Public Meeting 3

I recently attended a public meeting on December 1, 2008 on the 26th floor of the County Center. This meeting was held by the Hillsborough County Affordable Housing Advisory Board. Before going into the meeting, like all of the other public meetings I have attended, I did not know what to expect. I did have some idea as to what the agenda of the meeting was going to cover, but I still was not sure what type of tasks the Hillsborough County Affordable Housing Advisory Board performed, or what their main goals they would like to achieve are. After attending the meeting, many of the questions in my head were answered.

I spoke with public official Valmarie Turner in order to gauge what exactly the Hillsborough County Affordable Housing Advisory Board’s purpose is.

“The Hillsborough County Affordable Housing Advisory Board’s main purpose is to advise and make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners and Affordable Housing officer, said Turner. “We touch on issues affecting housing development, and to assist the County in developing new programs and policies.”

This public meeting was very similar to the other meeting I attended prior. Both meetings were held by Hillsborough County Advisory Boards, and both dealt with the wellbeing of the community we live in. This meeting’s particular purpose was to discuss and approve the Final Housing Incentive Plan. Many of the details of the plan were very confusing to me. I do not have much knowledge about real estate or decent pricing for purchasing a house. I understood that the plan is to be implemented in order to keep development and preservation of affordable housing for residents in Hillsborough County. I think the plan is very smart and economical, and is very fair to residents. The plan will help every single person of the community purchase and reside in a safe, affordable and desirable house.

The actual Hillsborough County Affordable Housing Advisory Board is made up of 20 members. Each of these members has a different title and duty to perform in order to make the board as effective and efficient as possible to Hillsborough County residents. A couple of the different members spoke out on their part in the Final Housing Incentive Plan. Overall, the meeting was very informative and interesting. I realized that there are so many different advisory boards just in our own county in order to better our community as a whole.

“We’re here in order to foster the development and preservation of attainable housing for those Hillsborough County residents who desire to live in safe and affordable housing,” said Turner.