The elimination of these committees should provide the staff with many more hours to spend in program operation. CNR Concept The City Council created the Coordinated Neighborhood Revitalization areas on April 4, 1978. The purpose of the CNR areas was to concentrate funds from various funding sources into specified areas in order to expedite the revitalization process. While the CNR concept has been successful, the City CITY OF FORT WORTH POLICY PROPOSAL (cont'd) IsAGEA—OF Council should reevaluate this concept now that we have completed three full years of operation. During the past three years our community has changed significantly and certainly the needs of the various neighborhoods have changed. Staff and the CDC should be instructed to review our present _ methods of targeting funds and report to the City Council within 60 days various alternatives that would make funds available for high priority projects 'in present areas, and also provide for additional target areas to be added. Funding Policy The CDC and the CHIC Committees have functioned so far with very little guidance from the City Council except for a recent decision to concentrate more CDBG funds in housing programs. The City Council should consider setting goals or targeting a percentage of the total allocation for housing, economic development, community facilities, streets, etc. Such a policy would be an effective tool for the CDC in its planning process. The existing practice of setting funds aside for an area should be discontinued. Each targeted neighborhood should be able to compete equally for funds and the CDC should recommend approval based upon need and the City's goal. All funds not used as previously allocated should go into a local option account to be reprogrammed by the CDC. Other areas that the CDC and staff should review and report back to the City Council include: A. An analysis of existing programs to improve coordination with other service providers. B. The expenditure rate of block grant funds and recommended steps to accelerate the spending. C. How to improve coordination between the CDC and the Economic Development Policy Board. I would recommend that three members from the City Council be appointed to work with me, the CDC and staff in formulating any additional changes for the City Council's consideration. Fiscal Note None of the proposed changes will affect the CDC budget. CITY OF FORT WORTH POLICY PROPOSAL (cont'd) *AGE OF Legality The ordinance will have to be amended to reduce the CDC board from 19 to 11 members. City Mantger Comments The staff concurs that these proposed changes should result in some major improvements in our CDBG programs. i Dwaine Johnson City Councilma District 3 CRY OF FORT WORTH