The Santa Clara County Housing Authority needs a shakeup. Dealing with federal rental vouchers and other programs for low-income residents, the authority’s appointed governing board is autonomous from both the county and the city of San Jose. The joint authority manages about $300 million in federal Housing and Urban Development funds granted to the county and the city. It should be governed by publicly-accountable elected officials from both.Talks are under way to make that happen, but it was a rocky start.An impatient County Supervisor Cindy Chavez jolted things into gear two weeks ago by proposing a unilateral county takeover of the authority — without consulting the city first — and aiming for a vote Oct. 17. Fortunately, that will be postponed, and discussions among top level city, county and housing authority staff this past week left everyone hopeful that agreement can be reached.

Source: Editorial: Santa Clara County Housing Authority takeover