Fair Share advisory committee gets canceled after transparency issues raised

A “project advisory committee” that was supposed to consult with a state contractor in determining each municipality’s “fair share” of affordable housing units has been canceled by the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) – which originally appointed the committee members – after the existence and make-up of the working group was posted online and transparency issues were raised.

Under omnibus housing legislation passed in 2023, OPM was to determine a methodology and each municipality’s fair share of affordable housing. It was originally a separate bill pushed by housing advocates like Desegregate CT and the Partnership for Strong Communities (PSC). The state essentially turned the matter over to a consultant, hiring ECONorthwest to conduct a study at a cost of $255,000, but it is far behind schedule .

While the hiring of a consultant to conduct the study was publicized in the media, there was no mention of the project advisory committee until CT169Strong – a group that has strongly opposed housing and zoning bills like the fair share legislation – posted a link to OPM’s Fair Share Study website that contained the list of committee members to advise the consultants and claimed, incorrectly, that the committee had already held its first meeting in secret and claiming that the study and committee were biased.

The Project Advisory Committee formerly listed on OPM’s website was made up of officials from OPM and the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), and advocate organizations who have been pushing for the General Assembly to roll back local zoning laws and mandate more housing, including representatives from Desegregate CT, PSC, the Open Communities Alliance, and the American Planning Association.

The committee, in fact, was not scheduled to meet until August 14, according to emails sent by Rebecca Augur, the responsible growth coordinator for OPM, but there were concerns about whether the committee meetings would be public or held behind closed doors.

Sen. Jeff Gordon, R-Woodstock, says he was informed by OPM that because the committee was only advisory in nature the meetings would be private.

“My understanding is that the group is going to meet in August and these meetings of this advisory group are not open to the public,” Gordon said when reached for comment. “There might be some summaries of the meetings, I guess, OPM created a website, but otherwise it’s not an open meeting.”

“When I heard about this it raised a lot of concerns: why are we using taxpayer money and resources and things are being done behind the scenes?” Gordon said. “I saw the list of the people on this committee and it’s really heavily skewed toward people who want the fair share [legislation] so I’m calling it the un-fair share group. That’s my term. I warned about this on the Senate floor last year that this is what would happen.”

Fair or unfair, shortly after Inside Investigator reached out to OPM to find out if the meetings would be public, the committee was erased from the website, although it still references the project advisory committee in its opening paragraph.

According to Chris Collibee, spokesman for OPM, the agency reviewed the enabling legislation and determined that there was no language supporting the formation of a committee, despite OPM having formed the committee and scheduled meetings.

“Upon review of legislation impacting OPM, it was determined that the enabling legislation ( PA 23-207, Section 18 ) does not provide for an advisory committee,” Collibee wrote in an email. “Therefore, no such committee will be convened. PA 23-207 provides for consultations during this process, including the chairs and ranking members of the Housing and Planning and Development committees.”

The enabling legislation never made mention of an advisory committee. Instead, the legislation said the secretary of OPM would consult with DECD, the commissioners of housing, and “experts, advocates, state-wide organizations that represent municipalities, organizations with expertise in affordable housing, fair housing and planning and zoning” to establish a methodology for each municipality’s fair share of affordable housing.

According to the now-erased website language, the advisory committee was to work closely with OPM “to provide direction on what considerations should be incorporated into the Regional Needs Assessments and the Municipal Fair Share Allocations,” and meet five times over the course of the study.

“While the Public Act defined minimum measures to include, the Project Advisory Committee will assist the consultant and OPM teams to develop and consider alternative methodologies and the policy implications of those alternatives,” the original website said.

However, the fact that there won’t be an official advisory committee does not mean those original groups won’t have a voice or influence in the fair share study, according to Collibee, but it also appears to expand who the consultants will be working with.

“The consultant is currently meeting with a variety of advocates and legislators representing our urban, suburban, and rural communities. After the consultant submits their report, it will be subject to the routine and normal legislative process, including public hearings and committee votes, and action by the full General Assembly,” Collibee wrote. “To the extent that any meetings require public notice, those meetings will follow all public meeting requirements as prescribed by law.”

CT169Strong posted a follow-up on social media with a screenshot of the original committee, saying “this is what CT’s citizens have to do now.”

“So are we really supposed to ‘trust the process’ when meetings will not be public and biased financially self interested parties are appointed to the committee,” CT169Strong wrote prior to OPM dissolving the committee.

According to the Fair Share Study website, a draft of fair share allocation results is due in January 2025 and a final report and presentation will come between May and June of 2025.

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