12-17-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF SANTA ANA LEGISLATIVE CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE MINUTES DECEMBER 17, 2013 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 11:30 a.m. by Vincent Sarmiento at the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Eisenhower Executive Office Building, 1650 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC. ATTENDANCE Members Present: Councilmember Michele Martinez Councilmember Vincent Sarmiento, Chair Members Absent: none Staff Present: Dan Maldonado and Leslie Pollner from Holland & Knight. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Meeting with Molly Ward, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director Met with the Associate Director for the White House Intergovernmental Affairs Office, Kellyn Helmrick- Blossom, along with White House Staff Assistant Elias Alcantara. The meeting covered several of the City's top priorities, including: Discussed the impact of continuing reductions in UASI funding and outlined the regional importance of the City. The White House indicated its willingness to coordinate a meeting with the Department of Homeland Security /Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHS /FEMA) at the appropriate time. Discussed the importance of having the City considered as one of the Promise Zones, a program for deeply disadvantaged areas, administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUD). Up to 20 zones will be considered in the next year's cycle of funding. Discussion focused on the flexibility of the program to consider disadvantaged neighborhoods of a city or county for Promise Zone designation - a key feature, given the general view of Orange County as a higher income region. The next step will be for the City to follow up with HUD early next year to position the City for consideration. The White House brought up a number of initiatives in which they are seeking active city input and participation, including their skills summit in partnership with community colleges, the climate change task force with the cities co- chaired by the White House Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the White House Intergovernmental Affairs Office and Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollment. On ACA, we discussed having the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Region IX officials work directly with City officials to determine the most effective enrollment outreach. 2. Meeting with Senator Barbara Boxer, 112 Hart Senate Office Bldg., Washington, DC Met with Senator Boxer's Chief of Staff Laura Schiller, Legislative Director Sean Moore and the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Director of Infrastructure and Economic Development, David Napoliello.