Rancho Mirage Housing Authority Special Meeting, May 15, 2025

Transcript text

AI transcript text.

[00:00:13] Good
[00:00:14] afternoon. Uh, this is a notice of a
[00:00:17] special meeting of the Rancho Mirage
[00:00:19] City Council serving as the housing
[00:00:22] authority board. Please join me in the
[00:00:26] flag salute.
[00:00:30] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
[00:00:33] United States of America and to the
[00:00:35] republic for which it stands. One nation
[00:00:38] under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[00:00:41] justice for all.
[00:00:47] Hey, we have roll call, please. Council
[00:00:49] member DS, I'm here. Council member
[00:00:51] Framberg Edelstein here. Council member
[00:00:54] O'keefee here. Mayor Prom Mulatto here.
[00:00:57] Mayor while here.
[00:01:00] I will now ask for uh any public
[00:01:04] comments. Uh Mr. Mayor, uh with your
[00:01:07] concurrence and if there's no objection,
[00:01:09] we'd like to take public comment after
[00:01:10] the staff report.
[00:01:13] Certainly. We will then go to the
[00:01:17] um to the action item in the staff
[00:01:21] report and it will be the um conditional
[00:01:25] agreement regarding crossings at
[00:01:27] Peterson Road and that will be handled
[00:01:30] by Marcus Aliman, our housing manager.
[00:01:34] Marcus, if you would please. Uh Mr.
[00:01:36] Mayor, before Marcus gets into the
[00:01:38] details of the report, I just wanted to
[00:01:39] uh make a few comments on uh this
[00:01:42] special meeting today and how we ended
[00:01:44] up here. Uh and so
[00:01:48] uh city staff uh was provided some
[00:01:52] information after the release of the
[00:01:55] last agenda uh the meeting that we just
[00:01:57] concluded before this, our regular city
[00:01:59] council meeting. and it is uh
[00:02:02] time-sensitive and so we cannot wait for
[00:02:05] the next regularly scheduled city
[00:02:07] council meeting. Uh the city had two
[00:02:09] options. Uh option one was to uh add an
[00:02:14] urgency item uh to our your normal
[00:02:18] agenda during the normal meeting or
[00:02:21] option two was to do what we are doing
[00:02:24] which was to call a special meeting with
[00:02:26] 24-hour notice. Uh the reason that staff
[00:02:30] uh decided with a special meeting as
[00:02:32] opposed to adding this item uh during
[00:02:35] the meeting uh during our last
[00:02:38] meeting was uh so that uh we could
[00:02:42] produce a staff report and uh a 24-hour
[00:02:45] notice would be available to members of
[00:02:47] the public. Obviously, uh, you know,
[00:02:49] being a special meeting and this being
[00:02:52] an urgency item, we could have just
[00:02:55] foregone foregone all that and just
[00:02:57] added it to your last meeting, but we
[00:02:59] thought uh for the sake of information
[00:03:01] and trying to give uh people a staff
[00:03:04] report that this special meeting was the
[00:03:06] appropriate uh way to go and we could
[00:03:08] still have the council consider this
[00:03:10] item uh before the time limit that this
[00:03:13] item is under. So, that's a little
[00:03:15] background onto how we uh ended up with
[00:03:18] our special meeting today. Uh so,
[00:03:20] Marcus, why don't you go ahead and get
[00:03:21] into the staff report. Thank you,
[00:03:24] Isaiah. Good afternoon, Housing
[00:03:26] Authority Board, city staff, and
[00:03:27] residents. In December of 2023, the
[00:03:31] housing authority executed a disposition
[00:03:33] and development agreement with Blue LLC,
[00:03:36] establishing site control of the former
[00:03:38] Rancho Palms Mobile Home Park for the
[00:03:40] development of affordable housing for
[00:03:42] families with veteran head of
[00:03:44] households. The development project
[00:03:46] crossings on Peterson Road aligns with
[00:03:48] Rancho Mirage's commitment to regional
