The Citizens Advisory Committee is a body charged with making recommendations to Lakewood City Council regarding the annual allocation of funds received through several programs. These programs include:
CAC deliberations are guided by Lakewood’s HUD-mandated 5-Year Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plans and enriched by input from Lakewood’s citizens, the Mayor, City Council, municipal departments, the Cuyahoga County Housing Consortium, the Cleveland/Cuyahoga Continuum of Care (CoC), city boards and commissions, not-for-profit organizations, and business leaders, among others.
Lakewood’s Department of Planning and Development manages the annual citizen participation and allocation processes and provides staff support for the Committee. The city’s Development Officer provides members with the broad array of contemporary and historic information, data, and tools required for the responsible, transparent, effective allocation of federal resources in compliance with all applicable rules and regulations, and in accordance with the needs, goals and priorities established in the city’s Five-Year Plan.
The CAC reviews and prioritizes funding requests submitted by city departments and Lakewood-based not-for-profit agencies according to standardized criteria that ensure proposed activities effectively address the housing and non-housing community development needs identified in the city’s Five Year Plan.
All funding applicants must submit a written application including a data-based statement of community need, a description of proposed activities, beneficiaries, intended outcomes and how they will be measured, demonstration of organizational experience and capacity to responsibly and transparently administer federal funds in compliance with HUD regulations, and a detailed line-item budget. Applicants must also defend their written proposals during a 15-minute oral presentation before the Committee after which Committee members ask questions and/or request additional information.
CAC allocation recommendations are forwarded to city Council for deliberation and approval by formal resolution. When City Council receives the CAC recommendations, the report is generally referred to a Committee. CAC members are then invited to attend the Committee meeting(s) for their input during the final decision-making process.
Following Council approval, these recommendations are incorporated into the city’s One-Year Action Plan for submission to HUD as the city’s official request for CDBG, ESG, and HOME funding for the upcoming fiscal year.
