New Haven Independent

Posted by: charlie | January 22, 2008 2:39 PM

Let's hope that the "spirit of cooperation" continues much more quickly than it has.

We are going into a recession, and our elected officials are just sitting on land that is potentially worth thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue. The lack of foresight is just incredible.

Why aren't these people meeting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to resolve this issue? Are we not paying them to serve us?

Posted by: DingDong | January 22, 2008 3:17 PM

Why is it that as a society we are obsessed with free parking but not with free transit? We think it's totally natural that the State pays $327,000 to provide workers with free parking, but probably wouldn't offer to pay them their Metro-North/Shore-Line East fares instead?

Posted by: Ned | January 22, 2008 4:49 PM

"the center must guarantee free parking to all its state employees", at the CT Mental Health Center, at $327,000/year - wait - I'm having a flashback "Crazy Eddie: His prices are insaaane!"

Posted by: Kevin | January 22, 2008 4:54 PM

Dingdong, the state actually does subsidize the cost of mass transit (and van pooling) for state employees by allowing us to exclude the cost from our taxable wages. While this does not pay the full fare, it in effect provides a discount.

Posted by: Esbe | January 22, 2008 7:11 PM

Harp and Dillon have made it quite clear that they care more about free parking for state employees than about the economic well-being of New Haven. Once they are sure that the free-parking deal is safe, then they will deign to think about the rest of the city.

It is rich that Dillon blames the city for her (and Harp's) failure to call anyone at City Hall before pulling this awful property-transfer stunt. What -- her own phone is broken?

Posted by: Ned | January 22, 2008 7:35 PM

How about taxing the value of employer paid parking (?) and / or offering income or property tax credits to people who live within a certain distance of their place of employment (whose employers provide no parking - by design) and who purchase a monthly bus or train pass? Also, relocate all state offices back into central cities, accessible to transit other than cars, and stop subsidizing sprawl?

Posted by: charlie | January 22, 2008 8:08 PM

I agree. This is a shame.

And when you consider the potential lost millions of dollars in wages and hundreds of new jobs in the City of New Haven, Harp and Dillon's actions fall within the realm of criminal.

Posted by: Rep. Pat Dillon | January 23, 2008 1:30 AM

Esbe
Sen Harp and I did not unilaterally grant free parking to anyone. It was secured to state employees through collective bargaining.
Hope that helps.

Posted by: BenjaminL | January 23, 2008 5:40 AM

Guaranteed free parking for the employees -- that isn't about "we as a society" but about a state government that is bought and paid for by unaccountable public-employee unions whose job is to deliver jaw-dropping gold-plated benefits to their lucky few members (see also pensions, healthcare) and call it "social justice" with a straight face.

cf.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_4_taxpayers.html


http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_1_blue_america.html


http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_2_new_jersey.html

Posted by: Observer | January 23, 2008 10:04 AM

After many years of reading about Toni Harp's architect/developer husband and his profits from his government connections (e.g. his aesthetically-challenged white elephant high school that looks like it was dropped onto Legion Ave. from a UFO), I'm now suspicious of every negotiation in which she's involved. With regard to Toni Harp's input on land use issues, can anyone spell c-r-e-d-i-b-i-l-i-t-y----g-a-p??

Posted by: king james v | January 23, 2008 10:26 AM

anything that wrestles some control from DeStefano is a good thing as far as i'm concerned. he needs to be kept in check at every possible point.

Posted by: Esbe | January 23, 2008 11:09 AM

Rep Dillon -- thanks for participating in the discussion, it is brave and good of you. But we are not talking about the original "free-parking" deal that the employees won in collective bargaining.

We are talking about the law that you passed that mandated this property-transfer. Your action was explicitly intended to force the cost of that deal onto the taxpayers of the city of Haven, the folks that you are supposed to represent in Hartford.

In fact, its much worse than that -- you tied up valuable property that could have brought revenue and jobs to the city far in excess of the cost of parking. And you couldn't be bothered to call the city to check this out in advance.

And, then, when it was quickly revealed in the paper what was up, you still didn't do anything. Months later (!) Yale Pres. Levin had to call a meeting in his office with the remarkable apparent agenda of talking like adults about the problem. (What, your phone was still broken?) And, now, even later, now you start talking to the city you claim to represent about what might be done to unravel the harm you have caused.

You have made it clear over these months that you care vastly more for the "negotiating leverage" of a few over the economic well-being of the city and the region. I don't think this is how our "representatives" should behave. Do you?