[00:03:50] affordable housing needs and providing
[00:03:52] housing opportunities for all. The 160
[00:03:57] affordable units fulfill 28% of the
[00:04:00] city's extremely lowincome reena
[00:04:02] allocation and 15% of the lowincome
[00:04:05] allocation. This project was entitled in
[00:04:07] December of last year by the city
[00:04:09] council. The next step of the process
[00:04:11] for blue is to secure the necessary
[00:04:14] funding for the project which given the
[00:04:16] current climate is no easy task. The
[00:04:18] application for the next round of
[00:04:20] low-income housing tax credits,
[00:04:22] taxexempt bond allocations, and
[00:04:23] projectbased vouchers is May 20th. If
[00:04:26] the applicant does not meet the May 20th
[00:04:28] application deadline, the next round of
[00:04:31] financing would be would not be
[00:04:33] available until September. However, in
[00:04:36] order to apply for financing, the
[00:04:38] remaining funding gap of $3.825 million
[00:04:41] must be closed. Previous housing
[00:04:43] authority and city commitments,
[00:04:45] including publicly owned land and fee
[00:04:47] deferrals, were instrumental in enabling
[00:04:49] the developer to secure state tax
[00:04:51] credits, bond financing, and
[00:04:53] projectbased vouchers from the county of
[00:04:55] Riverside. However, a final local
[00:04:57] contribution is required to close that
[00:04:59] last funding gap to move the project
[00:05:02] forward. Blue LLC has requested the
[00:05:04] housing authority contribute the $3.825
[00:05:07] million in the form of a residual
[00:05:09] receipts loan. This contribution
[00:05:12] represents 4.4% of the $88 million
[00:05:15] project cost. The housing authorities
[00:05:18] contribution is essential to closing the
[00:05:20] remaining financial gap and ensuring the
[00:05:21] project has the best possible chance of
[00:05:24] developing and maximizing other funding
[00:05:27] sources. Without this additional
[00:05:29] commitment, the project risks delays,
[00:05:31] loss of leveraged funding, or even
[00:05:33] cancellation. By stepping forward at
[00:05:36] this pivotal moment, the housing
[00:05:38] authority gives the crossings on
[00:05:39] Peterson Road its best chance at
[00:05:41] breaking ground and delivering
[00:05:43] critically needed affordable homes for
[00:05:45] veterans and working families. Staff
[00:05:47] recommends that the housing authority
[00:05:49] approve the conditional agreement
[00:05:50] regarding crossings at Peterson Road
[00:05:53] with Blue LLC regarding financial
[00:05:56] assistance in the form of a residual
[00:05:58] receipts loan totaling
[00:06:03] 3,824,846 and authorize the housing
[00:06:06] authorities executive director to
[00:06:08] execute the agreement and take further
[00:06:10] steps to affffectuate the same. This
[00:06:12] concludes my presentation and I am
[00:06:14] available for any questions. Also
[00:06:16] available for questions is Mark Brigley,
[00:06:18] vice president for Blue LLC.
[00:06:23] Thank you, Marcus.
[00:06:28] Please.
[00:06:30] Uh thank you all for uh your time this
[00:06:33] afternoon and for considering additional
[00:06:35] support. Uh as Marcus mentioned, it is
[00:06:38] needed to close the funding gap so that
[00:06:40] we can compete for competitive financing
[00:06:41] at the state level. Uh, and again, thank
[00:06:44] you for considering this request, taking
[00:06:47] the time to be here today, and I'm happy
[00:06:48] to answer any questions you might have.
[00:06:51] Okay, if you want to call for
[00:06:55] Why don't you go ahead and have a seat,
[00:06:56] and we'll bring you back up if there's
[00:06:57] any uh council questions. Um, so, mayor,
[00:07:01] if we want to do public comment at this
[00:07:02] point. Yes, I will. Uh, any public
[00:07:05] comment? Yes, Brad Anderson.
