Regional Housing Technical Assistance Webinar for Elected Officials
Learn about available assistance for Housing Element updates, Friday, March 25 from 10 a.m.-noon.
Planning for housing is challenging for cities and counties for a variety of reasons. ABAG has developed and provided a technical assistance program, funded by a California Regional Early Action Program (REAP) grant to assist local governments in implementing the state’s RHNA requirements. This webinar will showcase the program and the range of available technical and communications/outreach products to assist your jurisdiction.
Keynote speaker Dr. Tiffany Manuel will provide attendees with an overview of what housing means to Bay Area residents and some tools for how to engage residents in productive conversations about housing. Dr. Manuel has worked with both the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California over the past several years, bringing her research to efforts to shift regional conversations around housing equity and access. ABAG staff will present highlights from the first year of the program and plans for the program going forward. Staff will also discuss new tools available for local jurisdictions related to wildfire prevention, missing middle housing and will provide an overview of communications resources designed for elected officials and staff.
Bay Projects in Marin and San Francisco Get More Than $350,000 for Bay Restoration
The Governing Board of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority has authorized funding for two projects, one that addresses a sometimes flooded section of the Bay Trail in Marin County, with the other revegetating a section of upland habitat at Candlestick Point in San Francisco.
Each year, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority allocates approximately $25 million raised by the June 2016 voter-approved Measure AA parcel tax to shoreline projects that protect, restore, and enhance San Francisco Bay, while connecting communities to the Bay's shore. MORE
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority has New Executive Director
The San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority has announced its new executive officer, Amy Hutzel. Hutzel also has been appointed as executive officer of the State Coastal Conservancy, which provides executive officer services to the Restoration Authority under a joint powers agreement. Hutzel previously served as the interim executive officer for the Restoration Authority and deputy executive officer for the State Coastal Conservancy. She has been with the conservancy for more than 20 years, during which she has been instrumental in many key Bay restoration projects. MORE
Energy-Saving BayREN Launches New Website
The Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) has launched a redesigned website offering a cohesive and vast array of energy efficiency resources for residents, property and business owners, local government staff, real estate professionals, building contractors and more.
The new website — launched Dec. 7 — is available in English, Spanish and traditional Chinese. It features a user-centered interface that makes it easy to find the program’s key offerings. MORE
Another Way to Do Housing Element Outreach – Jurisdictions Using RHTA Program Funded Housing Simulation Tool
Bay Area residents are learning about the housing element update process via a Regional Housing Technical Assistance (RHTA)-funded simulation tool. The complexity of the housing element update process makes it difficult for residents to understand, let alone participate in the update process. And remote public engagement presents additional challenges that were not part of pre-pandemic updates.
To make this process easier, the ABAG contracted with Balancing Act to develop an online public engagement housing simulation. This tool helps residents visualize sites for potential zoning changes and housing development in their communities.
To date, eight jurisdictions have launched their housing simulation websites and five more will launch soon. Jurisdictions whose sites are live are seeing great participation with residents using the simulations to learn about the Housing Element process and propose zoning changes. Users spend an average of six minutes using the tool to – six times the national average of website users. In most jurisdictions, more than 50 people have participated so far, and the sites have only been live for a few weeks.
The RHTA program provided free licenses for several communities and negotiated a reduced-cost subscription for others. Conversations with staff using Balancing Act identified the need to integrate the tool with other technical assistance offerings for more robust mapping capabilities. This is one of the many ways that the RHTA program works to assist jurisdictions with the housing element update. MORE
California Department of Housing and Community Development Approves Bay Area's RHNA
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has approved ABAG's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Plan. After two years of collaboration, the ABAG Executive Board approved the RHNA Plan in December, then submitted it to HCD.
"We appreciate ABAG’s efforts in completing the RHNA process," the agency wrote in its approval letter. MORE
Bay Area Housing Finance Authority Receives Equitable Housing Policies Grant
The Partnership for the Bay’s Future has announced $5 million in grants focused on advancing equitable housing policies. The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) in partnership with Urban Habitat, Bay Area Community Land Trust, and Unity Council, will receive a grant which will fund a two-year fellow at BAHFA as part of the award. The housing policy fellow will be embedded in BAHFA to provide expertise on community-driven policy and build relationships with stakeholders and practitioners — connecting them to the BAHFA business plan — and contribute to the future funding efforts. MORE
A Look at ABAG's Regional Housing Technical Assistance Program
Looking back over the first year of ABAG's Regional Housing Technical Assistance (RHTA) Program, the program has accomplished much to help jurisdictions prepare to submit their updated 6th Cycle Housing Elements.
Since the project launched, ABAG has run 19 live, interactive webinars for about 2,000 attendees from Bay Area jurisdictions focused on updating their Housing Elements. ABAG has built a robust website, including launching a Technical Assistance Portal, an easily-searchable collection of resources for government staff.
ABAG has also launched seven county-based planning collaboratives to provide staff with resources and forums for discussion and provided services as varied as housing simulation tools, communications resources and numerous technical assistance products for elected officials and staff to use when doing outreach to their constituents. MORE
Bay Area Cities and Counties Get Assist from New TA Portal
Think of it as a one-stop shop for Bay Area city and county agencies to access resources they need to address housing, environment, land use, resilience and transportation.
The Technical Assistance portal has arrived. It is an easy-to-use resource that includes programs to help meet local and regional goals. It also has a searchable database that can be filtered by topics.
ABAG, MTC Name Public Finance Veteran Derek Hansel New CFO
ABAG and MTC have announced the selection of Derek Hansel to serve as the agencies’ chief financial officer following the January retirement of longtime CFO and municipal finance industry leader Brian Mayhew.
Mr. Hansel since 2017 has served as CFO for the San Mateo County Transit District, the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, Caltrain and the San Mateo County Express Lanes Joint Powers Authority, and in April 2021 was named Acting Chief Administrative Officer for the quartet of transportation agencies. During his tenure in San Mateo County, Mr. Hansel helped achieve a three-notch upgrade in Caltrain’s Standard & Poor’s credit rating, and structured financing deals secured by revenues from Caltrain’s Measure RR and San Mateo County’s Measure A and Measure W transportation sales taxes.
ABAG, MTC Tap Bay Area Housing Veteran Kate Hartley as Director of Regional Housing Finance Authority
ABAG and MTC have announced the selection of housing policy, finance and development veteran Kate Hartley to serve as Director of the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA).
Established by the State Legislature in 2019, BAHFA is the first regional housing finance authority in California. By providing new tools that can be used in new ways by each of the Bay Area’s nine counties and 101 cities and towns to solve the region’s longstanding housing affordability crisis, BAHFA under Ms. Hartley’s direction is expected to emerge as a cornerstone of ABAG’s and MTC’s expanded regional housing portfolio. While BAHFA is comprised of the same membership as MTC, its procedures also are managed by the ABAG Executive Board; and both boards must approve any decision to put a regional housing finance measure on a future ballot.
The 
The Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) has launched 
Looking back over the first year of ABAG's Regional Housing Technical Assistance (RHTA) Program, the program has accomplished much to help jurisdictions prepare to submit their updated 6th Cycle Housing Elements.
ABAG and MTC have announced the selection of Derek Hansel to serve as the agencies’ chief financial officer following the January retirement of longtime CFO and municipal finance industry leader Brian Mayhew.
ABAG and MTC have announced the selection of housing policy, finance and development veteran Kate Hartley to serve as Director of the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA).
