If approved, the proposal will split the Livable City Initiative. The newly created Office of Housing and Community Development will take responsibility for the creation of new housing in the city, while LCI will solely focus on housing inspections. The mayor also hopes to add eight new housing-related positions. 

City activists have critiqued LCI due to delayed inspection and unresolved complaints, often leaving tenants waiting months without receiving support from the city.

“It’s clear every day that housing is one of the biggest challenges that we’re facing as a city,” Elicker told the News. “While we’ve made a lot of progress, we have a lot more work to do, in particular, in two areas. One is increasing the number of affordable units in the city, and two is … improving our ability to inspect existing housing stock to ensure that it is safe.”

In total, these two housing programs will get more than $1.4 million in additional funding compared to the last fiscal year. Elicker’s proposed budget also allocates an additional $300,000 to support unhoused people. 

The proposed Office of Housing and Community Development

Included in the city budget is Elicker’s proposal to create a new Office of Housing and Community Development, which will partner with local organizations to build new housing and administer grants for future housing projects. If approved, the office will be a part of the city’s Economic Development Administration Division.

Currently, the Livable City Initiative is responsible for this work. 

Staff at the LCI who worked on housing development will be transferred to the new office, and an additional position — deputy director of Economic Development Administration — will be created to oversee it, according to Elicker. 

“It’s more appropriate for this work to be done within the Economic Development Administration,” Elicker said. “Economic development is the place [to which] developers first go when they’re wanting to start projects.”

Michael Piscitelli, the head of the city’s Economic Development Administration Department, explained that the new office will distribute funding for ongoing housing projects. According to Piscitelli, there are currently 3,500 new housing units in the city’s development pipeline — about 40 percent of which are affordable. 

Some of these projects are led by the city, such as a new series of townhouses on Grand Avenue, while other units are being built by external housing developers. The new office will support the projects by monitoring construction and providing technical assistance on grant applications.

In addition to supporting housing construction, the office will be in charge of administering grants for construction projects approved by the Board of Alders. Some of these grants include funding from the federal Office of Housing and Urban Development, which annually administers between $3 and $4 million in funds to the city of New Haven. Additionally, the office will draw on funds from the 2021 American Rescue Plan.

Piscitelli noted the need for affordable housing across the state of Connecticut. He said that the city has built 1,900 new affordable housing units in recent years but that the overall gap in affordable housing in Connecticut is upwards of 90,000 units. The new office will help improve housing policy, looking to increase the number of affordable units in the city, Piscitelli said.

Changes and improvements to LCI

The budget proposal will also add seven new staff positions with the Livable City Initiative, the agency that, under the proposed plan, will focus only on enforcing housing code and public space requirements throughout the city.

“I think [it’s] very important for LCI to focus on the core mission, what it was originally created for, which is ensuring our existing housing stock is of high standards,” Elicker said. 

Five of the proposed staff are housing inspectors, who, if approved by alders, will join the current team of 13 inspectors. 

According to Elicker, the attorney employed at LCI will join the Office of Housing and Community Development. The mayor thus proposed adding an attorney who will continue to work with LCI on housing compliance and inspections. LCI will also receive a new administrative assistant.

According to Piscitelli, these new positions will expand LCI’s capacity to engage in on-site inspections of rental units and section eight units on behalf of the city’s housing authority. 

LCI’s work entails a multi-step process of inspecting units, issuing orders based on code enforcement inspection and ensuring that landlords comply with these orders. Piscitelli said that staff expansion would increase efficiency within the agency, allowing LCI to make better use of government resources and increase the timeliness of their work. 

“We’ll be expecting a high level of process improvements such that we’re good on the timelines and we address the issues and make sure that our outcomes are good for the tenant who may live in the unit,” Piscitelli said.

Karen DuBois-Walton, the executive director of New Haven’s Housing Authority, noted the significance of improving LCI’s efficiency. 

“The city must increase its capacity to meet the requirements of the landlord licensing program,” DuBois-Walton wrote in an email to the News. “City resources can be most effective [by diving responsibilities].”

Alder Adam Marchand, a chair of the Board of Alders finance committee, which plays a major role in the budget adoption process, commended Elicker for paying attention to housing in his budget proposal. 

