As part of an ongoing commitment to citizen participation, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) invite the public to share ideas and comments on four grant programs focusing on housing, homelessness, and community development. The four federal programs are sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). They are the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Partnerships (HOME), Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) programs.
Each year the agencies solicit public input as the agencies develop annual action plans for each of the programs as well as a coordinating document for all four programs, called the Consolidated Plan (ConPlan).
Commerce and OHFA held a series of public input sessions for each of the programs during the summer. They held a public input session for the Consolidated Plan on September 14 as well as a more formal public hearing on October 22 in Oklahoma City. The public hearing marks the beginning of a 30-day written comment period. A draft of the 2011 Consolidated Plan is online at http://tinyurl.com/23t5y4d. The current (2010) Consolidated Plan is available online at http://tinyurl.com/28jofsp.
Written public comments will be accepted until November 22, 2010 via e-mail, fax, or the U.S. mail. Address comments to: Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Community Development Division, Attention: Vaughn Clark, 900 N. Stiles Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73104-3234. Fax: 405-815-5344 or e-mail: Steven_Hoover@OKcommerce.gov.