TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: Ryan J. Alsop - Chief Executive Officer
REPORT BY: Abigail Flores - BOS Staff Aide I
SUBJECT: Out of Country Travel Request
RECOMMENDATION
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Approve and authorize out of country travel for Board Chair Amber Manfree to attend the California-Japan Housing Innovation Delegation: Mass Timber & Industrialized Construction in Tokyo, Yokohama, and Shizuoka, Japan from November 13-21, 2026, in her capacity as a Commissioner of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. (No Fiscal Impact)
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BACKGROUND
The Bay Area Council is leading the California-Japan Housing Innovation Delegation to bring together business, civic, and public-sector leaders to explore innovative approaches to housing production, affordability, and development. Japan sits on similar fault lines and builds housing faster at a lower cost, with a focus on industrialized housing and mass timber construction under some of the most demanding seismic conditions in the world. Housing cost and production are among the most pressing challenges facing Bay Area employers and residents. Japan produces a large share of its homes in factories, with streamlined certification and approval processes, and has national policy supporting domestic timber in construction. The delegation is designed to bring those lessons back to inform California housing policy and practice.
The Bay Area Council’s invitation to Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) commissioners to participate as delegates is particularly relevant given the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) Board is composed of the same members as the MTC Commission. BAHFA provides a natural connection between the delegation and the region’s ongoing housing efforts to develop regional solutions to the Bay Area’s affordable housing challenges such as producing new affordable housing, preserving existing affordable housing, and protecting residents from displacement. Supervisor Manfree will attend this delegation in her capacity as an MTC commissioner; therefore, MTC will be funding the entirety of this trip.
Participation in the California-Japan Housing Innovation Delegation would offer attendees an opportunity to examine alternative housing models, engage with international housing leaders, and consider how relevant practices could be adapted to the Bay Area’s unique policy, financial, and development context to advance housing production, affordability, and preservation. Supervisor Manfree's participation brings a North Bay perspective, including the link between housing, forestry, and wildfire resilience.
Requested Action:
Authorize out of country travel for Chair Amber Manfree to attend the California-Japan Housing Innovation Delegation in Tokyo, Yokohama, and Shizuoka, Japan from November 13-21, 2026.
FISCAL IMPACT
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Is there a Fiscal Impact? |
No |
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Is it Mandatory or Discretionary? |
Discretionary |
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Discretionary Justification: |
The California-Japan Housing Innovation Delegation would offer participants an opportunity to examine alternative housing models and consider how relevant practices could be adapted to the Bay Area’s unique policy, financial, and development context to advance housing production, affordability, and preservation. These areas fall well within Napa County’s Legislative Platform for Economic Stability. |
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Is the general fund affected? |
No |
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Future fiscal impact: |
None |
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Consequences if not approved: |
Napa County would not participate in this learning opportunity for sustainable, affordable housing that has proven successful in other communities. |
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Strategic Initiative: |
Build Healthy, Connected Communities |
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed action is not a project as defined by 14 California Code of Regulations 15378 (State CEQA Guidelines) and therefore CEQA is not applicable.