$53M Pandemic-Relief Spending Plan OK’d

“Holy slush fund, Batman!”

I’m amazed the City could find a way to allocate it all…

The public sector needs far more focus; this budget is all over the place and cuts investment in the wrong programs. I love the training and economic development sections, but they need a far larger allocation of funds and whoever is cutting them is short-sighted.

Federal money should be prioritized and invested in programs that will create more opportunity (thus work, thus training, thus jobs), AND we can MEASURE the return to the city as our tax base will grow. Also, safety and security is a major issue in lower-income neighborhoods, we need to fix that ASAP before ANYTHING else. Without security and safety, we will not get more private sector investment in neighborhoods that need it and thus little economic growth - a vicious cycle.

The programs these politicians are cutting have a far greater chance of becoming self-sustaining (than the ones they are increasing) in addition to attracting more private investment and, most importantly, giving low-income neighborhoods more hope of employment. "teach a man to fish" etc.

For example, what sense does increasing home ownership make if you do not have enough sustainable income to maintain your home and pay taxes on the property you now own? We need responsible home ownership, and the best way to SUSTAIN that is with more private sector growth, so people have more opportunities to make more income and break out of the status quo.

Maybe the Yale School of Management could help (or teach) New Haven (and local politicians) how to make better long-term decisions to maximize the return on their investments and increase sustainable programs that need not rely on never-ending public funding.

According to ??? 54% of NH tenants struggle to pay rent..... do they also struggle to have the many expensive cell phones, high speed internet , gigantic TV's, SUV's, Amazon Prime, HULU, YOUTUBEPLUS, HBO, and every other toy they seem to have?
How many renters ever sit down and make a list of money coming in and expenses going out? There might be ways of economizing to make the "struggle " a little easier. Nah!!! Why bother? Just cry for more money and crush fellow taxpayers a little more

Then what happens when the 53 million runs out?

I'm amazed at those who criticize renters for seeking relief. Renters are taxpayers too!

These elitist arguments in opposition to renters seeking help remind me of the same people who voiced their opposition to homeowners who sought help from the federal government upon losing their homes in weather-related catastrophes. Perhaps if the 'ribbon cutting' person masquerading as mayor didn't raise taxes and fees as often as he has, landlords wouldn't kick the many increases to the renters as they always do.

The vast majority of Alders, represent renters. Therefore, in my view; the vast majority of those dollars, should have been used for the care of their constituents. Because after all, individuals like CityYankee2, Justin Higgins, and others of their ilk, are certainly not in need of any financial help.

@Justin Higgins:
"Maybe the Yale School of Management could help (or teach) New Haven (and local politicians) how to make better long-term decisions to maximize the return on their investments and increase sustainable programs that need not rely on never-ending public funding."
And maybe Yale Corp and YNHH could pay their fair share of taxes on their exempt properties that are total anachronisms.

CY2, the standard definition of housing affordability is spending no more than 30% of household income on housing costs. A majority of New Haven households spend more, and about a quarter of NH households spend more than half of their income on housing. And this is not just a big city or renter problem. Nearly 40% of all households in the state are housing cost burdened. Specifically, more than 30% of CT homeowners spend more than 30% on mortgages and related expenses. More than half of all CT tenants spend 30% of their income on rent.

I am a homeowner whose mortgage is paid off. I would not be surprised if you are too. Most renters and homeowners are in a very different position.

Justin, I’m a big fan of program evaluation. But the real world is really messy. Public policy is not physics (which is itself messy at the subatomic level). While most of the folks who work in NH Economic Development are friends of mine, I doubt you could demonstrate that their salaries have a positive return on investment. Does the work of my friend Mike Piscitelli have something to do with the recent development boom? Probably. How much? No one knows. Will developing a land bank make housing somewhat more affordable? Probably. How much? Again, no one knows. And while safety and security are hugely important, no one has identified the secret sauce that will make neighborhoods safer.