[00:07:14] Good afternoon. Brad Anderson, uh,
[00:07:16] currently living in the city of Ranch
[00:07:17] Mirage. I wanted to speak on this
[00:07:19] special agenda item or special meeting
[00:07:22] 3A today. This is concerning a loan
[00:07:25] amount
[00:07:26] of over $3 million uh to this uh
[00:07:30] developer or development.
[00:07:33] Um, I'm I
[00:07:36] did shoot out some written comments.
[00:07:39] Hopefully, you received him uh at 4:00
[00:07:41] today. Um I'm concerned about uh the
[00:07:45] city manager went into detail about the
[00:07:47] uh the notice of this meeting and I'm I
[00:07:51] I don't share the views that this is an
[00:07:53] emergency uh and it should have a
[00:07:55] meeting or urgency clause uh of the
[00:07:59] special or the regular meeting uh just
[00:08:01] because this is not a city issue. This
[00:08:03] is a private entity issue and they're
[00:08:06] asking for a loan. So in theory, any
[00:08:09] organization that comes to the city to
[00:08:11] ask for a loan could have a special
[00:08:14] meeting and that's that's really not the
[00:08:16] purpose of having special meetings or
[00:08:18] even urgency clauses. Uh but that's I'm
[00:08:21] lesser than you and I don't want to do
[00:08:23] that. I'm just I'm in strong opposition
[00:08:25] to this just because of the uh the
[00:08:28] notice to the public of this
[00:08:30] $3 million loan. uh this is the city's
[00:08:34] money and uh should it be I was going to
[00:08:37] say squandered but squandered is not the
[00:08:39] right word uh let out in this fashion I
[00:08:42] mean it's like the Jessup dealership
[00:08:44] it's all it's it shouldn't be performed
[00:08:47] this especially in short notice the
[00:08:49] residents of the city yes you gave
[00:08:50] advanced warning but I'm not going to go
[00:08:52] into that again but uh it's it's not the
[00:08:56] city's responsibility to make up this
[00:08:59] short gap and it's the private entity
[00:09:02] business. This this May 20th deadline
[00:09:06] was foreseen. It's it was seen in the
[00:09:09] future. Anybody could have known that.
[00:09:11] And if something fell through, some
[00:09:12] financing, that's on them. And and they
[00:09:15] can definitely ask the city, but the
[00:09:17] city's gone to a great expense to make
[00:09:19] this happen already. So, I got a feeling
[00:09:22] it's it's already a done deal. And and
[00:09:24] it's a shame because the population of
[00:09:26] the city shouldn't be financing this
[00:09:28] type of social housing, high social
[00:09:31] housing.
[00:09:32] uh in this fashion or this manner. And
[00:09:34] um I guess I I did drive by it on the
[00:09:37] way over here today and I noticed a dead
[00:09:39] Palm Street feed was I could never have
[00:09:41] on that lot. But
[00:09:44] uh I don't know. I just I'm just um I'm
[00:09:48] against this and just because of the way
[00:09:51] it's being done. It's it's nobody's
[00:09:53] here. I'm the only person from the
[00:09:55] public that's here today and that's not
[00:09:57] okay. And uh there's people that live
[00:09:59] around that development that should be
[00:10:01] aware of what's going on and and let
[00:10:03] alone the funds from the city being
[00:10:05] being withdrew. Thank you. Thank you.
[00:10:09] That was the only speaker.
[00:10:12] Okay.
[00:10:15] Um want to bring Mark back.
[00:10:19] Okay. Uh council
[00:10:23] comments. Uh let me say this. I can
[00:10:26] start in saying that I think it's a a
[00:10:31] wonderful opportunity that we all
[00:10:33] recognize
[00:10:35] uh the obligation that we have to
[00:10:38] provide affordable
[00:10:40] housing.
[00:10:42] Um we have an opportunity here
[00:10:46] uh to assist in affectuating that
[00:10:50] development.
