NEWSLETTER
December 2019
By Bill Brewer, Nevada Housing Coalition President & Nevada Rural Housing Authority Executive Director
Greetings, housers!
Whether you’re developing housing, administrating housing, funding housing, or want to track and help with the affordable housing challenges facing Nevada – you’re a houser in my book! Thank you not only for your interest in supporting the Nevada Housing Coalition, but also in helping fulfill our mission to create sustainable solutions through community awareness, capacity building, and advocacy to ensure housing options for all Nevadans.
This monthly newsletter fulfills another goal of ours: to be your housing information resource. From proposed and passed policy, to Coalition programming, to local, state and national news, we aim to provide a robust selection of houser news. Are we missing something? Have ideas for content? Want to submit something? Get in touch with us at info@nvhousingcoalition.org.
In this month’s edition, you’ll see a list of housing-related events and activities (past and future), including the Coalition’s Brunch and Learn on November 7 in Reno at Moana Nursery, and the Coalition’s Lunch and Learn on November 20 in Las Vegas at The Center. The first session provided a look at housing policy in action at the state and federal levels. Later in the month in Las Vegas, our second session focused on equitable housing development strategies. Knowing not all housers can attgend all events, we have video recorded both presentations, and will post those on our website very soon. Watch for their links on Facebook (and if you’re not already following the Coalition, hop on it!).
The two events were made possible by a partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and we sincerely thank these two organizations for their support.
We hope you find this newsletter informative and useful in your work as a houser. Together, we can get a lot done!
Bill
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December 11, 2019 |
November 26, 2019 November 20, 2019 November 19-20, 2019 The Housing Crisis in A Precarious Economy: A Panel Discussion with Jessica Bruder, author For her book Nomadland, journalist Jessica Bruder spent months living in a camper van, documenting itinerant Americans who gave up traditional housing and hit the road full time, enabling them to travel from job to job and carve out a place for themselves in a precarious economy. The project spanned three years and more than 15,000 miles of driving — from coast to coast and from Mexico to the Canadian border. For more information, click here. November 7, 2019 November 7, 2019 The 2019 Southern Nevada Youth Homelessness Summit: The Movement at Work Nevada has the highest rate of unsheltered youth. To read a summary of the Summit, click here. October 29-30, 2019 October 23, 2019 -- Opportunity Alliance of Nevada and Building Bridges to a Thriving Nevada hosted a Policy and Advocacy Workshop and Luncheon in Reno to discuss financial and economic security of Nevada families. For more information, see here.
Nevada Housing News
Give your feedback Every five years the Nevada Housing Division and several of its affiliates conduct surveys and focus groups on the current state of fair housing and community development throughout Nevada. We then compile this information and based on the successes, challenges, and barriers identified through these surveys develop a five-year plan called the Consolidated Plan and the Impediments to Fair Housing in which we indicate funding priorities that we will dedicate federal and state funding towards. Please follow the links below to participate in these two important surveys.
Reno City Council: The Reno City Council met on October 23rd. There were several housing items:
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Las Vegas City Council Recommending Committee
On December 2, discussed Bill No. 2019-44 , which would authorize the Director of the Department of Operations and Maintenance to determine and designate hours of cleaning for public sidewalks. During such designated and noticed hours of cleaning, no person shall sit, lie, sleep, camp, or otherwise obstruct the cleaning of the designated public sidewalks. For more information, see here.
Clark County Board of Commissioners
Met on November 19 and approved two Interlocal Agreements between Clark County and City of North Las Vegas to provide $984,254 in FY 2018/2019 HOME Investment Partnerships ("HOME") Program funds and $402,527 in 2019 Low Income Housing Trust Fund program funds to the City of North Las Vegas for affordable housing purposes. The Board also approved the submission of the renewal grant application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for Stability, Tenancy, Access, Restore Permanent Supportive Housing by Clark County Social Service to provide permanent supportive housing and critical supportive services to households experiencing homelessness.
Las Vegas City Council
Met on November 6 and passed an ordinance “prohibiting camping, lodging, and similar activities within any public right-of-way adjacent to residential property, within specified districts of the city of Las Vegas, or within five hundred feet of any receiving dock of a food processing facility.” For media coverage of the meeting, see here.
Henderson City Council:
On October 1 , the Henderson City Council met to approve a Interlocal Agreement “between the City of Henderson and Nevada Housing Division (NHD), Department of Business and Industry, to allocate 2020 Account for Affordable Housing Welfare Set-Aside funds, in the amount of $122,241.48, to assist the City in developing affordable housing projects to benefit families at or below the sixty percent Area Median Income Level.”
Clark County Commission:
On October 15, the Clark County Board of Commissioners met and received an update on the Clark County Strategic Response to Support Southern Nevada's Plan to End Homelessness and to address affordable housing pursuant to Assembly Bill 309. During the presentation, the Commissioners heard that “Sixty families have been placed in transitional housing in the Las Vegas Valley since September 1, months after Clark County approved $9.8 million in marijuana business licensing fees to address homelessness.”
Las Vegas City Council:
On November 6 (9 am), the Las City Council will meet to discuss a new ordinance “aimed at getting the city’s homeless population off the streets and connected with services.” Several homeless advocate and community groups oppose the ordinance. To find out more about the ordinance and/or how to get involved to weigh in on the ordinance, please contact Emily Paulsen, Executive Director of the Nevada Homeless Alliance/Policy Committee on Homelessness. Note: The Nevada Housing Coalition (NHC) is not taking a position on the ordinance; several members of NHC’s Policy Committee do oppose the ordinance.
Links to Nevada Housing Info
Las Vegas’ homeless camping ban faces legal, logistical hurdles (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/21/2019)
Las Vegas shelters deal with capacity issue amid proposed homeless ordinance (Fox News, 10/21/2019)
Pot fees paying dividends for Clark County’s homeless (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/16/2019)
Survey Offered for Nevada Residents on Housing Concerns (Ely Times, 10/18/2019)
City Of Elko Works To Protect Homeless As Cold Weather Arrives (KNPR, 10/18/2019)
How do we House the Homeless? (Desert Companion, 10/2019)
Train to Victorville will eat into affordable housing financing (Nevada Current, 10/17/2019)
Nevada's latest nine-figure bond sale expected to bring 200 senior housing units to Reno (RGJ, 10/14/2019)
Las Vegas Homeless Ordinance Stirs Community Concerns (Nevada Independent, 10/4/2019)
Advocates Push Reno Leaders For Affordable Housing Help (KNPR, 09/25/2019)
Relocating to Northern Nevada: Housing demand at an all-time high (Northern Nevada Business, 092/7/2019)
Links to National Housing Info
Inclusionary zoning will exacerbate the Twin Cities Affordable Housing Shortage (opinion)
Kamala Harris, Maxine Waters release $100 billion affordable housing bill
State Leaders Announce Major Affordable Housing Initiatives (Minnesota)
Voter-Approved SJ Affordable Housing Project Will Provide Homes For Hundreds Of Homeless People (CBS, 10/21/2019)
SF voters will weigh $600 million affordable housing bond, the biggest in city history (San Francisco Chronicle, 10/20/2019)
Gov. Newsom Named in Federal Lawsuit Targeting New Statewide Rent Control Law (California Globe, 10/1/2019)
Newsom signs California rent cap bill to protect tenants (LA Times)