Want to serve on a HALA Community Focus Group?
The City is looking for community members to serve on our community focus groups that will guide the implementation of HALA. Learn more and complete the application today! Applications are due Friday, February 26, 2016, by 8pm.
What is the purpose of the HALA Community Focus Groups?
The Community Focus Groups will guide implementation of the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) – the bold action plan put forth by Mayor Murray and the City Council to improve housing affordability and availability throughout Seattle. Residents from neighborhoods across the city are asked to participate as volunteers to inform the HALA process.
A key focus of the Community Focus Groups will be land use and zoning changes that could affect neighborhoods.
- Community Focus Groups will meet monthly, March through December in 2016, about * meetings, not more than one per month.
- 4 or 5 groups will be formed, each comprised of 20 to 40 people.
- Group will include representatives of every urban village and neighborhood vicinity in the city.
- The meetings are intended to bring about constructive dialogue about housing programs.
- Meetings will be open for other members of the public to observe and comment during a set time on the agenda.
- Meetings may also be recorded or filmed so a broader public audience can follow the process using social media or online tools.
This is going to be a really important part of the community engagement over the next year for how HALA proposals (particularly the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) requirement) could work in neighborhood areas. It will address issues that I’m sure are important to people in Roosevelt. Please see the HALA website here, and click on the link for participating in a Community Focus Group: http://www.seattle.gov/hala
We’re hoping for about 3 representatives from our urban village area who could be a part of the Community Focus Group process, and serve as a sort of liaison back to local community-based efforts. A high priority is to include both seasoned neighborhood advocates, and people who traditionally haven’t been as involved in neighborhood planning and land use issues.