[00:10:52] Uh this particular project
[00:10:55] uh is most appealing. It's on a property
[00:10:59] that lends itself
[00:11:01] uh to affordable housing
[00:11:05] uh for a number of reasons. uh separate
[00:11:09] apart from the fact that uh veterans
[00:11:12] head a household
[00:11:15] uh appeals
[00:11:18] uh to the city and the public and fills
[00:11:22] the need. And so I think that if we're
[00:11:26] able to do this, and of course this is
[00:11:28] not a done deal,
[00:11:31] um the the burden still will fall upon
[00:11:35] blue
[00:11:36] uh to complete the financing. This
[00:11:39] merely gives
[00:11:41] them an opportunity to go forward
[00:11:45] because
[00:11:46] without without this help there's a gap
[00:11:50] that they probably would not be able to
[00:11:52] fill within the time frame the limited
[00:11:57] time frame that's left. So the fact that
[00:12:00] we are able to step up and do this I
[00:12:04] think is quite remarkable.
[00:12:07] Uh I want to give credit to our city
[00:12:10] manager, our housing manager
[00:12:13] uh for effectuating what I consider a
[00:12:18] very creative approach
[00:12:21] uh to solving this problem. Uh it's uh
[00:12:26] one that easily could have passed. We
[00:12:30] could have done nothing.
[00:12:33] the time element would have been lost.
[00:12:38] And so instead, we've at least taken a
[00:12:41] proactive approach. And even with this
[00:12:44] proactive approach, it doesn't guarantee
[00:12:48] that the deal is going to be made. Uh
[00:12:51] there's still hurdles to be made.
[00:12:54] And uh but if we can make uh that path a
[00:12:59] little bit easier, then I think we're
[00:13:02] doing our job
[00:13:04] uh as
[00:13:06] fiduciaries on behalf of the
[00:13:08] city. That being said, uh I will ask uh
[00:13:13] my colleagues for any comments they
[00:13:15] might have. Mr. Mayor, if I may, u we
[00:13:20] have a mandate by the state to provide
[00:13:24] affordable housing and that clock has
[00:13:27] not stopped. No ma and that's with tax
[00:13:30] credits that have been
[00:13:32] eliminated and this city has made a
[00:13:36] commitment to its residents and there
[00:13:38] are over
[00:13:39] 5,500 just seniors that are on a list, a
[00:13:43] waiting list to get into affordable
[00:13:45] housing. So, we have a mandate and the
[00:13:48] city has made a commitment to its
[00:13:49] residents to follow through on
[00:13:51] affordable housing. And if we can help
[00:13:55] with that
[00:13:56] process, I'm all all the
[00:14:00] four all four going through with it to
[00:14:03] help us bridge that finance gap with
[00:14:06] everything that's going on in this
[00:14:08] country right now and the cost of labor,
[00:14:10] the cost of materials, everything has
[00:14:12] gone up. no t, you know, limited tax
[00:14:15] credits. It it uh we have to do
[00:14:19] everything we can to help our residents
[00:14:20] and that's our commitment. Um so I'm all
[00:14:24] for this. Thank you, Mayor Prom. Any
[00:14:27] other comments? I do. By the way, Mr.
[00:14:30] Mayor, uh I've just discovered something
[00:14:31] unique about this new system. There is a
[00:14:34] request to speak button and it puts you
[00:14:36] in a queue. So I pressed that. So So may
[00:14:39] maybe we can all learn something new
[00:14:40] about this system. You're number one.
[00:14:42] Yes, I you have the floor.
[00:14:45] So, uh couple of thoughts that I have
[00:14:47] about this. First is with respect in
[00:14:49] general to affordable housing.
[00:14:51] Affordable housing is critical to the
[00:14:53] future of this city for a couple of
[00:14:54] reasons. One is an economic reason and
[00:14:56] another is a social responsibility
[00:14:57] reason. So, the economic reason uh we
[00:15:00] have uh some key employers in this city.
[00:15:02] Eisenhower Medical Center are large
[00:15:05] destin destination resort hotels.
