CHESS Committee Meeting: CDBG Compliance and Affordable Housing Trust Fund Ordinance - September 30, 2026

The CHESS (Community Development, Housing, Education, Social Services, State & Commerce) Committee met on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at 6:31 p.m. in the Republican Caucus Room and via Zoom. Co-Chairs Maureen Pollack and Stephanie Sylvestre presided. The meeting focused on two agenda items: a review of Stamford's non-compliance with CDBG expenditure requirements and an ordinance amendment for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Discussion Items

• CDBG Non-Compliance (Item CHESS32.021): The committee continued its review from the prior meeting. Anita Carpenter clarified that the Law Department was not sitting on 52 contracts; rather, the Grants Department was awaiting a template. Anthony Romano, Director of Administration, reported that process issues (submission, tracking, assignment, communication) had been identified and a clearer process established. Moira Sawch announced that HUD approved the City's workout plan on September 21, 2026, and the PY52 funding agreement was received the next day. She stated that public service agreements for PY50 and PY51 were substantially completed, and a template for public infrastructure agreements had been approved that afternoon. The committee asked about the annual grant cycle, reimbursement processes, and accumulated unspent balances. No vote was taken on this item.
• Affordable Housing Trust Fund Ordinance (Item CHESS32.024): President Ramya Shaw introduced the proposed ordinance changes. Ralph Blessing and Emily Gordon provided background. Key proposed changes included: reducing the number of trustees from 7 to 5, adding 3 alternates, changing ex-officio membership (removing Land Use Bureau Chief, Zoning Board Chair, Director of Social Services, and Board of Finance member; adding a Planning Board member), broadening qualifications for public members (removing requirement to live in affordable housing), reducing the quorum from 5 to 3, and increasing the threshold requiring Board of Representatives review from $100,000 to $1 million. Discussion covered tenant representation, conflicts of interest, land acquisition, and the $1 million threshold. An amendment was made to change "the Board" to "the Board of Trustees" on page 4, section 2.

Key Outcomes

• Amendment Vote: A motion to amend page 4, section 2 by substituting "the Board of Trustees" for "the Board" passed 8-0-0 (Pollack, Sylvestre, Gross, McKeown, Price, Walston, Wirz, Yeager in favor).
• Ordinance Approval: A motion to approve the ordinance for publication as amended (including the substitution of the draft with all highlighted changes and the evening's amendment) passed 7-0-1 (Pollack, Sylvestre, Gross, McKeown, Price, Wirz, Yeager in favor; Walston abstained). Rep. Walston stated she would abstain until she received answers to additional questions. Rep. de la Cruz asked about legal review; it was noted that the draft had been reviewed by the Law Department and the email response would be added to the record, though the amendment made that evening had not been part of that prior review.
• The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 p.m.