Posted by: An admirer of Rep. Dillon's | January 23, 2008 12:38 PM

I love you Rep. Dillon and you will always have my vote, but from every angle I look at this, it looks like you got caught in a Tomas Reyes/CMHC/Toni Harp mess that you din't quite think through all the way. I love that you two are willing to call DeStefano on some of his ridiculous decisions and statements, and I have supported you many times on this site, but from every one I talk to at the local/state/business/university level, you really screwed this thing up. You'll have your "justifications", I'm sure, but EVERYONE, even your fans upstate and downtown recognize that you got caught up in this thing that you shouldn't have helped support.

Posted by: nfjanette | January 23, 2008 1:15 PM

And when you consider the potential lost millions of dollars in wages and hundreds of new jobs in the City of New Haven, Harp and Dillon's actions fall within the realm of criminal.

Desperation (to increase tax revenue - a worthy goal) is clouding your vision; you're overselling the success of a concept without any data to support the claim. I'm unaware of private developers waiting in line to build more buildings in that area, and I suspect the currently planned projects may fall far short of the hopes sold (in lieu of taxes) to the residents of New Haven. Mayor Destefano's team is selling a pretty picture without any serious economic data to suggest someone is willing to foot the cost of all of the proposed new development; the only known cost will be the further negative impact upon the already disastrous traffic flow in that area.

Posted by: Esbe | January 23, 2008 1:30 PM

NFJ --

In fact, the city does have a specific private developer lined up, that's what this is all about, that why "all Hell broke loose", to quote Dillon. The Register ran two articles on this very topic right after the dirty-deal was cut in Hartford. The owner of the technology "start-up" building 300 George Street has run out of room in that building and wants the exact lot we are discussing for a new building to house bio-tech (and other) start-ups. Rep. Dillon and Sen. Harp know this (it was in the paper!) and have known it for many months; they just didn't care enough to do anything about it. Finally, the key players were invited to a meeting at Rick Levin's house to (I presume, I have no inside info on that) try to start a actual dialog. And now, only later, do Dillon and Harp even deign to discuss it directly with the city.

Posted by: Esbe | January 23, 2008 2:06 PM

Background reading, for anyone still with us, and in case Rep. Dillon wants to claim otherwise:

New Haven Register, July 7, 2007
State wants city to cover agency's parking.

Byline: Mary E. O'Leary

Jul. 27--NEW HAVEN -- State legislators are putting the onus on the city to come up with a solution to the potential high cost of parking for state Connecticut Mental Health Center workers, possibly by giving a piece of taxable land to the state ... Sen. Toni Harp, D-New Haven, said she worked with state Rep. Patricia Dillon, D-New Haven, to get the votes to convey about two acres of state land along the Route 34 connector ....

Posted by: Esbe | January 23, 2008 2:07 PM

And as for what's being blocked:

New Haven Register, Aug. 2 2007

Biotech lab expansion hampered by site dispute.

Byline: Mary E. O'Leary

Aug. 2--NEW HAVEN -- Location, location, location.

All Carter Winstanley had to do to find a logical place to expand his complex of biotech labs was look out the window.

But a dispute between the city and the Connecticut Mental Health Center over the adjacent site on two acres at the end of the Route 34 connector adds another layer of confusion around a deal.

Winstanley, who owns 300 George St., said he has been seriously looking at the property for the past 18 months, but he is not willing to wait forever ...

Posted by: charlie | January 23, 2008 2:55 PM

NFJ: If this issue is not resolved immediately, it will be remembered for generations as one of the greatest economic disasters in the 400-year history of the City of New Haven.

Posted by: PowertothePeople | January 23, 2008 5:29 PM

Parking not withstanding, no one is commenting on the fact that in a deal with YNHH Cancer Center on lot E the city set it up so that the cost of paying for parking for the CMHC would go up over $1.1 million. If Toni and Pat hadn't jumped in like they did where would that money come from? That's how they were able to get the support to pull this move.

Everybody knows that this deal will work out in the long run but the shock Toni's move put into Johnny D and the Hospital is worth it, as far as I'm concerned.

Posted by: Esbe | January 23, 2008 6:32 PM

POWER2 --

The hospital doesn't care about Harp's move one bit, it does nothing to them; the Lot E deal stands as it is. It is the New Haven taxpayer and job-seeker who are being blackmailed here. Some folks love it that Harp and Dillon are sticking it to Mayor Johnny, whereas in fact they are sticking the bill on you, and doing it by holding up and/or eliminating needed private-sector development.

Posted by: nfjanette | January 23, 2008 7:59 PM

NFJ: If this issue is not resolved immediately, it will be remembered for generations as one of the greatest economic disasters in the 400-year history of the City of New Haven.

Charlie, I can always count on you for the calm, understated position.