The finance committee will have its first budget public hearing on March 14.

The post Proposed budget rethinks city housing programs appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The budget proposal includes increased funding for education and housing and adds 31 new full-time positions to the city staff, including five housing inspectors. If approved, the budget will also reorganize New Haven housing programs and create a separate Parks Department.  

“He got it right this time … I like it,” Tom Goldenberg, a former mayoral challenger who had previously criticized Elicker’s fiscal year 2023-24  budget proposal, told the News. 

Goldenberg said that he supported the creation of a separate parks department, new housing inspection positions at the Livable City Initiative and a tax increase that is lower than last year’s, which is “encouraging.”

“We are pleased to see the increased investment in housing quality by adding needed positions at LCI,” Karen DuBois-Walton ’89, executive director of the New Haven Housing Authority, who challenged Elicker in the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary, wrote to the News. “Everyday we see the challenges families face seeking quality housing in the private market.” 

DuBois-Walton wrote that the decision to shift LCI’s focus away from housing development and toward inspections is a smart one. She also applauded the additional $300,000 allocated for the services for the unhoused.  

Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, said that increased salaries, which account for a large part of the increased educational budget, allowed many teachers to stay teaching in New Haven Public Schools. She said that this has made them feel that they are “being compensated fairly.” 

Per the teachers union contract negotiated last year, the salaries of public school teachers are rising gradually over the three years following the contract. Blatteau said that the increases are especially significant for mid-career educators.

“We have to continue to make sure that as many dollars as possible are making it directly to the classroom,” Blatteau said. “That means making sure that we’re paying for highly qualified professionals to support our students and making sure that the resources are in place so that we can do our jobs.”

In Elicker’s budget proposal, an additional $5 million is allocated for the Board of Education. According to Elicker, the city is also hoping to get almost $4 million more from the state for schools. This funding goes to the city’s Board of Education, which then decides how to use it, Elicker said. 

Chris Schweitzer, the head of the New Haven Climate Movement, wrote to the News that he would love to hear more from the city about its environmental investments to reach the Climate Emergency Resolution goals.

“Later is too late for climate change action,” Schweitzer wrote. 

The Mayor’s budget proposal has to be approved by the Board of Alders, who will likely amend the proposal. 

Upon seeing the creation of over 30 new city employment positions allocated across various departments, Ward 25 Alder Adam Marchand told the News he will pay attention to the costs that are going to be used for the new workers’ salaries. 

“At this point, I don’t have a strong feeling one way or the other,” Marchand said. “I’ve done this long enough that I take my time with it. I generally form my opinions slowly over the course of the workshops when I get a better understanding from the department heads about what it is they’re proposing and why they want to do it.”

The Board of Alders will be holding three hearings and six workshops on the budget over the next six weeks to solicit community input.

Marchand commended the Mayor for allocating more funds to the Parks Department and for giving a lot of thought to the housing scarcity around New Haven. 

Ward 27 Alder and majority leader Richard Furlow echoed Marchand’s statement, saying that though he’s only looked at the highlights of the budget proposal so far, he will pay close attention to the new positions created.

“Thirty-one new positions, that’s a lot,” Furlow said. “But the budget process will be for each department to explain why they’re needed, and then we’ll decide what do we believe in.”

Last year, the Board rejected 25 out of the 34 positions Elicker created. 

Fiscal year 2024-25 will start on July 1.

Ariela Lopez contributed reporting.

The post City leaders react to Elicker’s budget proposal appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Yale and New Haven announced the Center in November 2021 as part of an agreement to increase the University’s financial contribution to the city. The agreement also included an increase in Yale’s voluntary contribution by $52 million over six years, the conversion of a portion of High Street into a pedestrian walkway and a commitment by Yale to partially offset city revenue lost on buildings taken off the tax roll. 

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, University President Peter Salovey, School of Management Dean Kerwin Charles and Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers announced Leaks Ragsdale’s new position at a press conference on Tuesday, held at the Center’s new  headquarters at 65 Audubon St. 

Leaks Ragsdale, who started the position on March 4, will be tasked with directing the Center’s operations, designing programming and fostering connections with local organizations. The Center’s mission is to promote economic growth in the city.

