METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION/
BAY AREA HOUSING FINANCE COMMISSION
BAY AREA RM4 $20 BILLION HOUSING BOND BALLOT MEASURE
MTC MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO CREATE A MEANINGLESS CITIZENS’ BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
SUMMARY
As part of its effort to encourage the Bay Area electorate to approve its Regional Measure 4, a $20 billion bond series for affordable housing to be repaid by $48.3 billion in property taxes, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission/Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (MTC) is including a citizens’ bond oversight committee (CBOC) in the ballot measure. However, the actual scope, duties, responsibilities, and powers of the RM4 CBOC are so limited as to render the actual oversight performed essentially meaningless.
The CBOC members will all be appointed by the MTC Commissioners, which means that they will be overseeing the people who appointed them – and they can be replaced at any time. The only real authority that the CBOC has to review expenditures to determine if they were within the bounds of what is statutorily authorized – long after the cash is out the door.
What the CBOC can’t do includes:
- Have its own staff or consultants that work solely for the CBOC
- Have its own budget
- Set its own scope of oversight to be performed or commission its own audits and studies
- Look forward to plans to see if they make sense, can be done, and/or are the best alternative
- Review the work and accomplishments of the cities, counties, and developers where the vast majority of the RM4 funds will be spent
- Examine staffing, organization, policies, procedures, and systems at MTC and at local governments to determine if they provide for proper internal control and planning and management of programs
- Audit plans, programs, and projects for program effectiveness and results
Previous pre-bond ballot issue polls have shown that including “oversight committee” in the 75-word ballot description can be good for an additional three to five “yes” percentage points. But, for RM4, the voters are being led to believe that there will be effective oversight when, in fact, there will be none.