During the council meeting on August 8, 2022, the Town Council unanimously approved the recommendation of the Ordinance Committee to accept the proposal from K&J Strategic Solutions of Arlington, Virginia, to provide consultant support to the Ad-Hoc Housing Diversity Study Committee with cost proposal 2 in the amount of $42,560.  The consultant offers a staff of two people; Kristina Musante, JD, and Joshua Biehler, MPS. Chair Penny Jordan said that while both of the two proposals the committee received were “exceptional,” the decision was based on K&J Strategic Solutions being, “Very well versed on focus groups and public out-reach and we knew that public engagement is one of the key parts of this work,” and because of the capacity they bring with two people working together.

Prior to this agenda item, the council voted unanimously to approve six of the seven recommendations made by the Appointments Committee for the selection of citizens to serve on the Ad-Hoc Housing Diversity Study Committee, which will be supported by K&J Strategic Solutions.  Siting inconsistent information on the application, Councilor Gretchen Noonan moved to amend the motion to remove one of the names recommend by the Appointments Committee’s.  The council approved the following six citizens: Stephanie Anderson, Kevin Justh, Amit Oza, Katie Reeves, Timothy Thompson, Victoria Volent.

Councilor Timothy Reiniger moved that the Appointments Committee reconvene to select a recommendation for the seventh member to the Ad-Hoc Housing Diversity Study Committee.  The motion was approved unanimously.

The Appointments Committee has since scheduled a new meeting for interviews on Wednesday, August 17 at 6:00 p.m. in the lower level conference room at Town Hall.