“I am excited to be entrusted with this great responsibility,” Leaks Ragsdale said at Tuesday’s press conference. “This center has the potential to do so much good here in New Haven, and I’m ready to hit the ground running. My experiences as an entrepreneur myself, and witnessing firsthand the challenges and the triumphs of people starting and scaling businesses, solidified my belief in the power of inclusive growth.”

The specific responsibilities of the executive director role are still unclear. While answering questions at the press release, Elicker emphasized the importance of collaborations with Yale but, when asked, did not tell attendees with what exactly the executive director will be charged. Neither Elicker nor Leaks Ragsdale provided a concrete answer about Leaks Ragsdale’s next steps in the position, though they both expressed excitement about developing new plans.

“I think the world is Dawn’s oyster and our oyster, and I am confident that we’re gonna find things that probably none of us in this room have imagined that will come out of the center,” Elicker said.

Before assuming her current role, Leaks Ragsdale was the executive director of Collab — a New Haven-based nonprofit that provides support to entrepreneurs so they can build their businesses. Collab primarily supports female, Latine and Black entrepreneurs, connecting them to a network of support and resources as part of their business accelerator. 

Some of Collab’s past clients include Havenly, a cafe that has a job-training program for immigrant and refugee women, and Threads by Tea, which sells “wearable art.”

According to Leaks Ragsdale, her work at Collab will help inform her work at the Center, as she understands the struggles entrepreneurs face. This knowledge will better help her forge connections between New Haven entrepreneurs and Yale that will benefit both parties and sustain economic growth.

Leaks Ragsdale cited the allocation of American Rescue Plan Act funds as well as Yale research funds as ways she’s considering supporting entrepreneurship around New Haven. In his speech at the press conference, Elicker mentioned Yale buying food from local producers and art from New Haven artists as two examples of possible collaborations.

The Center will also collaborate with the Yale School of Management and its students to expand entrepreneurial connections around New Haven. The School of Management, or SOM, is expected to contribute to the Center’s programming, and it launched an Inclusive Growth Fellowship program in January that will connect SOM students to various projects.

“We insisted upon values of a collaborative engagement, mutually beneficial engagement, and lastly, a deeply respectful one,” Charles, the SOM dean, said. “So that when Yale and its faculty and staff and students interacted with the city, we would be doing so not presuming that we had the answer to every question.”

Charles will be leading the board of directors that Leaks Ragsdale will be working directly under. The board is composed of the four people who spoke at the press conference — Charles, Salovey, Elicker and Walker-Myers.

Yale and New Haven launched their search campaign for the Executive Director in April 2023, over a year after announcing the creation of the Center. On Tuesday, the lack of updates during the search raised questions about delaying the search, and how it would impact the Center once opened.

According to Walker-Myers, the position received many applications, and each candidate had to go through two thorough interviews, which extended the recruiting process. Walker-Myers said that finding someone whose goals aligned with the Center’s goals was time-consuming and that the board of directors took their time to make sure the candidate selected would be the right fit for the position.

“Dawn understands what it’s like to be an entrepreneur when you’re not getting the type of support that’s needed,” Walker-Myers told the News. “When you ask me what I think is going to come out of this Center the most exciting thing is that we will be able to move families out of poverty in this city. For me, it’s always important to have somebody that comes from that experience, from that struggle, to actually know how people are struggling in order to be able to help them.”

Currently, eight SOM students are working as Center fellows.

The post New Haven and Yale announce executive director of Center for Inclusive Growth appeared first on Yale Daily News.

In the meeting, the Board of Education approved a plan — required for all Connecticut public schools — to increase educator diversity in public schools. It also approved a submission on behalf of Augusta Lewis Troup School to the Commissioner’s Network, a state-wide program that aids low-performing schools.

“Our vision with this plan is that every student and educator in New Haven Public Schools is seen, heard and valued,” Madeline Negrón, the Superintendent of New Haven Public Schools, said. “We cultivate trust and eliminate obstacles to foster diversity, equity and inclusion. We commit to cultural competence and linguistic diversity that extends to the heart of our district where diverse educators mirror the beautiful mosaic of our student population.”

