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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-11-16 Community InvestmentOFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER, CITY CLERK COMMUNITY INVESTMENT JULY 11, 2016 4:44 P.M Committee Members Present: Gavin Ferlic, Regina Williams- Preston, Oliver Davis, Will Smith Committee Members Absent: Randy Kelly, Paul Tipps Other Council Present: Tim Scott, Dr. David Varner, Karen L. White, Jo M. Broden, John Voorde Others Present: Kareemah Fowler, Jennifer Coffman, Kathleen Cekanski- Farrand, Adriana Rodriguez, Brian Pawlowski, Pamela Meyer, Aaron Kobb, Sarah Heintzelman, Beth Leonard Inks Agenda: Dept. of Community Investment Briefing — Brian Pawlowski, Acting Executive Director Committee Chair Gavin Ferlic called the meeting of the Community Investment Committee to order at 4:44 p.m. with one item on the agenda. Dept. of Community Investment Briefing — Brian Pawlowski, Acting Executive Director Brian Pawlowski, Acting Executive Director of the Department of Community Investment on the 14' floor of the County City Building brought many members of the Community Investment team, and stated that they have had a lot of turnover in the last few months. Mr. Pawlowski gave an overview of the department and their mission statement, and his full presentation is on file in the City Clerk's Office. He explained that he served two (2) years as the Mayor's Deputy Chief of Staff, then moved over to the Department of Community Investment to work in Business Development. Immediately following, he was asked to maintain the team dynamic and make sure that the momentum on the economic development front and some of the implementation that we have going on in the City continues as the Acting Executive Director after Scott Ford left. 455 County -City Building • 227 W. Jefferson Boulevard • South Bend, Indiana 46601 Phone 574 - 235 -9221 • Fax 574- 235 -9173 • TDD 574- 235 -5567 • www.SouthBendfN.gov JENNIFER M. COFFMAN ALKEYNA M. ALDRIDGE EMILY SEXTON CHIEF DEPUTY/ CHIEF OF STAFF DEPUTY/ DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK Regarding business development, we've seen a lot of success in our workforce development program. We are trying to look at ways to incorporate folks at a younger age to create a pipeline for people who do not want to go to college. This year, there are forty -three (43) individuals enrolled in workforce development programs right now. Thirty -four (34) completed the program and twenty -three (23) have already been placed. Some don't even finish the training program, because they're placed almost mid -way through. Important to note is that the areas that were supporting those efforts mirror what you see in our economy, health care, advanced manufacturing, building trades, hospitality and CDL licensing. At this point in 2016 we're right around the area of $31 million in private development, and only about $2 million in public development. In addition to that, we've created around two - hundred fifty 250 jobs with DCI assisted projects. The second half of the year might takeoff with more momentum, because many people are waiting on the Regional Cities Initiative decisions which will take place on July 25th. Between those projects combined with other initiatives, we're looking at approximately $200 million more in private investment this year. Part of rebuilding our team effort is that we were able to hire a new Planning Director. He has a very strong eye for urban design, and he and the team have really gone a long way towards identifying the priorities in the community and how we are going to get there. He is also committed to community engagement. Pam Meyer briefly went over the Neighborhood Engagement program. Ms. Meyer stated that they are continuing efforts to engage residents and community organizations. We provide direct services to members of the community through the programs that we are conducting in house including home repair, and first -time home buyer and housing counseling. Housing counseling is not just mortgage or default counseling. The program also includes pre and post purchase counseling, where we are educating people about what it takes to buy a home, and what it takes to maintain it. We also manage the federal funds that are available for these programs. We were very successful in 2015 relative to our home repair and first -time home buyer program, with seventeen (17) new homebuyers in our low and moderate homebuyer programs, and we're on target to match that again this year. Ms. Meyer stated she has seen more interest this year than any year prior. The South Bend Home Improvement program maintains continued interest. The City only funds one (1) address and one (1) person, this ensures that we are not duplicating resources. We struggle in terms of the fact that we have a lot of contractors that are helping service this program, but they are the same contractors that are servicing all of the programs in the community, so it is difficult to do this in a timely manner. The Department of Community Investment is trying to encourage more contractors to participate in the program. Our housing counseling is one of the best in the state of Indiana and we've received awards for our hardest hit fund and the Indiana foreclosure prevention that we're funding for 2016 and 2017. The program continues to respond to a high number of households, this year we are at one - hundred sixty -seven (167) and we're only halfway through the year. 1) We open up the administration of our federal grants every year, and we try to work through neighborhood resources and get the word out to our neighborhood organizations and leaders and support their efforts. Mr. Pawlowski moved on to economic resources, which has been taken over by Aaron Kobb. Aaron Kobb, 14th floor of the County -City Building, we're focused on tax abatements and TIF analysis. We're doing the analysis on our economic development projects to see what makes sense fiscally. The Industrial Revolving Fund is one of the most successful in the country. We also just brought on a new staff member to internally look at some of the processes within our department to work on some efficiencies and information sharing among departments. Mr. Pawlowski stated that Mr. Cobb's accounting background guides his success. Beth Leonard Inks, Department of Community Investment on the 14th floor, stated that she helps support the other teams in the department and gives them information on what kind of money is available and she makes sure that the bills and the