[00:15:07] There's the Weston, the Omni, the Ritz
[00:15:09] Carlton. Now, uh, Sensei at Porcupine
[00:15:13] Creek. Now, these employers tell us that
[00:15:17] a very small fraction of their employee
[00:15:19] base lives in the city of Rancher
[00:15:22] Mirage. They have to go to the corners
[00:15:24] of this Coachella Valley and beyond to
[00:15:27] find adequate workforce. This is key.
[00:15:31] Affordable housing is key to our finding
[00:15:33] a way to provide adequate employees and
[00:15:37] employee base to our key employers. And
[00:15:39] these employers provide important
[00:15:41] benefits, economic benefits to this city
[00:15:44] in the form of uh of property taxes,
[00:15:46] sales taxes, transit occupancy taxes. So
[00:15:49] it's critical for us economically to
[00:15:51] operate a vibrant future for this city.
[00:15:53] And the way to do that is to make a way
[00:15:55] to do that is to make sure that our key
[00:15:58] employers have access to an employee
[00:16:00] base that lives in this city. and
[00:16:03] affordable housing, the approach that
[00:16:05] we've taken to affordable housing over
[00:16:06] the last couple of years on this council
[00:16:08] will do exactly that. Now, I said there
[00:16:10] are two reasons. One is an economic
[00:16:12] reason. The other is a social
[00:16:14] responsibility reason. The social
[00:16:16] responsibility reason is a lot easier to
[00:16:18] talk about. It's just simply the right
[00:16:20] thing to do. The right thing to do is to
[00:16:22] make sure that we provide housing
[00:16:25] opportunities up and down the economic
[00:16:27] scale in this city. The right thing to
[00:16:30] do is to make sure that those who need
[00:16:33] jobs and who need to live close to their
[00:16:35] places of employment have adequate
[00:16:38] housing opportunities. The right thing
[00:16:39] to do is to make sure that people in the
[00:16:42] middle have opportunities for the right
[00:16:44] housing in this city. And the right
[00:16:46] thing to do is to also make sure that we
[00:16:47] have opportunities for luxury housing in
[00:16:49] this city. And we do. We have housing
[00:16:51] opportunities up and down the economic
[00:16:53] scale. And this is a critical option,
[00:16:56] affordable housing, that frankly this
[00:16:58] council in the last couple of years has
[00:17:00] not addressed in the past. This gives us
[00:17:02] an opportunity to do that. The second
[00:17:04] thing that I want to talk about is the
[00:17:06] timing issue here today. So it's $3.8
[00:17:08] million. But the key is, as we now know,
[00:17:11] if this isn't done within the next five
[00:17:14] days, if we don't find a way to plug
[00:17:15] this gap for the blue companies, then
[00:17:17] this problem extends. It extends for
[00:17:20] months. And who knows uh if the option
[00:17:23] still exists for us to find a way to
[00:17:24] plug this gap. So uh I'm going to vote
[00:17:26] for this. I think we need to plug this
[00:17:28] now. That now that said, it is the case
[00:17:31] that this request is not for us to write
[00:17:33] a check for $3.8 million today or
[00:17:36] tomorrow or even next week. This request
[00:17:39] is for us to write to sign a letter that
[00:17:41] says that at some point in time in the
[00:17:43] future, we will write that check. We
[00:17:46] have plenty of time to see if we can
[00:17:48] find other ways to solve this problem.
[00:17:50] And that's one of the things that I want
[00:17:52] to hear Mark talk about when he comes to
[00:17:54] this podium today is a commitment from
[00:17:56] the blue companies to work with us
[00:17:57] proactively to find other ways to do
[00:18:00] this if we can. I don't know if we can.
[00:18:02] I have no idea. I'm not here today to
[00:18:03] suggest alternative ways. But what I
[00:18:06] want to know is that we'll work to do
[00:18:07] that if we can. I'm going to vote for
[00:18:09] this. I think this is the right thing to
[00:18:10] do. Those are the reasons why. Thank
[00:18:12] you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councilwoman
[00:18:14] Jones.
