Locals selected for county Housing Advisory Committee

The Committee members will advise staff, review draft concepts and serve as community ambassadors.|

Permit Sonoma has announced the creation of a 20-member committee that will advise the department on the development of the Housing Element of the County General Plan process. The Housing Element is drafted every eight years and codifies Sonoma County’s approach to creating sufficient housing for its residents.

The Advisory Committee members will advise staff, review draft concepts and serve as community ambassadors. While the committee is not a decision-making body, members’ experiences related to housing needs, constraints on housing development and feasibility of policies and programs will benefit the effort.

The Sonoma Valley Members on the Housing Advisory Committee include Fred Allebach, a renter and a member of the Sonoma Valley Housing Group; Scott Braun, the member with lived homeless experience, is part of Homeless Action Sonoma; and representing the First Supervisorial District will be Joanne Brown, a member of the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Committee who is active with FISH.

Other members include:

•Developer/Builder: Bruce Shimizu, LACO Associates, The Housing Group

•Developer/Builder (nonprofit): Lauren Fuhry, MidPen Housing

•Developer/Builder (nonprofit): Rebecca Vazquez Heitkamp, Burbank Housing

•Nonprofit organization: Mary Eble, Northbay Housing

•Nonprofit organization: Sarah Cardona, Greenbelt Alliance

•Nonprofit organization: Margaret DeMatteo, Legal Aid of Sonoma County

•Faith-based community: Diana Bell-Kerr, First Congregational United Church of Christ

•Agricultural community: Guadalupe Flores-Medina, Bevill Vineyard Management

•Farm labor: Satino Garcia, California Human Development

•Member of Supervisorial District (2): Dev Goetschius, Housing Land Trust of Sonoma County

•Member of Supervisorial District (3): Evan Wiig, Sonoma County Ag & Open Space, Advisory Committee

•Member of Supervisorial District (4): John Cash, Geyserville Planning Committee, Geyserville Community Foundation

•Member of Supervisorial District (5): Renee Whitlock Hemsouvanh, Sonoma County Child Care Planning Council

•At Large: Lisa Badenfort, North Bay Realtors

•At Large: Betzy Chavez, Community Development Commission, Los Cien

•At Large: Crista Barnett Nelson, Senior Advocacy Services

•Planning Agency (observational): Belen Lopez-Grady, Planning

The Housing Advisory Committee is an ad hoc committee that will advise Permit Sonoma staff about the Housing Element. The first meeting of the Housing Advisory Committee was held on Dec. 15.

For more information please visit sonomacounty.org/HousingElement.

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