Who Is the Loveland Affordable Housing Task Force?
What are They Asking You to Sign?
On February 1, I received an email from a Loveland resident asking about an email they had received, requesting that they sign a letter supporting affordable housing in Loveland.
The letter was from The Loveland Affordable Housing Task Force (LHATF). (Note that the letter's contents appear to have been edited since original it was originally published).
My first thoughts were, who is on this task force? Is it an official Loveland commission or board? Is it a part of the City? My thoughts were echoed by other residents who reached out, all essentially wondering what this was about, who is funding it, and what the goal of the letter is. These are legitimate questions, and the emails and ads didn’t offer much information.
Timeline and Ad Spend
On February 1, the website certainly didn’t offer any answers. On Wednesday, February 14th, the website was updated to include participants in the “ad hoc,” working group.
As of today, the image below is a summary of ad spending on Meta (Facebook) for the Loveland Affordable Housing Task Force:
The only clues offered were the location address under the email offered for the task force. That address, 375 W 37th St # 200, Loveland, CO 80538, is the same address as The Loveland Housing Authority.
A familiar song began playing in my head.
After quite a few Googles, I finally found a slide from a presentation given to City Council with a slide listing members:
Like every tip I receive for TLV, that I can spend time on, the first steps of research felt like standing on the edge of a barely frozen pond, tossing a stone to test the strength of the ice, and watching the stone sink, ice cracking in six directions at once.
A Reminder About ‘Behind the Voice’
There is always more to every story and it is frequently difficult to know when to stop and publish it.
This post, like all Substack posts, readers should consider this a “half-baked” article, knowing that the fully finished article will be published free of cost to the reader when it is finished.
Here, alternatively, you can follow along with our process, learn the answers to questions we have discovered, as well as the questions I still haven’t been able to answer. These behind-the-scenes insights are offered for a cost that allows us to continue to provide The Loveland Voice free of charge to all readers.
On Process
Once I received the email, I started looking into the LAHTF. I found the website and the letter, but I couldn’t find a list of members.
I answered quite a few phone calls from residents who had received the email requesting that they sign on to this letter and more who had not received the email request, but had seen advertisements on a Facebook page from LAHTF, created by Strategic Digital Solutions. Because Meta (Facebook) requires page transparency about social issues, it isn’t clear to me how an unofficial group can be running ads on the platform.
“Housing is Agnostic”
I requested interviews with several people in the “core group,” of the Loveland Affordable Housing Task Force, and several members of City Council.
I spoke with Leah Johnson, on February 5th and again on February 15th. Johnson serves as a paid facilitator for the LAHTF through the company she co-owns with Tom Lucero, Antler Solutions.
What I learned:
The Loveland Affordable Housing Task Force was created by invitation of Jeff Feneis, Executive Director of the Loveland Housing Authority.
The creation of LAHTF followed a City Council meeting in 2020, during which Mayor Jacki Marsh asked Feneis to look further into housing for the “Missing Middle.”
Funding for studies is provided via a “pass the hat,” model.
There are no official members of the LAHTF. This is the list that Johnson provided:
Hi Jessica,
Here is the core group that shows up regularly:
Sam Betters- former LHA (Loveland Housing Authority) ED (Executive Director) David Gregg- Mission Homes
Eric Hull- LHA
Eli Scott-Erion Foundation
Trish Warner-Affordable Housing Commission
Tami Lien- Affordable Housing Commission
Alison Hade -COL (City of Loveland)
Brett Limbaugh-COL
Cindi Werner-Habitat for Humanity
Jeff White- Habitat for Humanity
Don Marostica-Retired Real Estate House District 51 Representative
Frankie Cole-ANB Bank
Jennifer Swanty- Affordable Housing Commission
Jammie Sabin- Aspen Homes
Kim Perry- McWhinney
Michelle Ackerman- Habitat for Humanity
Megan Ferguson- Impact Development Fund/Impact Development Builders Robert Dehn- Dehn Real Estate
Rod Wensing-COL
Alea Rodriguez- Larimer County
Questions and Answers
Q (TLV) Is LAHTF an official extension of the City of Loveland?
A: No. It was not created by City Council, voted upon, or appointed by any authority. It is essentially a working group that provides information to the Council if and when that is allowed. Further, the Loveland Housing Authority is not an extension of the City of Loveland. However, the Board of Directors of LHA is considered an official Commission of the City.