[00:18:16] El Cave. Uh I would just like to thank
[00:18:18] you Mr. Mayor. I would just like to say
[00:18:20] that uh I agree with all the comments
[00:18:22] that have been made thus far. Plus we
[00:18:26] have come so far in worked very hard in
[00:18:30] a short period of time to try to get to
[00:18:32] this point. It would be foolish in my
[00:18:37] opinion to not do this and to enable us
[00:18:40] to have what we need which is the
[00:18:43] affordable housing. So, I also agree
[00:18:45] that it's an important thing for us to
[00:18:47] do. And I'd also like to take a moment
[00:18:49] to thank staff for working so diligently
[00:18:51] in the last, you know, couple of days or
[00:18:55] 24 hours, however long it's taken uh to
[00:18:58] put together uh a diligent the work that
[00:19:02] they did so diligently. Thank you, Mr.
[00:19:04] Mayor. Thank you. Any other comments?
[00:19:07] I'd like to note that Councilman O'Keefe
[00:19:09] jumped me in the queue.
[00:19:12] Didn't even put himself in the queue.
[00:19:13] Well, you're in the same position that I
[00:19:14] am with council member Matto
[00:19:17] with paying attention to Well, now we've
[00:19:19] learned we've learned this new little
[00:19:20] feature. Um, I'd like to make this
[00:19:23] comment and I come at it from a
[00:19:24] different perspective. So, when I moved
[00:19:28] back to the desert in 99 and my then
[00:19:31] fiance, now husband and I were in the
[00:19:33] market for a new for our first home, we
[00:19:36] realized renting wasn't getting us
[00:19:38] anywhere. We were just starting as
[00:19:40] attorneys and we were already renting in
[00:19:43] Rancher Mirage but wanted to live in
[00:19:45] Ranch Mirage because it was central to
[00:19:47] one of us working in Palm Springs and
[00:19:48] the other working in Indian
[00:19:50] Wells. And at that time we jumped into
[00:19:54] the housing market then at what felt
[00:19:57] like an astronomical number of
[00:19:59] $245,000. We we had no idea if we could
[00:20:02] even make that mortgage. we feared, but
[00:20:05] we realized, well, at least if one of us
[00:20:07] had a job, we could make the mortgage
[00:20:08] payment. That opportunity does not
[00:20:12] necessarily exist anymore for people
[00:20:14] entering the workforce. We were 29 and
[00:20:17] 31 at the time. And we had graduate
[00:20:21] degrees and it was still felt like an
[00:20:22] impossibility to get into the housing
[00:20:24] market. Uh it was the belief of my
[00:20:26] parents saying, "You can do it. Everyone
[00:20:27] feels this way when they buy their first
[00:20:29] house or get into their first housing
[00:20:30] opportunity. you'll get used to the
[00:20:32] feeling of being stretched. And he was
[00:20:34] right. Don't tell him that. And uh
[00:20:38] without affordable housing projects like
[00:20:40] this where people can make a foothold,
[00:20:43] start to possibly be able to have an
[00:20:45] affordable payment so they can save,
[00:20:47] they will never get into the housing
[00:20:48] market. And that unfortunately is
[00:20:51] becoming the future of Southern
[00:20:52] California and even the Coachella Valley
[00:20:54] where we're believed to be one of the
[00:20:56] most affordable areas still left in
[00:20:57] California. But without projects like
[00:21:00] this, those that dream dies. And when
[00:21:03] you also look at the fact that there are
[00:21:05] families in the in Ranch Mirage, they
[00:21:08] want to get in the housing market. They
[00:21:09] want to put their kids in Rancher Mirage
[00:21:11] schools. They want to be within driving
[00:21:13] distance of job, school, daycare, etc.,
[00:21:16] hospital,
[00:21:18] food. It commercial. It is important.
