The inaugural, independent Broomfield Housing Authority has been commissioned with the first five members. 

The Housing Authority was created to advise the City Council on affordable housing and related issues and will replace Broomfield’s Housing Advisory Committee, which was decommissioned by the City Council Tuesday, effective Dec. 31. The Broomfield Housing Authority will begin Jan. 1, 2022.

Of the five unpaid members, three will serve four-year terms and two will serve two-year terms. There were nine applicants for the position and all were nominated for the board during Tuesday’s Council meeting, meaning the Council each voted electronically to select five from the nine.

In the first round of voting, applicants Bob Munroe, Alan Feinstein and Nicholas Rosenbeck each received more than six votes and were commissioned into four-year terms. 

In the second round of voting, applicants Joy Castillo and Linda Fahrenbruch received enough votes and were appointed to two-year terms. 

“The fact that we have so many interested and qualified residents is what makes Broomfield such a great place to live,” Mayor Guyleen Castriotta said prior to the Council’s vote.

The city and county was looking for board members with a diverse range of experiences, including housing development/management, development finance, housing policy and advocacy and lived experience with housing insecurity.

Munroe has lived in Broomfield for 24 years and currently serves on Broomfield’s Health and Human Services Advisory Committee. He’s worked in affordable and attainable housing finance and development since 1997, his application states. From 2012-2020 he served as a founding partner in Solvera Affordable Housing Advisors, a financial services and real estate development firm that serves nonprofit and housing authority-owner/operators of affordable rental housing.

Feinstein has lived in Broomfield for 10 years and currently serves on Broomfield’s Health and Human Services Advisory Committee. He has worked for housing authorities in Boulder and Jefferson counties and Englewood spanning 38 years and was an original member of Broomfield’s Housing Advisory Committee. 

“I have worked with seniors, families, handicapped and disabled persons who all had experience in housing insecurity, poverty or homelessness during my 38 years of work experience,” his application reads.

Rosenbeck has lived in Broomfield for one year and currently works for a Denver general contractor that builds affordable housing, his application states.

“In being involved with affordable projects it has afforded me the opportunity to gain a broad knowledge of construction and affordable housing,” his application continues. He works in construction estimating and helps establish and maintain budgets for affordable housing projects, including projects that have received tax credits.

Castillo has lived in Broomfield for eight years and has spent the last year on the Broomfield Housing Advisory Committee. 

“I feel like between the 18 years I spent housing insecure and my 20 year long real estate career, I have a lot to add to conversations about housing-specifically to affordable and attainable housing,” she wrote in her application, later adding, “In short, no community can truly thrive without all its members’ ability to access housing.”

No community can thrive without all members having the ability to access housing, she added.

Fahrenbruch has lived in Broomfield for 43 years and currently served on Broomfield’s Health and Human Services Advisory Committee. She has experience in the finance of tax credit projects.

“I have had a passion for housing for a long time. I believe everyone is entitled to a place to call home,” her application reads. “I also believe that along with that, we should facilitate a sense of ownership and responsibility among those who seek assistance with housing.”

Residents Seth Patterson, Susan Speece and Logan Langenhuizan also applied for one of the five spots but did not receive enough votes from Council. Applications can be viewed online.

The Housing Authority will be funded through a grant from the city and county.

“One of the sources of the funds for the initial, and potential future grants will be proceeds from cash-in-lieu payments, which are held in a fund established with the passage of the Inclusionary Housing Zoning Ordinance 2100,” the corresponding council memo explains. 

The estimated cash-in-lieu balance projected as of Jan. 1, 2022 is about $4,159,425, and the anticipated amount to be allocated and transferred to the Housing Authority would be $3 million, the memo states.

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