Both of these plans were presented to around 40 public members and 20 staff members from schools around New Haven as part of Negrón’s Superintendent Report. This crowd, as well as five members of the Board of Education, gathered in the gymnasium of Ross Woodward Elementary School. More public members and the remaining members of the board attended virtually via Zoom, which was projected on a screen for the crowd to see.

Increasing educator diversity in New Haven Public Schools

The plan to increase the diversity of educators in public schools around the city is part of a statewide effort to improve representation in classrooms. 

In place since July 1, the plan requires each Board of Education around Connecticut to submit a plan to increase educator diversity. With the deadline of this plan’s submission coming up on March 15, the Board of Education went over the specifics of the plan to clarify their next steps. 

Negrón talked the audience through the importance of the plan and the impact it will have on student performance, presented statistics that demonstrate New Haven’s current diversity and explained the plan’s steps and goals.

Negrón also presented the planning team’s eight members, mostly faculty at various public schools.

“This was definitely a mandate that we embrace, not something that we feel is being pushed on us, because it does align with the core values of our city,” Negrón said.

Nearly 30 percent of New Haven-employed educators are people of color, and 89.5 percent of New Haven Public School students are students of color. These numbers are more or less equal to those of the other three major cities in the state. Across the state, only 11.2 percent of public school educators are people of color.

However, Negrón noted that while New Haven’s teacher diversity exceeds that of Connecticut overall, the diversity of New Haven itself does, too — making the state’s general ratio of teachers of color to students of color higher than the Elm City’s. 

Negrón quoted the National Council on Teacher Quality to emphasize the importance of diversity in education.

“It is possible to measure real gains made by Black students who experience even just one Black teacher, in how much they learn and the rate in which they graduate, including from college,” Negrón quoted. 

Through this plan, the eight-person team hopes to improve representation in classrooms, in the hopes that students are more engaged in learning when they see people like them. The plan prioritizes recruiting more educators of color, addressing their challenges when teaching to improve teacher retention rates and adapting educator application processes to reach a broader audience.

The plan also set forth a goal to formulate a career pathway program into education for students of color to increase the number of New Haven Public School-educated teachers and staff members.

The planning team predicted a 15-percent increase in educators of color, a 12 percent increase in applications from educators of diverse backgrounds and a 15 percent increase in the retention rate of educators of color, all by the end of the 2026-27 school year.

At the end of the presentation, Board of Education member Edward Joyner urged the board to keep in mind the implications that strongly pushing diversity recruiting can have on the quality of educators at the schools. Joyner brought up that the plan must not be the end-all-be-all of recruitment and retention, however, because diversity is only one quality that constitutes a good educator. 

“It’s not always necessarily true that because a person is diverse, or maybe from the same background as a lot of students, that that person cares about those cases of education,” Joyner said.

Troup partakes in Commissioner’s Network Turnaround Plan for student achievement

During the 2022-23 school year, Augusta Lewis Troup School was selected by the Commissioner’s Network to partake in its program through the Connecticut Department of Education. The program selects 25 schools around the state that have been identified as low-performing to provide financial and instructional support, helping them develop curricula that will enhance learning in whichever areas of study students of that school are performing worst in.

This March, after a year of planning and coming up with a Turnaround Plan and committee, or a plan detailing how the school will use the network to enhance student performance, Troup will submit its plan to the Connecticut Board of Education. The prospective start date for the plan if the submission is accepted is July 2024.

“Our teachers are going to get professional development in any environment, not only language arts classes, but also in math, science and social studies,” Eugene Foreman, the principal of Augusta Lewis Troup School, said. “It’s important because we have a lot of support in place for reading, but we need a lot more support for writing.”

Troup’s turnaround plan focuses on improving literacy “across the curriculum.” In a presentation projected for the public, Foreman used the acronym TACO — Talent, Academics, Culture and Climate, Operations — to detail the tweaks to daily school life that will be implemented to improve literacy. 

The TACO Turnaround plan includes developing learning plans that reflect teacher and student needs, improving instructional practices to maximize student learning and engagement, improving attendance and communication and implementing extended learning opportunities. The plan highlights reading, writing and math as its focus areas, with a particular focus on literacy.