I’m an Ivy League Ph.D. and TA’d classes in Quantitative Methods and Statistics in grad school. The most important thing I learned in grad school was the concept of epistemic humility. No one, myself definitely included, knows much about anything. The best we can do is try a variety of approaches and see which seem to help.

@CityYankee2: While your insights as to the lifestyles of the poor and sometimes (inf)amous can be entertaining, I cannot let your wild accusations as to the frivolous pursuits of the needy go without a challenge any longer.

@Kevin McCarthy, I can appreciate that. There is no doubt complexity (and chaos) that can't be predicted with 100% accuracy (nor modeled as such), and interruption may differ based on the observer. However, I am referring to something more practical in economic policy.

For example, it is common sense that if you do not look both ways before crossing the road, your odds of getting "hit by something" on the road increases - without a doubt. Will that be a person, bike, car, truck, airplane, or boat - all of that can be modeled but is not relevant to the question of do the odds go up? - yes, they do.

Will the Alders moving funds (and cutting by as much as 50%) from pro-growth business policies help our local economy? The odds say no; it is less likely now, and we should question if they actually understand that - hence my Yale suggestion. How do we know if they really know without testing them?

A useful oversimplification is an old adage (that I like to modify). Teaching someone to fish is better than giving out free fish, BUT we also need to ensure there is a river to fish in, fish in that river; and fishing poles and bait. Public policy (economic policy) has a massive influence on that last part, and we need to scrutinize decisions with performance-based metrics against those who we compete with so politicians who make consistently bad decisions can be fired - either through elections or other means.

@ CityYankee2,

"Dear Mr. Jenkins, Anyone who disagrees with your take must be a rich elitist? You don't know me and I don't know you but I don't presume things like ....maybe you are a jerk who enjoys fomenting class strife." Your tepid attempt to psychologically insult me by calling me a "jerk" is laughable. I don't know you to know that you're a jerk also.

"If you wish to be coherent and add something of value to these comment sections." Unlike you, I only function coherently. Moreover, if my comments shake you in the fashion of making you uncomfortable, then it's obvious that the truth is making inroads.

@ Justin Higgins,
I agree with much of your most recent comments as a retort to mine. However, you lost me when you applied "pro-growth economic programs." If the task isn't too arduous, can you name ONE pro-growth program introduced to the city by this vision bankrupt mayor?

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/woodbridge_hearing
Twist and Tweak it.
Regionalism - A perfect opportunity to spread that moolah wisely. After all they put a lot of work into it ( although a bit shady,shysty at times)
K.Hofstra is on board,on the boards.. M The Hoople .Superstar Management Team
Capital is surely needed as some over there Just Don't Have It Like That - Boss just buys, no ground up build.
They all live on the same block it appears.
"The West River Watershed Coalition is made up of volunteers representing five towns — West Haven, Hamden, New Haven, Woodbridge, and Bethany — working to improve the river. Volunteers have been meeting at West River every Saturday morning to clean .."

Justin Higgins, thanks. As I said, I favor program evaluation, including the development of performance-based metrics. But the lack of affordable housing has a real impact on economic development. This is particularly true for younger adults. If people can’t afford to live here, they can’t work here.

It never cracked to amaze me to see how Elicker proposes and the BOA led by Adam Marchard, who sits in violation of the charter, on the city plan commission, approves a plan which spends millions of dollars on administrative cost to have mostly city paid employees to be factored in the cost in most of items listed in the chart above.
Then secondly, move only $4M into housing and the land bank, both of which are currently operated by the multi- funded, .the general fund, special fund, and the capital budget fund. Stinks of duplication of effort. And that's along with the engineering, finance Dept and the Mayors office....all.
$4M transferred to housing represented $10K to
40 properties, the BOA really wants to call that a victory, after Marchand has approved the construction of over 2000 market rate units that the folks who testified cannot afford to live in, even though these same folks will be paying the tax abatement on many of these newly constructed units.
A Sham game.

