Mountain View Human Relations Committee Meeting – March 6, 2026
Mountain View Human Relations Committee Meeting – March 6, 2026
Note: The meeting transcript indicates a date of March 5, 2026, but the official meeting date provided is March 6, 2026. This summary uses the specified date.
This meeting of the Mountain View Human Relations Committee (HRC) covered updates from ad hoc committees, a public hearing and action on CDBG and HOME funding recommendations for FY 2026-27, and the annual election of chair and vice chair. The committee also addressed the cancellation of the planned Human Library event due to the organization ceasing U.S. operations.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Keith Ogden (Managing Attorney, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto): Expressed support for funding the Housing Help Center / eviction defense legal services, noting that CLS opened 77 cases for Mountain View households last year, 60% related to eviction. Also applauded the city for joining the lawsuit against new federal conditions on CDBG funds.
- Georgia Basile (Directing Attorney, Senior Adults Legal Assistance): Thanked the committee for recommended funding; reported that 77% of Mountain View seniors served are very low income and 66% are 75 or older. Stressed that CDBG funding is critical in the uncertain funding climate.
- Milton Katina (Program Director, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County): Supported the second-year renewal of $13,589 for the Ombudsman program, which investigates complaints in long-term care facilities. Reported 50 direct visits to Mountain View facilities (340 beds), 22 investigation-related, and 45 incoming calls for assistance.
Discussion Items
- Unfinished Business – Ad Hoc Committee Updates
- Know Your Rights Ad Hoc: Committee Member Lester reported that the Youth Advisory Committee expressed interest in sessions on First Amendment rights; staff are exploring community organizations to lead trainings. Vice Chair Chadwell will engage with the Senior Advisory Committee regarding senior rights.
- Civic Participation Ad Hoc: Committee Member Lester reported that the committee collected 17 English and 20 Spanish responses to the HRC civic participation survey, plus in-person notes. A working meeting to analyze data was rescheduled.
- Human Library Ad Hoc: Chair reported that the Human Library organization has ceased operations in the United States due to loss of federal funding and a sense of instability. Staff explored running the event independently but lacked capacity. The event is cancelled.
- CDBG and HOME Funding Recommendations for FY 2026-27 Annual Action Plan
- Alec (Housing Officer) and Julie Bernard (Affordable Housing Manager) presented the staff recommendations. Due to new federal policy conditions attached to CDBG grants, the city is using prior-year funds and program income (deemed not subject to conditions) and supplementing with general housing funds. The proposed CDBG public service funding maintains the same levels as FY 2025-26 (year two of a two-year cycle), with a total of $373,831. A one-time contingency of $140,000 from the general housing fund is recommended to cover potential loss of program income.
- Committee members asked about the impact on future housing initiatives, the availability of program income, and the feasibility of using general housing funds. Staff clarified that the approach avoids using current entitlement funds and that litigation updates can be provided by staff.
- Vice Chair Chadwell recused herself from the Community Services Agency (CSA) funding recommendation due to her position on the CSA board. The committee then heard public comment only on CSA (none in person, one online speaker who declined to speak on CSA). The committee voted to approve the CSA funding recommendation ($64,878 for homelessness prevention and senior case management, $18,489.54 for senior nutrition from general fund).
- After Vice Chair Chadwell returned, the public hearing was held on the remaining funding recommendations. Following testimony from three speakers, the committee voted to approve the overall staff recommendations.
- Election of Chair and Vice Chair
- Vice Chair Chadwell was nominated and elected as Chair by roll call vote (all members voted yes).
- Committee Member Lester was nominated and elected as Vice Chair by roll call vote (all members voted yes).
Key Outcomes
- Approved the Community Services Agency funding recommendation: $64,878 from CDBG and general housing funds for homelessness prevention and senior case management, and $18,489.54 from general fund for senior nutrition. (Motion by Lester, second by McDonald, passed unanimously.)
- Approved the overall CDBG and HOME funding recommendations for FY 2026-27, including the use of prior-year funds, program income, and general housing fund supplements to maintain full funding levels for nonprofit partners. (Motion by Webb, second by Chadwell, passed unanimously.)
- Elected Vice Chair Chadwell as Chair and Committee Member Lester as Vice Chair for the upcoming year.
- Noted the cancellation of the Human Library event and the ongoing work of the Know Your Rights and Civic Participation ad hoc committees.
Meeting Transcript
All right. I call this meeting to order. Welcome everyone to the March 5th, 2026 HRC meeting. I will now ask the principal management allen to take attendance by roll poll. Thank you, Chair. Committee member Lester, here committee member McDonald's. Committee member Smith here, committee member Webb. Vice Chair Chadwell here in Chairbook. Here, thank you. If there are no corrections or additions, a motion is in order to approve these minutes. Do I hear a motion? Oh right. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the committee on any matter not on the agenda. Each speaker has up to three minutes to make their comments. Bay law prohibits the committee from acting on non-agenda items. For those attending the meeting Zoom, please use the raise your hand function or press star nine on your phone to make comments. Seeing that we have no in-person and any on Zoom. No comments. Okay, seeing none, we'll move, we'll close and move on to item five. Unfinished business. So we are uh seeing uh uh progression in the uh know your rights ad hoc committee. Uh we had uh committee member uh Lester attend the youth advisor youth advisory committee, uh where we got a lot of information on what kind of uh new rights sessions uh that can uh the youth would like to hear, uh mainly on like First Amendment rights, right? Uh so we'll be exploring uh what kind of uh community-based organizations could possibly uh lead those trainings and the kind of the timeline of Windows would be hosted. Uh we are still uh communicating with their partners with respects to uh labor rights. Um uh vice chair uh Chadwell will be uh communicating with someone from the senior advisory committee with regards to uh senior rights as well. So uh any questions from the committee members with what the uh know your rights ad hoc committee is doing. Okay, see none. We'll move to the civic participation ad hoc committee. The civic participation ad hoc committee will present an oral update. No action will be taken on this time. Committee member Lester. Thank you, Chair. Um we are we have to reschedule our working meeting today where we were planning to analyze the data as a committee that we collected, but just to remind the committee, um we have collected 17 responses in English and 20 in Spanish uh from our HRC civic participation survey. We also do have um in-person notes um and other responses reported earlier in this process from myself and former committee member Sylvester and uh the other committees as well or committee members as well. Um so matter of uh doing that data analysis, and then we won't be able to bring back those responses to the committee that will hopefully uh inform staff work and our work as a committee going forward. Thank you, committee member Lester. Any questions for the committee member on this ad hoc committee? Okay, seeing none. Moving on to the human library ad hoc committee, the human library ad hoc committee will present an oral update. No action will be taken on this item. Thank you, Chair. I'll be providing the update for the Human Library Committee. And unfortunately, I have to share with you that the Human Library has ceased providing services and their operations in the United States at this time. They're an international organization based in Copenhagen, and they had liaisons in the United States that were based, I believe, on a grant that was federally funded that was then pulled, and the organization made the decision to seize operations in the US. So unfortunately, we will be unable to hold that event. Thank you for the update. Do any of the committee members have any questions with respects to this ad hoc committee?
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