[00:21:21] It's vitally important that these kind
[00:21:23] of projects that are broader than just
[00:21:24] seniors, not to discount senior housing,
[00:21:26] which is so very important, but to have
[00:21:28] this opportunity for
[00:21:30] families is crucial and I think the only
[00:21:34] way to do it in this economic day is
[00:21:36] with public private partnerships like
[00:21:39] this. I think it is our responsibility
[00:21:41] as a city to do exactly this kind of
[00:21:44] thinking and this kind of planning to
[00:21:46] make these kind of projects
[00:21:49] available despite state mandates. It's
[00:21:52] probably our call no matter what whether
[00:21:54] the Sacramento was making us do it or
[00:21:56] not. Um it was a concern back when I was
[00:21:59] on the housing commission was that we
[00:22:00] didn't have affordable housing for
[00:22:02] families at the time and that wasn't a
[00:22:04] focus. So that
[00:22:06] was 15 years ago that I was on that
[00:22:09] commission. This is just happening. That
[00:22:11] tells you how long it takes. And how
[00:22:13] many families didn't get the opportunity
[00:22:15] to get in the housing market because of
[00:22:17] not having projects like this. So for
[00:22:19] those reasons, for what I came from and
[00:22:21] what I remember, I endorse that this is
[00:22:24] a very very good plan and I support it.
[00:22:27] Good comments. You know, we all find
[00:22:29] ourselves kind of, as you point out, in
[00:22:32] that first house syndrome where I know
[00:22:36] in my case, I couldn't figure out how in
[00:22:39] the world am I going to afford to pay
[00:22:43] $82,000 for that house. And um I hate to
[00:22:48] tell you what that house in LA is worth
[00:22:51] today. Um but that's the reality. And
[00:22:55] that's where we are. And that's why Uh,
[00:22:58] we're taking this action today. U, with
[00:23:01] that being said, Mark, would you like to
[00:23:03] come back up, please? If I may, Mr.
[00:23:05] Mayor, I've got you beat. I paid
[00:23:07] $29,900 for my first That's because
[00:23:09] you're older than I am.
[00:23:14] Oh, boy.
[00:23:17] Well, I was a millionaire and I didn't
[00:23:18] know it.
[00:23:21] Well, thank you, council, again, again,
[00:23:23] for being here today. I think I just
[00:23:24] want to touch on a couple of points to
[00:23:26] summarize um or hopefully get at what is
[00:23:29] being said here today. And that is I
[00:23:32] hope that this project is in line with
[00:23:34] the city's goals as I think you can
[00:23:35] hopefully see in the proposal before you
[00:23:37] today that it really is about providing
[00:23:40] highquality housing for a variety of
[00:23:42] tenants up and down the economic
[00:23:44] spectrum. And that's really the goal
[00:23:45] here today. And it is also key to define
[00:23:47] affordable like you said council member
[00:23:49] DS in that affordable housing is not
[00:23:51] necessarily for um you know I don't know
[00:23:55] uh somebody who may not have a job right
[00:23:57] it's actually for tenants who are living
[00:23:59] working already in this community they
[00:24:01] might be working at Eisenhower uh
[00:24:03] medical center Palm Springs Unified
[00:24:05] School District uh or any of the uh
[00:24:09] hospitality sector like there are many
[00:24:11] resorts obviously here in the valley and
[00:24:13] so it is important to make sure that
[00:24:15] those workers have quality and
[00:24:18] affordable housing near the place of
[00:24:20] their work. Uh and then finally, I do
[00:24:22] want to touch on the last two points
[00:24:24] that um I think the entire council
[00:24:26] brought up, which is it securing funding
[00:24:29] if um the council votes in favor for the
[00:24:31] proposal today. It does allow us to
[00:24:34] compete for very scarce resources at the
[00:24:36] state level for federal tax exempt bonds
[00:24:38] as well as state tax credits. But to
[00:24:42] your point, the work isn't done here
[00:24:43] today. So even if we were successful in
[00:24:46] applying for funding on May 20th, the
[00:24:49] proposal before you today is conditional
[00:24:51] on us finding that financing. So like
[00:24:54] you said, there is no check that's going
[00:24:55] to be cut probably within the next
[00:24:58] couple of months. We have a lot of work
[00:24:59] to do to make sure that not only we
[00:25:01] secure that financing, but the financing
[00:25:03] is efficient and that we are making sure
[00:25:05] that costs are being fairly and evenly
[00:25:07] distributed across our capital stack.