LHA does receive state, federal, and local funds via the Loveland Housing Development Corporation (LHDC), a 501c3 partner connected to LHA.
Q: (TLV) How are members selected?
A: (Leah Johnson) “This has been an ad hoc, very informal group, so we have had new people join us based on interest. There is nothing formal in place.”
Q: (TLV) Historically has the LAHTF ever posted public notice of meetings? Are members bound by open meeting laws in your opinion? Why or why not?
A: (Leah Johnson) “Not officially is the answer to the first question; again, it has truly been ad hoc.”
Q: (TLV) Are considerations made for diversity and inclusivity?
A: (Leah Johnson) “I can only speak personally, but diversity and inclusion are always important to me, so any degree where it can be considered is very important.”
In Sum
To summarize my findings at this point in my research: The LHATF is made up of a community of experts with representatives from the City of Loveland, developers, nonprofit organizations, and potential funders (bank representatives).
The LHATF has no official authority. Members are not selected or even considered members, necessarily. This body was not selected by City Council, voted on or approved.
In separate interviews, when I asked three different professionals who are connected to LAHTF about where LAHTF derives authority from, each referred me to a comment made by Mayor Jacki Marsh in either 2020 or 2021 asking for more work from LHA about finding inclusionary housing for the, “missing middle.” (More on this, later).
“We’re Developers”
… Said LHA Director Jeffrey Feneis, of the LAHTF during an hour long interview last week. Feneis answered my questions and provided background and history about LAHTF, LHA and LHDC. I appreciate his patience, as it was a lot to wrap my head around.
According Feneis, LHA did not pay for the first study conducted in 2021, but the City of Loveland did. (See a full list of funding sources for the 2021 and 2023 studies, here.)
“The funding for that study was run through LHDC. The City, plus McWhinney, Community Foundation, Erion Foundation and Don Maristico all funded that study.
“The City of Loveland is the biggest funder,” he said.
Another Perspective
Several days before TLV received the email requesting sign-on to the letter being circulated by LAHTF, Sarah McKeen, Chair of the Loveland Planning Commission brought up the issue in a thread on Facebook: had this to say on Facebook:
“I did a bit of my own digging into this study last year when they (LAHTF) kept using this one particular data point to support the need for MORE housing in Loveland.
They say, 77% of people that work in Loveland don’t live in Loveland. They say that is because they can’t afford to live in Loveland. I asked where that number came from. It’s from this study. I found the section they were talking about, which included those numbers, but NOT any direct correlation to that number and affordable housing (because you can’t KNOW that’s why people aren’t living and working in Loveland).
I read that they got the data from Census data and I found the data source myself. So I decide I’ll compare Loveland’s data (which I pulled myself to ensure it was correct) to the same information from Fort Collins and Greeley. I’m assuming that if people truly are commuting so much into Loveland because of the cost of housing, that issue would be worse in Fort Collins (because rent and home prices are higher there) and better in Greeley (because it’s cheaper there).
Well, that wasn’t the case. Fort Collins had the lowest percentage of people working in their city and living somewhere else @ 58%, Greeley had slightly more people (but less than Loveland’s 77%) working their but living elsewhere at 61%. It’s just so interesting how data can be presented in a way that tells the story you want to tell, even if that isn’t the actual story.”
Mayor Marsh Responds
I spoke with Mayor Jacki Marsh and asked her about her comment that several members of the LAHTF directed me to when I asked where the impetus of the task force started, and where it derives authority.
“I don’t have the authority to do that (request a task force). Maybe I rallied energy for it,” said Marsh.
Mayor Marsh said she did not receive the email about the sign-on letter, and said she didn’t know it was being circulated.
Marsh emphasized the need for affordable housing in Loveland and shared several key issues, including allowing additional dwelling units (ADUs) on properties, reducing the square footage of properties that can be considered “single-family” homes, and increasing the number of unrelated people who can share a residence.
“We are doing a lot in Loveland,” she said. “We need to continue to think outside the box.”
“Housing insecurity is an important issue for everyone in Loveland.”
Councilor Erin Black, Ward 3, a former member of the Ad Hoc Community Trust Commission, shared her perspective on the issues around transparency and affordable housing.
“There’s no trust right now, and (as a leader) you can’t take it personally,” said Black.
“The immediate concern and distrust is, let’s face it, generated by allegedly nefarious things that have been done in the past. People are paying attention, and they want information. They should have it,” said Black.
“Our job is to make our processes transparent. Then we can earn more trust.”
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