Sara Rubin here, thinking about how vast and complex the bureaucracy is that makes local government work. By the time a proposal gets to what might be the biggest vote with the most fanfare, maybe before a city council or the county Board of Supervisors, it’s usually gone through countless committee hearings already. Members of the public are welcome to attend many of those meetings and weigh in along the way. The underlying idea is that while the bureaucratic apparatus might be vast, it is transparent, and accountable to the public.
So when a mess of agencies become entangled in a way that looks like they might be hiding information from each other (and the public), and one board rewrites its bylaws to exempt itself from California’s open meetings rules and the California Public Records Act—well, that gets our attention.
Specifically, the process of the dissolution of the partnership between the Housing Authority of the County of Monterey (HACM) and Monterey County Housing, Inc. (MCHI) got the attention of Staff Writer Pam Marino, who covers the housing beat, and who wrote about some of the latest in this saga in a story that appears in the Dec. 22 issue of the Weekly.
The story lays out some of the latest troubles at the two agencies. They include a check made out to MCHI that is unaccounted for, and blaming HACM for failing to give MCHI information about its own financial records. They include MCHI’s nonprofit status being suspended by the California Franchise Tax Board. They include, perhaps most critically, MCHI losing its status as a designated Community Housing Development Organization, which enables it to receive certain funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
It’s that last piece in particular that got my attention, because this is not just a story about behind-the-scenes bureaucratic troubles and a power struggle (although there is indeed a power struggle, and I suggest you read the story for more on the dynamics of a 3-2 vote between dueling board members).
It’s important because we all rely on the machinery of local government. Salinas officials worked to get approval for a much-needed, 80-unit affordable senior complex, called Parkside I. Staff Writer Celia Jiménez reported on that project last year, and it seemed like that stage was the hard part—public comment accepted, a concept approved, funding sources approved. That building is complete and tenants are moving in, but Parkside II was supposed to start construction soon after Parkside I was complete. That’s now delayed.
Most of us have probably never heard of MCHI before, the nonprofit that should be in a position to help secure needed HUD funds—and all of a sudden, with a significant project on the line, MCHI’s problems really matter.
I know I’ll be following along in the coming months as Marino continues to cover what happens at MCHI and HACM as they split up, and more information emerges. This important story sets the stage for what is to come.