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BACKGROUND The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) "National Call to Action" is a campaign designed to enlist states, local communities, and affordable housing advocacy groups across the nation to commit to producing affordable housing through public participation in a national network for regulatory reform. HUD's goals in establishing its National Call to Action are: • To create a national network of states, communities, and affordable housing advocacy groups that have made the pledge to actively engage in regulatory reform, thereby strengthening the national commitment to providing affordable housing for America's workforce. • To assist states and communities in their efforts to initiate regulatory reform and increase the supply of affordable housing by encouraging the creation of state and local affordable housing task forces. • To educate affordable housing advocacy groups on the issues of regulatory barriers to affordable housing, and by doing so, empower these organizations to work with their respective jurisdictions in addressing regulatory reform. • To promote awareness of the Department's America's Affordable Communities Initiative (AACI) and Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse (RBC) and encourage states, communities, and affordable housing advocacy groups across the nation to address the need for regulatory reform to increase the supply of affordable housing. DISCUSSION The regional HUD office in San Francisco has requested that the City of Pleasanton and other cities throughout the Bay Area accept the National Call to Action by adopting a local resolution and sending a letter to the HUD Secretary in Washington, D.C., signifying the jurisdiction's participation. Copies of the resolution and letter are attached for your reference. The City of Pleasanton is already engaged in a variety of activities that are consistent with HUD's National Call to Action campaign for regulatory reform. For example, since 2006 staff has been working with a staff committee, the Technical Advisory Team (TAT that includes representatives from City departments involved in development services (e.g., City Attorney, Building, Planning, Engineering, etc.) and the Customer Service Review Team (CSRT) which is comprised of external stake holders (e.g., developers, architects, Hacienda Owners Association, Pleasanton Downtown Association, Chamber of Commerce, local citizens, etc.) on identifying opportunities for streamlining and improving the City's development review process including regulatory processes. Some of the administrative recommendations have already been being implemented; for example, the City recently hired a new Community Development Director (a new position) to oversee and coordinate development services. In addition, new software was recently purchased to better manage projects through the development process. In addition to these activities, both HUD and the City of Pleasanton were key players in the development of the Tri-Valley Housing Opportunity Center (TVHOC) which acts as a clearing house to improve the delivery of housing and services to low and moderate Page 2 of 7