people get paid. Mr. Pawlowski stated that one thing that has been very impressive is that four (4) departures in one (1) department in a pretty short timeframe is sometimes pretty traumatic to handle. The first thing I learned about DCI is that it was going to keep humming no matter what, and we've still been able to do a lot. For those of you on Council, DCI in terms of its business incentive strategy has done a whole range of things. We're taking a hard look at what best business practices are now, and looking to build on the momentum that exists. Maybe the City doesn't have a need to be as involved as it has been going forward. We are just looking at what makes sense in terms of our business incentive strategies moving forward. Committeemember Regina Williams- Preston asked what the recruitment process looks like for the workforce development program. Mr. Pawlowski explained that the City contracts with a consultant that does a lot of the recruiting and placement. Sarah Heintzelman, with offices on the 14th floor of the County -City building, stated last year the City brought on a gentleman named Terry Stokes who works with churches, local organizations, labor unions and Work One. He gets a feel for what individuals are looking for in terms of training, and the individuals come in to Work One for training sessions and indicate where their interests are at and we try to line them up with job openings. Committeemember Williams- Preston asked if there is a breakdown of the number of people who have been helped. Ms. Heintzelman stated that it is hard for them to say, because they base it on the individuals' needs. Around sixty -five (65) people were helped this year. Committeemember Williams- Preston asked if there are benchmarks in place for diversity. Ms. Heintzelman stated that they are in discussions with Work One regarding diversity right now. Mr. Pawlowski explained that Work One can't release all of the participants' personal information to Community Investment, but they are working on a legal way to be able to share that information. Committeemember Williams- Preston asked if there has been a conversation about the City beginning a revolving loan fund for homeowners to help them repair their homes. Ms. Meyer stated that there was a program in the past that allowed people to apply for the home repair program. Some of those loans are still being serviced, but we moved away from that program because the payments were so small and we did not think it was as beneficial to the homeowner as getting a grant would have been. A lot of the properties were also coming back to the City because people were defaulting on their loans, even when we tried to offer payment plans. We know it can be done, but we also need to take into consideration the staff time and cost to fill out all of the applications. Committeemember Williams- Preston asked if Community Investment is connecting to Habitat for Humanity's Aging in Place program. Ms. Meyer stated that they have been working with Habitat for Humanity and Real Services. Community Investment has supported them with federal resources in the past, but Ms. Meyer has not been told whether or not they have submitted an application for additional resources this year. Committeemember Oliver Davis asked where we are with the Parks Master Plan in terms of the City Cemetery. Mr. Pawlowski explained that money was budgeted for the 2016 cycle for that, and they are looking to budget money next year for more of the implementation program. Mike Divita, Planner with the Department of Community Investment on the 14th floor of the County City Building, stated more advanced planning at the entrance of the cemetery is needed to make it more visible. We are also doing a two -way diversion on Colfax for that section. The idea is to coordinate those improvements together. Committeemember Davis asked if there is a summary that Community Investment could put together, and Mr. Pawlowski said that it would be a good idea to set up a meeting to go into more detail. Committeemember Davis asked how the dates for the homebuyer seminars are set up and promoted. He would like to promote them on the Council website. Ms. Meyer stated that the initial consultation is an individual meeting that takes place after the individual calls the Department of Community Investment and shows interest in the program. E Committeemember Davis asked for a flyer or something else he can hand out or put on the website, because he wants to make sure that constituents have the information they need about the great programs that are being offered. He also asked what we may have to cut regarding the TIF analysis. He was reminded of meetings with Attorney Richard Hill, when he talked about the gray areas of the General Budget that can be covered with the TIF dollars. He wants to know what we can pay small percentages of from TIF dollars. Mr. Pawlowski stated that this year they are looking at possible contenders for what can be taken from TIF funds, and the Council will end up seeing those ideas soon. Committeemember William Smith asked Mr. Pawlowski about his ideas for business incentives. Mr. Pawlowski stated that they work closely with the Chamber of Commerce in St. Joseph County and we really just have to have the sense for when a certain market can bear certain conditions. Now, the door is just open to be looking at that, but he wouldn't want to speculate about what exactly we are going to do. There are cities in Indiana that use it specifically for infrastructure purposes, and there are other cities that will use it for anything they can legally use it for. The range is so vast, and we are just now beginning to look at that. There are cities that have done a good job of doing bonding type activities, so that is also something we can look at. Committeemember Smith asked if we are looking at expanding data sources that will help us analyze the TIF funds. Mr. Pawlowski stated that there are key metrics that the Department of Community Investment keeps in terms of private and public investment and jobs. In partnership with the Office of Innovation, the department is looking at where the growth is occurring. Committeemember Smith asked if homeowners can do the work on their own and still be reimbursed rather than having to get a contractor. Ms. Meyer stated that the Department of Community Investment could look into that, but also explained that there would be added staff time involved in order to make sure the repairs that are being paid for are actually being done. President Scott stated that