Want to help solve Denver’s housing crisis? Apply for this key committee

The committee to guide and implement Denver’s first-ever affordable housing fund is still looking for applications — and the deadline is this Friday.

Eleven members of the 23-member committee, which will make key decisions about the $150 million trust fund Denver City Council approved last month, are supposed to be recruited and hired by Mayor Michael Hancock’s office by the end of October.  But the Office of Economic Development, the city office in charge of that effort, has only received 10 total applications so far.

Office of Economic Development spokesman Derek Woodbury declined to share which positions had yet to receive applications. But the low turnout guarantees there’s at least one.

Most of the positions appointed by the mayor’s office are for individuals who work in housing-related fields, like real estate development and homeless outreach, but there are also positions for one “at-large community member” and one “impacted community member.” The full list is of positions is available on the Office of Economic Development website.

In addition to the 11 mayoral appointees, the committee will include three City Council appointees and nine ex-officio members, which means city officials who are members of the committee by virtue of their positions in the city. Those members include the Office of Economic Development’s Executive Director, Paul Washington, Denver Chief Financial Officer Brendan Hanlon and Denver Housing Authority Executive Director Ismael Guerrero.

Both mayoral and council appointees will be confirmed by city council.
More information, including application materials, can be found here.

Photo Credit: Chris Gat, Creative Commons, Flickr