Community Action Plan Task Forces

Who were the community representatives that helped develop the Community Choice Action Plan and what did they do?

In February 1997, the Towns of Irondequoit and Greece the County and the City of Rochester and Rochester Housing Authority (Fair Housing Cooperators) held a community forum on fair housing and created five task forces comprised of community organizations, business leaders and ordinary citizens to assist them in fully developing the 81 strategies created by the Housing Choice Strategy team into a specific Fair Housing Action Plan.

Issues the Task Forces Addressed

List of Task Force Members

Each task force (Housing Choice, Affordable Housing Development, Lending & Real Estate, Education, Public Policy and Enforcement, Economic and Job Development) worked on fine tuning the strategies by reviewing the current environment and how it would impact the strategy's prospects for success. Task force members also provided detailed information on resources that would be required in order to achieve successful outcomes. While the area of focus, the process and the participants were unique to each task force they all responded to the same set of issues.

Here's a summary of the issues they addressed:

How to implement or improve the strategy
Existing resources used to implement the strategy
Current players involved in implementing the strategy
Household being served/units being produced
Goal (in numbers) or measures of success, as applicable
Resources needed to be implemented
Additional stakeholders who need to be involved

After developing recommendations on the strategies the task forces completed their work in December 1997 and a coordinating team was formed to draft the final Community Choice Action Plan (CCAP). Phase 1 of CCAP was publicly released in April 1998.

Task Force Members

Task Force 1 Housing Choice

Chair: Harriette Howitt

Liaisons: Mike Hanley, Greater Upstate Law Project
Ken More, Village of Fairport

Members: Tony Califano, Finger Lakes Developmental Disabilities Service Office
Stephen Cogswell, The Housing Council
John Haire, Rochester Housing Authority
Harriette Howitt, Midland Management Ltd.
Judith Jones, Rural Opportunities, Inc.
Michelle Olyer, Rochester Center for Independent Living
Louis Prieto, Monroe County Legal Assistance Corporation
Daisy Rivera-Algarin, The Housing Council
Donald Vacanti, Monroe County Department of Social Services

Task Force 2 Affordable Housing Development

Co-Chairs: Susan Ottenweller and Rev. Errol E. Hunt

Liaisons: Bob Barrows, City of Rochester/ Dept. of Community Development
Sandra H. Mindel, Monroe County/ Dept. of Planning and Development

Members: Susan Barclay, Housing Opportunities, Inc.
Maggie Bringewatt, Providence Housing Development Corporation
Jerry Charipar, Monroe County Department of Planning and Development
Errol E. Hunt, Memorial AME Zion Church
Laurie Lambrix, Monroe County Legal Assistance Corporation
Ronald Little, Hertiage Christian Homes, Inc
Donna D. Martello, Town of Irondequoit
John Oster, Home Properties of New York, Inc.
Kristina Rogers, Rural Opportunities, Inc.
Ralph Rogers, Rochester Housing Authority
Supervisor James Smith, Town of Perinton
Carolyn Vitale-Karin, The Urban League of Rochester, Inc.
JaNeice Washington, Rochester Community Savings Bank

Task Force 3 Lending and Real Estate

Chair: Ruhi Maker

Liason: Bob Barrows, City of Rochester/ Dept. of Community Development

Members: Melissa Blount, Fleet Bank Fleet Bank
Jim Bowers, North Edge Neighborhood Association
Stephen Cogswell, The Housing Council
Denise Kirby, The Home Store
Patrick Lavell, Fleet Mortgage Company
A. Sue Lione, H W D Real Estate
Ruhi Maker, Public Interest Law Office of Rochester
Christine Nothnagle, Nothnagle Home Securities Corporation
Ann Peterson, The Housing Council
John Piper, Greater Rochester Association of Realtors, Inc.
Grace Plouffe, Town of Greece
Enrique Rivera, Gallilea Christian Church
Eric VanDusen, Group 14621 Community Association
Carleen Wade, Neighborhood Housing Services
JaNeice Washington, Rochester Community Savings Bank
Juan Villanueva, Greater Rochester Housing Partnership

Task Force 4 Education, Public Policy and Enforcement

Chair: Rev. Linda Dolby

Liasons: Mike Francesco, Jr. Monroe County/ Dept of Planning and Development
Linda Luxenberg, City of Rochester/ Dept. of Community Development

Members: Paul Baker, Media Consultant
Forrest Cummings, New York State Division of Human Rights
Linda Dolby, United Methodist Church
Scott Hecker, Town of Irondequoit
Gloria Lopez, The Urban League of Rochester, Inc.
Ellie Newell, Church Women United
Anne Peterson, The Housing Council
Larry Reichhart, Town of Greece
William Selke, Town of Greece Planning Board
Susan Silverstein, Public Interest Law Office of Rochester

Task Force 5 Economic and Job Development

Co-Chairs: Barbara Jones and Cathleen Towner

Liason: Larry Wagemaker, Monroe County/ Dept. of Planning and Development
William Clark, The Urban League of Rochester, Inc.

Members: Phillip Banks, City of Rochester Dept. of Economic Development
Thomas Battley, Monroe County Dept. of Economic Development
James Hammerton, Third Presbyterian Church
Hazeldene Hercules, Private Industry Council
Valerio Kusminski, Spanish Business Association
Nicolette Leathersich, Vocational & Educational Serv. for Individuals with Disabilities
Sarah Lenti, United Way of Greater Rochester, Inc.
John Luken, Town of Irondequoit
Barbara St John, Rochester Housing Authority
Carlos Santana, Spanish Action Coalition
Cathleen Towner, Genesee Transportation Council
Jacquie Whitfield, City of Rochester/Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Human Services