First Round of Public Engagement for Plan Bay Area 2050+, ACA 1 Goes to Voters in 2024, and ABAG and MTC Receive Award of Excellence from APA California for Regional Housing Technical Assistance Program
First Round of Public Engagement for Plan Bay Area 2050+
ABAG and MTC last month wrapped up the first round of public engagement for Plan Bay Area 2050+, a limited and focused update to the regional vision for transportation, housing, economic development, and environmental resilience. For six weeks, ABAG and MTC staff held pop-up workshops in all nine Bay Area counties at community events, with a specific focus on Equity Priority Communities, to get early input on the planning process. Staff at these events also sought recommendations on the parallel Transit 2050+ network plan and heard residents' priorities for a potential 2026 regional transportation revenue measure. ABAG and MTC staff also collected input via an online survey, which was completed over 2,000 times, and through a pair of virtual workshops conducted for partner agencies and stakeholders. A webinar on updated planning assumptions will be held on Oct. 19. For more information on the webinar, visit www.planbayarea.org.
ACA 1 Goes to Voters in 2024, a Boost to Bay Area Housing Bond
Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1 (Aguiar-Curry) this year, which would lower the vote threshold for local special taxes and bonds to fund affordable housing, transportation, resilience and other public infrastructure projects from two-thirds to 55%. Similar bills have been introduced over the last two decades, but never secured enough support. The proposal will go to voters in November 2024, though modifications are expected to be made early next year (an amendment to the proposed Constitutional amendment). ABAG and MTC sent letters of support to Sacramento and lobbied for the bill to help get it over the finish line.
ABAG and MTC Receive Award of Excellence from APA California for Regional Housing Technical Assistance Program
ABAG and MTC and partners Community Planning Collaborative received the 2023 Planning Agency Award of Excellence from the California chapter of the American Planning Association for the agencies’ Regional Housing Technical Assistance (RHTA) program. The award brings state-level recognition to the three-year-old program. The award was presented on Sept. 18 at the APA California 2023 Conference in Fresno.
Public Workshops Address Questions About Possible Housing Bond Measure
More than 550 people attended two public workshops hosted by the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) to provide information on strategies to work toward meeting the Bay Area’s housing needs. BAHFA has the ability to provide new funding for the production and preservation of affordable housing. The webinar shared details about a potential bond measure for the November 2024 ballot to invest in building and preserving affordable homes over the next decade and explained how BAHFA’s work is overseen by both the ABAG Executive Board and the BAHFA board, made up of MTC Commissioners.
BAHFA Section Director, Kate Hartley, last month was featured on the podcast "Housing After Dark Episode 5: Is the Future of Housing Finance Regional?" During the podcast, Hartley talks about the history and future of BAHFA, which was created in 2019 to help solve the affordable housing shortage and has the potential to raise hundreds of millions of dollars annually through ballot measures and other revenue mechanisms for the nine-county Bay Area.
City and County Staff, Local Developers Learn About Priority Sites, Conservation Areas
ABAG and MTC last month hosted a Priority Sites webinar for local staff and developers looking to learn more about the program. Priority Sites are places identified by local governments as suitable for development of regionally significant numbers of homes affordable to people of all incomes, backgrounds and abilities. These locations include or are near essential services, green space and frequent public transit service.
A Glimpse into BayREN’s Work to Green the Bay Area featuring celebrity chef
Led by ABAG, BayREN (Bay Area Regional Energy Network) is a regional collaboration of the Bay Area's nine counties and supports a greener Bay Area while tackling local issues such as housing, affordability, and resilience. Through events, tours and programs, BayREN offers ways to participate and learn about its goals and mission.
Former ABAG and MTC Staffer Ruby Named Top Auditor at SANDAG
Courtney Ruby, who served as Director of Finance and Administrative Services for ABAG and later took on the role of Director of Administration and Facilities at MTC before winning election as Oakland’s City Auditor in 2018 and again in 2022, has been named as Independent Performance Auditor of the San Diego Association of Governments.