[00:25:10] And so with that, I'm happy to address
[00:25:11] any questions that you might have. Thank
[00:25:13] you again for your time today.
[00:25:15] Thank you, Mark. Are there any
[00:25:16] additional questions? If I may, Mr.
[00:25:19] Mayor, I just want to thank Mark for
[00:25:20] underscoring the fact that this is um
[00:25:24] not lowincome housing. This is
[00:25:26] affordable housing. This provides
[00:25:28] adequate and good housing opportunities
[00:25:30] for an employee base that needs it.
[00:25:32] That's what it does. So, thank you for
[00:25:34] underscoring that. I appreciate it.
[00:25:35] Thank
[00:25:36] you.
[00:25:38] the floor. Mayor, if I may, if council
[00:25:40] votes in favor of this, I just wanted to
[00:25:42] note a correction that will be made to
[00:25:44] section four of the agreement. There's a
[00:25:46] typo in there with reference to the term
[00:25:49] uh which says 55, but there's also a 57.
[00:25:52] So, that will be both made to be 55
[00:25:55] years.
[00:26:00] Any other any other council
[00:26:05] comments, city manager? Anything else
[00:26:07] you want to say? Uh, I think from a
[00:26:11] staff perspective, this is just another
[00:26:13] example of how the city council has set
[00:26:15] a policy and you're knocking down
[00:26:18] barriers to make it become a reality.
[00:26:21] Um, so the council's had plenty of
[00:26:23] opportunity
[00:26:25] to demonstrate their commitment, but
[00:26:27] over and over again, you guys uh not
[00:26:30] only are uh saying uh that you want it,
[00:26:33] but you're actually uh doing things to
[00:26:36] take these hurdles away so that it can
[00:26:38] actually develop. And this is just
[00:26:39] another great example of that. So, from
[00:26:42] a staff perspective, we uh appreciate
[00:26:44] the council's clear policy direction on
[00:26:46] the need for affordable housing and
[00:26:49] knocking down barriers to see it become
[00:26:52] a reality because there is obviously a
[00:26:54] need within our community. Uh so, I just
[00:26:56] wanted to uh thank you uh for providing
[00:26:59] that environment.
[00:27:01] Okay. Uh any other comments? Uh the
[00:27:06] mayor prom's arm um is
[00:27:10] has extended itself over to a green
[00:27:14] button. Um and uh I believe that I will
[00:27:19] now ask for a motion. And would the
[00:27:23] mayor prom be kind enough to make that
[00:27:25] motion? I'd be happy to. that we approve
[00:27:28] the conditional agreement regarding
[00:27:30] crossings at Peterson Road with Blue LLC
[00:27:33] regarding financial assistance in the
[00:27:35] form of a residual receipts loan
[00:27:38] totaling
[00:27:42] $3,824,846 and authorize the housing
[00:27:44] authorities executive director to
[00:27:47] execute the agreement and take further
[00:27:49] steps to effectuate the same. I am
[00:27:52] delighted to second. There is a motion
[00:27:54] and a second. Please vote.
[00:27:59] Motion carries. 5-0. Well,
[00:28:01] congratulations, Mark. Uh why are you
[00:28:04] still hanging around here? Uh you've got
[00:28:07] work to do.
[00:28:09] And uh so on behalf of the council,
[00:28:13] we're delighted to be able to uh uh
[00:28:16] assist u you in obtaining the balance of
[00:28:20] financing necessary for this project and
[00:28:24] at the same time fulfilling a need um
[00:28:28] desperately for uh those people and
[00:28:31] residents in our uh in in in our city.
[00:28:36] So good luck and uh we wish you the
[00:28:40] best. Thank
[00:28:43] you. If there's no other questions, I
[00:28:46] will call for adjournment.