MAMMOTH LAKES HOUSING, INC.
Board of Directors Meeting

Monday, November 6, 2017
Regular meeting at 5:30 p.m.

COUNCIL CHAMBER, 437 OLD MAMMOTH ROAD
MINARET VILLAGE SHOPPING CENTER, SUITE Z

Minutes

I.    Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 5:35 PM.

II.    Roll Call
Members present: Lindsay Barksdale, Stacy Corless for Larry Johnston, Kirk Stapp, Bill Taylor, John Wentworth
Members absent: Jiselle Kenny
Staff: Jennifer Halferty, Executive Director and Patricia Robertson, Grant & Financial Associate
Public: Ruth Traxler, Town of Mammoth Lakes Planning & Economic Development Department

CLOSED SESSION

III.    Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6 the Board shall hold a closed session with the Board’s designated representative(s) regarding the salaries, salary schedules, or compensation paid in the form of fringe benefits of its unrepresented employees and may include discussion of MLH’s available funds and funding priorities, but only insofar as these discussions relate to providing instructions to the local agency’s designated representative(s). The purpose of this is to review MLH’s position and instructing MLH’s designated representative(s). No action is to be taken.

OPEN SESSION

IV.    Public Comments
There were no comments from the public.

V.    Approval of minutes from the October 2, 2017 regular Board Meeting
Stacy Corless made a motion to adopt the minutes. Bill Taylor seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.

VI.    Consideration of merit pay increase, and fringe pay for the Executive Director based on the performance evaluation and closed session with the Board’s designated representative(s).
Kirk Stapp, Board President, made an announcement that the Board of Directors had come to an agreement with the Executive Director. The Board approved a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 2% and a one-time bonus of 13% proceeding from the base salary of $117,096. John Wentworth commented that he was not satisfied with the process for evaluating staff and that he would abstain from the vote. Bill Taylor noted that there were some suggestions to improve the process. He suggested that the MLH Strategic Plan be sent out to the Board so that Board members will have a reference for the Performance Objectives for the 2017-18 fiscal year. He implored each Board member to really think about what could make the process better. He also noted that it may be good to consider evaluating staff more than once per year. Stacy Corless asked that a discussion for the evaluation process be agendized for the next meeting. Kirk Stapp made a motion to accept the agreed upon contract. Lindsay Barksdale seconded the motion. The Board voted 4-0 in favor; John Wentworth abstained.

VII.    Board Member reports
Lindsay Barksdale reported that she attended the Town of Mammoth Lakes Governance Training on October 27th. She thought the training was excellent and had some take-aways she wanted to share with the Board:

  1. Does the Board want staff to stay neutral or impart opinion when presenting ideas?
  2. How can we engage the Latino Community? Identify 3-5 leaders in the Latino Community, perhaps a successful business person. Ask that person to name a few people for a committee. Get kids involved. Ask high school students to sit on housing board as non-voting advisory members, or start a Youth Council.
  3. Best Practices:
    a) Board must have/show respect, trust, and candor
    b) Board members have a moral obligation to speak up. Go to the President with problems, not staff.
    c) Ask staff to rate and evaluate Board members. We should want feedback from staff. The Board should also seek evaluations from the public, and impact partners such as the Chamber and the Building Association.
    d) Avoid stereotypes in our roles such as President, Member Who Talks A Lot, The “No” or “Can’t” Member, The Peacemaker, The Silent Member.
    e) How often do Town Council and Board of Supervisors change out their representatives? We should want all elected officials to get an in-depth knowledge of MLH.
    f) Board members should show individuals accountability. They should mean what you say and do and think before you speak. We should strive to under-promise and over-achieve.
    g) Stay in touch with ex-Board members and acknowledge their work and how and why they made decisions during their tenure. We don’t want to lose this important institutional knowledge.

Stacy Corless reported that the Mono County Board of Supervisors will be receiving the 2017 Needs Assessment on Tuesday, November 14th, directly following a public hearing for the CDBG application.

Kirk Stapp announced that he just returned from three weeks in Australia and New Zealand where they have exceptional customer service despite also facing a housing crisis.

John Wentworth announced that the Town has reached a tentative agreement for the purchase of the Shady Rest parcel for $6.5 million dollars. Bill Taylor asked how the land use planning effort will be progressing forward in the future. John Wentworth answered that the preliminary process includes opening a 120 day escrow period during which a title report, environmental phase one, and other processes must be completed. He believes that the development of clear roles and responsibilities as outlined in the Community Housing Action Plan, which the consultants will present on November 15th, will determine the process moving forward.

VIII.    MLH monthly status report
Jennifer Halferty reported that MLH staff attended the Town’s Governance Workshop as well and found it very informative. There is Board interest in inviting the speaker, Jeff Bills to do a workshop with the MLH Board prior to the regular Strategic Planning sessions.

Jennifer Halferty pointed out that there is no conventional mortgage financing available to homebuyers who wish to purchase in mixed-use residential that has more than 25% commercial use within the development. This is an ongoing issue with deed restrictions currently located in mixed-use developments that everyone should be aware of as the Town looks forward to the redevelopment of downtown and the commercial core.

Jennifer Halferty reported on current grant opportunities for workforce housing:

1.   CDBG

a)    Staff attended the CDBG Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) training in Hanford, CA on October 17th where they met with HCD staff.

b)   This year the cap for multifamily projects is $3 million.

c)    Staff is working with Town staff on developing an application.

2.   Affordable Housing & Sustainable Communities (AHSC, Cap + Trade)

a)    MLH was awarded a technical assistance grant.

b)   MLH is working with TA and Town staff to calculate how Sustainable Transit Infrastructure (STI) components will help increase the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, since the number of units in the project is smaller than previously awarded projects.

c)    It is difficult to find the right balance between the number of units, the STI components and GHG reduction, as well ability to leverage other funding sources.

IX.    Mammoth Lakes Community Housing Action Plan; Live, Work, Thrive update
Jennifer Halferty explained that the Housing Working Group met on October 26th to discuss the draft plan. There was general consensus that the Introduction section could be more substantial and easy to digest, that the “low hanging fruit” action items should be prioritized, and that the policy items that for the Town Council should have their own section so they can be referenced and prioritized. There was additional discussion regarding the governance of the plan in order to ensure that it can be implemented. There were some ideas including: not creating a lot more bureaucracy and utilizing the Housing Working Group as a committed team with broad representation. This will likely be a key discussion point at the workshop on November 15th. John Wentworth noted that it will be critical to get this piece figured out before the Town Council receives the Action Plan on December 6th. Bill Taylor noted that he thought it has been a good process but that the language in the draft was passive, and that the semantics/tone should be worked on for the final.

X.    Review and discuss the MLH and Sierra Housing Advocates, LLC First Quarter Financial Statements
Jennifer Halferty provided an overview of the financial statements.

XI.    Review and accept the June 30, 2017 Audit Statements
Jennifer Halferty provided an overview of the 2017 Audit Statements. Stacy Corless made a motion to accept the June 30, 2017 Audit Statements. Bill Taylor seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.

XII.    Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 PM.