the investment in our community needs to be looked at on the neighborhood side. There are a lot of great programs coming out of the Department of Community Investment, but we aren't advertising them like we could be, and that's what we need. We'll put those links on our website so we can send them to a specific link on our page when we are talking to people out in the community. The Carpenters and Plumbers Unions have mentioned that they have retirees who would be willing to volunteer and help this program. We need to keep people from letting their homes slide into disrepair after they've purchased them, and one way to do that is to help people with their budgets. Mr. Pawlowski handed out examples of the implementation plan for Lincolnway West and explained that the project has been ongoing since 2014. Councilmember Scott stated that his perspective is that we've moved on to other projects and we're going to come back to it. Councilmember Dr. Varner stated that the prior administration made the decision that all future development in the City would be incorporated inside the TIF district. They did that because they knew that would create a self - fulfilling crisis at some point in time if we didn't have growth elsewhere. It is constraining our growth with regards to assessment, because all of that new assessment is in the TIF district. We are up against the caps, and there is either going to be new growth or we're going to have to look to TIF to fund things such as CSO and others. What we'll end up with if we don't do that is a lot of pretty things we can point to downtown or at Eddy Street Commons, then at the same time there won't be enough resources for the neighborhoods. Our only way to get out of this is to grow out of it. To the extent that we can utilize those TIF funds to incorporate and encourage growth is going to be absolutely essential. We want to take TIF resources and use them in the best way that we can, and I am more than supportive of that as a member of the Redevelopment Commission. I would support using TIF money to pay for Police and Fire in the 40% of our City that is a TIF area. Mr. Pawlowski responded by reiterating that they are looking at what those possibilities are within legal limits, and reminded the Council that TIFs do have expiration dates. The administration has been interested in the assessments, and there is a nationally renowned expert coming to town in August that he'll make sure to invite the Council to hear. He doesn't know that we are flat lined on assessments, but we do need to explore the options for TIF and look hard at the assessments and what that means for future growth. Committee Chair White encouraged the administration not to get too far into the TIF analysis without involving the Council in terms of updates and the opportunity to give input. In terms of neighborhood engagement, she sees an excellent opportunity to hear from the neighbors. We have to make sure that as it is moved forward, it is not set in stone before we start giving input. Councilmember Jo Broden asked how the project allocations and the dollars get reported back to the Council. Especially at a time when there has been so much turnover, it would be smart to do that. As a new person on board, there is a lot of stuff that goes through the Department of Community Investment, and she would appreciate a lot more information about the goals and objectives and the dollars associated with those. Since being here, so many large business development has been brought to the Council. Councilmember Broden asked what is the process and what are the allocations for small businesses, and how are we supporting them consistently. She expressed her sentiment that small business development is a very important area. Councilmember Broden stated she is hearing about initiatives coming out of the Mayor's Office and the Gun Violence Initiative, and she would like the Council to have more information on those programs so it can look at the job training programs more holistically. n Mr. Pawlowski offered to have a sit down with Councilmember Broden to go over her questions in more detail, but explained that the workforce ideas had originated in the Mayor's Office as a pilot program, and the Department of Community Investment has inherited the funding of the program. Some of the GVI is really done by Goodwill, but he has a heavy involvement in that as well since Community Investment is leading the GVI effort. Councilmember Broden asked who within the City staff interfaces with the Housing Authority, and if that is done through Neighborhood Engagement. Mr. Pawlowski stated that the Department of Community Investment does work with the Housing Authority, but he can't speak for them. Committee Chair Ferlic opened the floor up to the public. Valerie Mora, 4207 Norton Drive, stated that she is wondering where we are in this continuum in terms of reconfiguring our economy and bringing more high tech and higher paying jobs into our community. Ultimately, we want people to have jobs so they don't have to ask for funds to maintain their homes. Indiana as a state is touting jobs that aren't going to be here in the next ten (10) years as our hot jobs. South Bend should step up as a leader in bringing other jobs in. We need to improve our communication across the board. Charlotte Pfeifer, 1013 West Washington Street, asked if Mr. Pawlowski said that he was unable to give the statistics of the Workforce Development people, and she wanted to encourage the City to be conscious and deliberate in regard to communities of color. If you're not conscious and deliberate, it just won't happen. You'll be well- intentioned, but it won't happen. She stated she has not seen any Ethiopian restaurants downtown. If recruiting police officers and fire fighters of color is not - conscious and deliberate, it won't happen. If we don't replace our baby boomers with people that look like this community, we will have difficulties. Mr. Pawlowski responded that the workforce programs that exist now try to mirror what is needed in the local economy. The City is also partnering with schools. The City has partnered with Work One, and as an organization they are unable to release some of their private information to us. Committeemember Davis requested that minority contractors be looked at with regard to the contractors working with the City to repair homes. With no other business on the agenda, Committee Chair Ferlic adjourned the meeting at 5:44 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Gavin Ferlic, Chairperson 7