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.C)jtilla thon e Ad ministrative Offices 3301 Silver Lake Road, St. Anthony, Minnesota 55418-1699 (612) 789-8881 FAX (612) 781-9323 May 9, 1995 Commissioner Dick Wedell Ramsey County Board of Commissioners 15 West Kellogg Boulevard City Hall/Courthouse Room 220 St. Paul, MN 55102 Commissioner Wedell: We are writing to express our concern about this year's distribution of CDBG funds. As you • know, the process for distribution was changed this year from a group of city representatives deciding the fate of individual projects to cities voting on common priorities. While we certainly see the potential of this new method for more equitable and accountable distribution in the future, we are concerned by an unforeseen problem created by the process this year. It is difficult to argue with the priorities set for CDBG funds; low-cost housing construction and rehabilitation is a clear need. However, the process has put our desire to meet the housing needs of our low income constituents in competition with our ability to meet their social service needs. Northwest Youth and Family Services, an agency whose work you know well, has applied for CDBG funds as an integral part of their capital campaign to secure a reliable, permanent site that will ensure the agency's ability to meet the needs of our constituents. Predictably, the increased availability of low-cost housing will increase the needs for these services. Yet, because of the priority rankings, we are being told funds will not be available for NYFS' capital campaign because they are directed at increasing the availability of housing. Through an oversight, no attention was given to funding for public facilities. To alleviate the obvious counterproductivity of this approach, we request that the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners act to reallocate $100,000 from the listed priorities to be applied to NYFS' capital request. In addition, we ask that $50,000 of the contingency