Allan Appel Photo
With results far clearer than those partially reported in Iowa, residents on the east side of town completed a months’ long process and used a version of ranked choice voting to approve a wide range of projects to improve the Quinnipiac Meadows neighborhood.
The “election” was an exercise in “democracy budgeting” — deciding how to spend $20,000 from city government.
The neighborhood gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to ten projects, done by voice vote, Tuesday evening at the regular meeting of the Quinnipiac East Management Team (QEMT). The gathering drew 30 neighbors to the cafeteria of the Bishop Woods School.
QEMT Co-Chair Donald Spencer with Chris Ozyck.
The vote was the culmination of a long process, including ranked choice voting last month, on a range of proposals to spend the $20,000 that city government’s Livable City Initiative (LCI) grants each neighborhood community management team to spend through the Neighborhood Public Improvement Program (NPIP).
The funds must be spent by the end of the fiscal year, June 30.
Some community management teams have agonized about who gets to vote on projects. Others have settled on using the funding on a handful or even one project in order to maximize impact.
By contrast, in Quinnipiac Meadows and Fair Haven Heights — the QEMT covers a sprawling policing district and at least four aldermanic wards — a large batch of proposals came in for consideration. (Click here and here for previous stories detailing the projects.)
Tracy Blanford and JoAnn Moran.
Local activist Chris Ozyck had volunteered to lead a process that began last fall with the winnowing down of $40,000 worth of submitted projects to about $20,000.
There was a certain amount of horse trading, as neighbors tried to balance what temporary traffic-calming measures along the district’s speedways with the longer-term investments in the area’s riverine and historic resources — in the form of boat-launch improvements and historic markers.
Also in the background of the deliberations was the imminent closing of the area’s most important location, the Grand Avenue Bridge. The bridge shuts down its spans in March for an 18-month rehab.
One of the proponents of the Clifton Street boat launch improvement project said good benches and a clean-up of that site, right on the Quinnipiac shore north of the bridge, would be the ideal place to catch all the construction action.
In the end the challenge was how to distribute the funds to all corners of the district. So a number of the projects, such as the butterfly gardens, will be distributed across the sprawling district, which runs from the North Haven border down to the beginning of the East Shore.
Similarly, local artist JoAnn Moran’s storm drain art, done in conjunction with kids and teachers, will include Bishop Woods, Benjamin Jepson, and Quinnipiac schools.
The winners (not including the tenth proposal, for a Quinnipiac Avenue fence).
After the voting, Moran suggested that each subsequent QEMT meeting feature an update on the progress of each of the projects. “It’d be inspiring,” she said.
Ozyck, who had helmed the lengthy democratic process, conveyed a look of relief and said, “It’s great to see the neighborhood pull together.”
Much thanks to my neighbor Chris Ozyck for his leadership in this process and also to all the talented people who contributed ideas and projects for the betterment of a beautiful corner of New Haven.
Everyone was ready to compromise on their plans and budgets and some did early on so more projects could be funded.
Since all the funding has to be spent by June 30 or it reverts to LCI, we can expect to see some quick improvements.
Our next exercise in Ranked Choice Voting on the color of the bridge will likely take place in the Spring.