“We want to ensure that students understand that I don’t write something down and hand it in … it’s a process,” said Caroline Apgar, assistant principal of Augusta Lewis Troup School. “So that’s going to be a critical piece to the work that’s going to happen.”

The presentation also included a list of the ten members of the team who will help with the plan’s implementation. These team members are all either educators or faculty members at Troup.

If Troup’s plan is accepted by the state, they will receive the Department of Education’s support for three to five years as they implement the strategies detailed in the plan.

The next New Haven Board of Education meeting will be held on March 11 at Ross Woodward Elementary Magnet School, located at 185 Barnes Ave.

The post Board of Education announces two student improvement plans appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The City Plan Commission made a favorable recommendation to the New Haven Board of Alders to amend the zoning ordinance for accessory dwelling units — units within homes that owners can turn into rental units — at a special meeting on Wednesday night. This is the most recent move in a longstanding debate over whether or not to amend the accessory dwelling units zoning ordinance code in order to make it more useful to residents. 

All successful ADU construction since 2021 has required additional relief funding. In the amended ordinance, the City Plan Commission aims to tweak all restrictive aspects of the prior ordinance, allowing the ADUs to serve their intended purpose.

“There were some barriers that were included in the original ordinance, predominantly the owner occupancy requirements, that made it more challenging for people to even consider ADUs,” Laura Brown, executive director of city planning, said. “We simply don’t know how many people thought about it, but decided not to move forward with many of these.”

ADU expansions are aimed at increasing housing supply in more densely populated areas of the city. As stated in the zoning ordinance, owners of single, double or triple-family homes can construct ADUs within their properties without having to seek approval from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals, as long as their property has a minimum of 4,000 square feet. 

The original ordinance, known as the Phase One ADU ordinance, required those creating ADUs to be residing in the home where the construction would take place. ADUs could be no smaller than 400 square feet, and no larger than either the square footage of the existing property — 1,200 square feet. Phase One also required ADUs to be within the already-standing property, and to have designated parking.

Amending the Phase One ordinance, the Phase Two ordinance proposed at Wednesday’s meeting suggested removing the requirement for owners to live in the house with the ADU, citing it as a “significant barrier to ADU creation.”

The proposed amendment allows the construction of non-attached units — like free-standing garages — to be turned into ADUs as well. With the amendment, the minimum square footage requirement for properties with ADUs would be removed, as long as the ADU itself is bigger than 400 square feet, as would the parking requirement for ADUs. ADUs still cannot be subdivided into different units and must comply with state building codes on accessibility. The amendment was proposed and presented by Brown and Nate Hougrand, the city’s deputy director of zoning.

“We can’t really be moving fast enough to meet housing demand,” Brown said. “This type of legislation is one really interesting tool that we have in the toolbox that allows density increase within neighborhoods without a really substantial change. It starts to build density in ways that are more consistent with the neighborhood character.” 

Various commissioners, as well as testifying attendees, posed questions and concerns about the amended ordinance, though most were generally in favor of the amendments. 

Alternate Commissioner Carl Goldfield spoke against the ordinance, expressing concerns about removing the requirement for the owner to occupy the residence with the ADU, citing examples of irresponsible landlords around the city. 

“I think that this would be opening things up in a way that will be counterproductive, and we may end up with a lot of unintended consequences,” Goldfield said. “These units will be built not by the people we’re hoping will build them, but it will just be a free-for-all for landlords who are already renting to build additional units and try to make more money out of their properties.”

Alder and Commissioner Adam Marchand, despite being pro-amendment, echoed Goldfield’s concern, saying he would need the amendment to continue to require owner occupancy on the property if it is to be presented to the Board of Alders, which is the next step for the ordinance.

After about an hour of presenting the amendments and questions from commissioners, one member of the testifying public, Gretchen Knauff, director of New Haven’s Disability Services, spoke in favor of the amendment. Knauff thanked Brown and Hougrand for keeping ADU accessibility in mind during their amendment, particularly with ground-level units. These concerns had been mentioned in Brown and Hougrand’s presentation, but not elaborated on.

“Only 5 percent of housing is affordable accessible housing,” Knauff said. “During my career doing disability work, the highest number of overall questions revolved around finding affordable accessible housing … It is a very in-depth need for the disability population.”