@CityYankee2 do you really think it is fair to think that it is ok to generalize people. Some New Haven tenants that struggle may or may not have the things you mentioned. Do you think it is a problem for a tenant to struggle paying their rent while trying to juggle high speed internet for their school aged child(ren) that may have to use the internet for school or for any type of learning or entertainment ? Do you think it is a problem for struggling tenants to juggle a car note to be able to transport their child (ren) to school,dr appts,grocery store,parks,beaches etc. ? You refer to these things as toys when these things are in actuality essentials for their family. Besides the free internet for school aged children households I heard is incredibly slow .So dont judge people.Sometimes you would be surprised to know that some people who struggle to pay their rent are people that you'd least expect it from.

Off topic comment, checking in while on vacation in Coppenhagen Denmark, that most beloved on enlightened, progressive societies.

And where I have literally seen less than a dozen masked persons over the course of a week.

All the maskers in New Haven seem, well, silly.

OMG could we please stop with the handouts. This is ridiculou. Train them to work, make them work, make them pay for themselves. Make them pay it back if they get any money. This is completely out of hand.

Justin, the city has been moving in that direction. The inclusionary zoning ordinance provides density bonuses and other zoning incentives for developers who voluntarily include affordable housing. And the Whalley Ave. overlay district provides density bonuses for developers who incorporate sustainable design practices. These include the use of mass timber technologies, which can be used as an alternative to steel in mid-rise buildings.

But there is widespread opposition to greater density. I attend City Plan Commission and BZA meetings regularly (I really do need to get a life). I routinely see residents oppose denser developments, in lower as well as higher income neighborhoods. They raise concerns about traffic and parking. And many people believe that denser developments will bring on gentrification.

The housing crisis that these folks are experiencing is because of the BOA and their lack of leadership. It almost seemed as if they were surprised that folks wanted to invest in New Haven in real estate, both new construction and single/multi family houses. They were easily outmaneuvered by greed and thought they were ensuring the cities future with revenue in 5 years. What they did not see was that the landlords would make a bundle of cash and not pay taxes. Remember these are the good union folks who are here to protect the poor and not enrich themselves. I have watched over the last seven years as they have reduced the number of inspections on apartments across the city and handed out tax abatements to so many market rate apartment complexes without regard for the poor people who were living here. New Haven will gentrify to a point where it will become untenable to live in the city limits for poor folks. The BOA has done this. The union has done this. Vote them out of office. They are ineffective, unimaginative, and vindicitive. These are not our best leaders. Most do not understand how private equity is buying the cities housing stock and they effect that will have on our future.

I feel sad for the folks who are protesting and appealing to the BOA. They think that they have the power to change what has already happened. The alders do not have the competence or the inclination to address the housing crisis. They will throw you crumbs and ask you to make a meal of it.

@ Justin Higgins,

"Brian, his administration was influential with Carter Winstanley \ Yale and the efforts made around the Alexion building to expand Biosciences downtown."

The frontal issue that we're unpacking here, is that renters are seeking monetary relief. That said, how does the expansion of "bio-sciences downtown," help a mother uptown keep the roof over her head, and food on the table?

Can you name ONE thing 'The Mayor Masquerader' has done to improve the lives of the working poor?

justchecking, as I noted above, the shortage of affordable housing is a statewide (actually nationwide) problem. It is due to a mix of economic, demographic, and political factors, most beyond the BOA’s control. Nationally, housing construction has been well below demand. Young adults who in prior generations would be buying houses, thereby reducing demand for rental housing, aren’t doing so (and in many cases can’t). And municipalities, primarily suburbs, are imposing unreasonable and costly zoning requirements.

Grateful48, if you have owned your home for 5+ years, it is very likely you received a handout in the form of the mortgage interest deduction. And it is quite possible that your relatives received handouts in the form of low-interest FHA or VA mortgages (mine did as well).