BAHFA Governance & Meetings
Governance
Established by the California Legislature in 2019, BAHFA’s mandate is to create regional solutions that meet the Bay Area's affordable housing needs. BAHFA is the first regional housing finance authority in California and works together with MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).
The BAHFA Board, which is comprised of the same members as the MTC Commission, and the ABAG Executive Board share governing responsibilities for BAHFA. In addition, a nine-member Advisory Committee provides input to BAHFA and the ABAG Executive Board to assist their decision-making.
BAHFA Oversight Committee
Learn more about the BAHFA Oversight Committee.
BAHFA Advisory Committee
As required by Assembly Bill 1487 (Chiu, 2019), BAHFA’s nine-member Advisory Committee is comprised of members with expertise in affordable housing finance, production, preservation and/or tenant protections.
Get Involved
Meetings of the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority and its Advisory and Oversight committees are webcast. To view a meeting agenda, watch a live meeting or access the recording of a previous meeting, scroll down to the Related Meetings section below, or visit the Meetings & Events page.
Sign up for the BAHFA Mailing List to be notified of important upcoming activities.
- Jamie Almanza, Executive Director, Bay Area Community Services
- Aissia Ashoori, Housing Manager, City of El Cerrito
- Efrén Carrillo, CEO, Gallaher Community Housing
- Consuelo Hernandez, Director, County of Santa Clara Office of Supportive Housing
- Nevada V. Merriman, Director of Policy, MidPen Housing Corporation
- Tomiquia Moss, Founder & CEO, All Home
- Hugo Ramírez, Deputy Director of Community Development, City of Oakland Department of Housing and Community Development
- Leelee Thomas, Deputy Director, Housing & Grants Division, Community Development Agency, County of Marin
- Michelle Whitman, Executive Director, Sonoma County Community Development Commission
This graphic illustrates the BAHFA governance structure described in the text above.
BAHFA was established by California State Legislature AB 1487 (2019, Chiu) to support the production and preservation of affordable housing by placing new revenue options on the ballot. (Due to the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision was made not to place a revenue measure on the November 2020 ballot.)
Any new revenue source to be placed on the ballot would require voter approval by a two-thirds vote. Possible future options include:
- General obligation bond backed by property tax receipts (also known as a GO bond)
- Parcel tax
- Gross receipts tax
- Per-employee corporate “head tax”
- Commercial linkage fee (only authorized after voters approve a GO bond or parcel tax)
BAHFA shares decision-making with the ABAG Executive Board related to raising revenues or expenditure of funds.