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with the agency representatives. Chairperson Galvin discussed the difficulty of putting one funding request over that of another when all are for such good projects. Commissioner Kripalani commented on the difficulties he was having wrestling with making good funding recommendations when having only been a member of the commission for less than a year and thought what the commission was doing was just keeping the momentum moving while trying to understand the strategy. Chairperson Galvin discussed the juggling that takes place by Mr. Hernandez in working with agency representatives on the many different issues they are experiencing. Mr. Hernandez further commented on the agency partnerships that have been established and the work that takes place in helping to prevent an eviction, take care of repairs, or help with a homeless issue. Commissioner Kripalani thanked him for providing his perspective on this. Commissioner Fischer felt asking questions of agencies helps to better understand about their work and the services they provide. She felt it was better to not wonder if an agency had value, because they all do, but whether they were providing value to Pleasanton. She discussed her questions of ECHO Housing and Centro Legal and learning about duplication of services, and while both agencies provide counseling ECHO assisted approximately ninety people while Centro Legal assisted only nine in the same period. Additionally, Commissioner Fischer discussed the amount of funding being provided to Adobe Services, commenting on their service being important but whether the funding they are receiving was excessive based on the fact they had talked with twenty-six people in the last six months. She felt all of these were concerns that the commission needed to further discuss. Chairperson Galvin felt a decent percentage of the funds that Abode received was going directly to pay landlords and felt comparison should be made with that and an agency that has somebody representing in court for hours making arguments and taking depositions. He felt these were concerns that needed to be brought up with Mr. Hernandez. Commissioner Soby commented on the differences between Abode's Rapid Rehousing Program and the services provided by ECHO Housing, noting that providing services was not as costly as paying the rent for somebody. He felt it was less costly to provide services to 90+ people versus paying the rent for that same number. Commission Fischer noted she was trying to compare the services provided by ECHO Housing with Centro Legal. Mr. Hernandez discussed the services provided by ECHO Housing and Centro Legal noting that both provide important housing services and while Centro Legal does not provide landlord counseling ECHO Housing does provide this service, which is important, and ECHO Housing is also a HUD-certified fair housing counseling agency that has gone through all of the HUD training required by the federal government. He noted that while there may appear to be an overlap in services provided by the two agencies staff believes that the core services provided by ECHO Housing is different from the core services provided by Centro Legal. Commissioner Fischer felt she had been misunderstood and the point she wanted to make was that ECHO Housing is doing a lot for the Pleasanton community based on what has been described and what Ms. Rocha had indicated on the number of people assisted with the various forms of counseling and mediation they had provided to 90+ people. She added that Centro Legal may have assisted over 1,000 people in a number of counties but had only assisted nine Pleasanton people eight of which were provided telephone counseling. Mr. Hernandez noted this was the first time that Central Legal had applied for funding, and staff felt it was perfect time to fund this agency because the services they provide is actual legal representation to prevent eviction, and while Alameda County has not yet lifted the eviction moratorium, the agency Housing Commission March 17,2022 Page 8 of 10