Leveraging Local Government to Achieve Healthy Housing Goals: A Case Study of Municipal Advisory Councils in

Unincorporated Communities

Ally BeasleyASPPH/US EPA Office of Children’s Health Protection

Project Conducted: UC Berkeley School of Public Health and UC Berkeley School of Law

Presentation Roadmap• Short discussion• Overview of unincorporated communities• Unincorporated communities in California

– Short video– Health and housing issues

• About the MAC project• MAC case study: South Modesto• Process evaluation• Recommendations and next steps• Resources

Discussion: Defining Community

• 5 minutes: Discuss the following questions with your neighbor.1. What does it mean to you to be part of a community? How

do you define “community?”

2. What are some of the benefits or services you expect as a member of your community?

3. What do you do if those expectations are not met? What avenues do you have/use for addressing concerns in your community?

Defining Community

• Shared geopolitical boundaries?

• Shared sense of responsibility?

• Shared government?

• Shared social values?

• Shared demographic characteristics?

Image: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/dert/programs/justice/

Unincorporated Communities: Overview

• Not included in city boundaries, do not receive city services• Some very wealthy, many very low-income • US border region: colonias

Photo credit (left to right): http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2010/10/daviod-bacon-the-people-of-the-central-valley-2-a-photographic-look-at-the-diverse-communities-of-ca.html and http://www.businessinsider.com/richest-neighborhoods-in-america-2014-2?op=1

Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities (DUCs) in California

• California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Definition:– Disadvantaged Communities:

“communities with an annual median household income that is less than 80 percent of the statewide annual median household income (Water Code Section 79505.5).

– Disadvantaged unincorporated communities (DUCs): “a territory that constitutes all or a portion of a “disadvantaged community” including 12 or more registered voters or some other standard as determined by the commission.“ (OPR, 2012).

DUCs in California

Short Video: Unincorporated California

Source: http://californiawatch.org/node/15614

California Unincorporated Communities by the Numbers

•California total unincorporated: Approx. 2100+

•California DUCs: Approx. 438 to over 800+

•Total population in CA DUCs: Approx.1.8 million+

•Median Household Income in CA DUCs: Estimates range from under 10k/year to about 50k/year-but many households are home to multiple families

Types of DUCs in California

Image credit: Juan Carlos Cancino, CRLA/CEI

Health and Housing Concerns in California DUCs

Photos: sfgate.com(left) and Californiawatch.org (right bottom), Max Whitaker (top right

Municipal Advisory Councils: Beginnings

• Originated in 1967 in East Palo Alto, CA, a socioeconomically disadvantaged unincorporated area, as an avenue for community participation in addressing degraded infrastructure and economic downturn

• Officially created by County Board of Supervisors under 1971 CA Government Code section 31010, which paved way for creation of 107 MACs in California as of 2013.

Municipal Advisory Councils: Basics• Members are appointed or elected by community (typically

elected)• Governing bodies but do not have fiscal authority or

administrative organization• Other states have some similar organizations and structures,

but CA statutory provision is unique• Bidirectional: council members act as conduit between

county governments and community members. MACs serve as “county towns”

• Land use planning, including annexation and city service provision, is one of the most common areas addressed by MACs

Municipal Advisory Councils Serving Central Valley DUCs

•Currently 27 MACs in the Central Valley, 16 of which serve DUCs•Median household income is 37,804.50 but standard deviation is 15,711.49!•Over 50% latino, many serve farmworker communities

Growth of MACs in Central Valley, 1976-2010

Municipal Advisory Councils: The Case Studies

• Part of broader efforts working in unincorporated areas in Central Valley through Environmental Justice Practice Project and CA Rural Legal Assistance

• Follow-up from 1977 report from CA Office of Planning and Research surveying existing municipal advisory councils in California, but this report did not specifically address DUCs

Case Studies: Big Questions

• What replicable insights into avenues for community participation and infrastructural improvements can we glean from the relatively recent formation of MACs in Central Valley Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities?

• What inequities still persist in the structure and function of MACs serving DUCs that need to be addressed, and how might we address them moving forward?

Case Studies: Process

• Review of census data• Interviews with MAC members and county

supervisors• Review of MAC bylaws, previous CRLA and OPR

reports and research• Oral history projects with Central Valley DUC

residents• Door-to-door surveys about housing, community, and

infrastructure needs in Parklawn

South Modesto MAC Basics

South Modesto MAC Basics

• Serves Bret-Harte, Parklawn, and North Ceres (formerly Shackelford also)

• Unique: serves collection of unincorporated islands vs. single CDP

South Modesto MAC Basics

• Founded in May 2006

• 5 elected council members with 4-year terms

• Advise the Board of Supervisors on matters of public health, welfare, safety, planning, and public works

• Monthly meetings with county supervisor, law enforcement, public health and public works

South Modesto MAC DemographicsBret Harte

Population: 5152% Black: 1.0%% Latino: 82.9%% White: 47.4%% Asian: 0.8%Median HHI: $30,833 % Below Poverty: 38.1%%Male: 48.5%% Female: 51.5%%Rentership: 45.3%

ParklawnPopulation: 1337% Black: 1.6%% Latino 81.5%% White: 50.3%% Asian: 0%Median HHI: $32,902 % Below Poverty: 29.1%%Male: 49.1%% Female: 50.9%% Rentership: 50.4%

South Modesto MAC Accomplishments

• Parklawn sewer project– Stanislaus County laid sewer mains in neighborhood streets last

year, but lacked funds to connect to homes after dissolution of redevelopment funds. MAC worked with county on $4.95 million grant through Clean Water State Revolving Fund, will connect to Modesto wastewater 2014

• Enhanced law enforcement response

• Increased sense of social capital and collective efficacy

• Annexation of Shackelford– MAC activity enabled Shackelford community (one of poorest CDPs

in the US) to meet city standards related to storm drains, sewage, sidewalks etc

South Modesto MAC Accomplishments

• Parklawn lighting project– Streetlights

• MAC convening hosted – All Central Valley MACs meet twice yearly

• Park renovation– New playground equipment and restroom facilities

provide safe meeting space– This space is also used by community-based

organization Vecinos Unidos de Parklawn for its meetings

South Modesto MAC: Before and After

Process Evaluation

• Consider allotting a longer time frame to build upon initial interviews, schedule follow-ups, interview other key participants, etc.

• Pay particular attention to how interview questions are phrased and consider re-working what is not well-received.

• Consider ways to include voices and perspectives of community members and interviewees more directly and throughout the process in future case studies.

• Challenges: occasional disconnect in how county vs. MAC members see roles.

Next Steps

• Participatory Action Research Project (PAR) at Berkeley Law grew from this initiative

• More demographic data research and refinement• Research determination of MAC budget• Raise community participation and awarness

Acknowledgements• UC Berkeley School of Law’s Environmental Justice Practice

Project (EJPP)– Project Members Nancy Franco, Nikhil Vijaykar, Erica Rincon-

Whitcomb, and Sara Stephens

• UC Berkeley School of Public Health• US EPA Office of Children’s Health Protection• Assoc. of Schools and Programs of Public Health• Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors• South Modesto and El Rio/Del Norte MACs• California Rural Legal Assistance Community Equity Initiative

– Juan Carlos Cancino, CRLA staff attorney, CEI legal specialist, project preceptor

Acknowledgements

Resources

California Rural Legal Assistance: http://www.crla.org

Community Equity Initiative: www.crla.org/community-equity-initiative

Students for Environmental and Economic Justice at Berkeley Law: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/13098.htm

Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors: http://www.stancounty.com/board/

PolicyLink CEI Page: http://www.policylink.org/focus-areas/infrastructure-equity/transportation-equity/community-equity-initiative

Coachella Unincorporated: coachellaunincorporated.org

Thank You!

• Questions?