Marchand thanked Knauff for testifying and recommended that the concerns be put in writing so that they are considered with the amendment before the Board of Alders.

Another member of the testifying public, Sondi Jackson, asked the commissioners whether adding more housing units would contribute to the amount of taxable housing in the city, therefore raising homeowner taxes.

To this, Brown was not able to give a clear answer, saying there is no clear evidence for how the ADUs will affect surrounding property taxes. Jackson’s question struck doubts in the mind of Leslie Radcliffe, chair of the commission, leaving her wondering out loud if the new units would alter the tax assessment of the properties.

In the end, all of these concerns factored into the commission’s final decision on the amendment, leading them to put in a favorable recommendation for it to the Board of Alders. With their recommendation, they urged the alders to keep the owner-occupancy requirement, to prioritize ADU accessibility and to consider the impacts of ADUs on affordability and taxing. 

The Phase Two amendment, as tweaked and recommended by the commission, will come before the Board of Alders Legislative Committee before being read to the full Board of Alders.

The post City Plan Commission passes amendment to increase accessory dwelling units appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Elicker’s now fifth-annual address aimed at highlighting the city’s accomplishments in the past year, as well as tracing future plans. The speech highlighted elements of the city’s Vision 2034 plan, which will determine the city’s next steps during the next 10 years, preparing for New Haven’s 250th anniversary. Elicker also emphasized visions for how the city can ensure that its growing population of 139,000 can thrive.

“With such a milestone, it’s a time for us to reflect on both where we stand as a city today and where we want to go in the future — the values we hold, the challenges we face, the progress we’ve made and the continued work that’s required to uplift more of our residents so they have the opportunity to thrive,” Elicker said in his address.

Housing takes center stage

Elicker’s address emphasized, among many broad topics, on the city’s affordable housing initiatives.

Elicker cited 1,900 new housing units built since 2020, when he was first inaugurated, 900 of which were affordable units. He mentioned 3,500 additional units in planning right now, 40 percent of which will be affordable.

“Every resident in our city deserves to live somewhere safe, clean and affordable,” Elicker said in the address.

Many of these units were funded by American Rescue Plan Act funds — federal funds intended for use in economic and community recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Projects like the city’s first non-congregant shelter, the redevelopment of a twelve-acre housing site on Church Street and projects like Elm City Communities were listed, among others.

With 70 percent of New Haven residents being renters, the mayor emphasized not only the need for more affordable and deeply-affordable housing, but also the need for more flexible housing options and more market-rate housing to keep supply high and housing costs down. Among these, Accessory Dwelling Units, which allows homeowners at select properties around the city to add an additional residential unit to their property, including alternative housing options such as tiny homes.

He also mentioned the rise in landlord and tenant issues in New Haven, with three new legally recognized tenants unions, and the city’s commitment to bringing justice to residents. Elicker commended the Liveable Cities Initiative and the Fair Rent Commission, whose housing inspection cases have quadrupled in recent years, for their work in protecting residents.

NHPS applauded for education initiatives

Elicker applauded New Haven Public Schools superintendent Madeline Negrón, who began working for NHPS in July, for “hitting the ground running” on improving student attendance, school culture and literacy levels.

He specifically stressed the city’s improving chronic absenteeism levels, which peaked at 60 percent among NHPS students during the pandemic. Chronic absenteeism — when a student misses 10 percent or more of school days — is currently at 33 percent citywide, the mayor noted.

“My cell phone voicemail box is full and has run out of memory several times from all the reminder calls I and my fellow parents get from Dr. Negrón, Danny Diaz and New Haven Public Schools staff to make sure my daughters are in school,” Elicker quipped.

Elicker highlighted new career exploration initiatives that NHPS is undertaking with partners such as Gateway Community College, Southern Connecticut State University and other nonprofit and private sector organizations. Although several such initiatives involve Yale, Elicker did not mention the University during his speech.

The mayor also shouted out the schools’ new literacy curriculum, which was implemented this year, and the New Haven Tutoring Initiative.

Reducing gun violence and enhancing crisis response

After discussing education, Elicker’s focus moved swiftly to public safety.

With violent crime down 5.8 percent since last year, Elicker attributed improvements to new additions to public safety infrastructure, violence prevention programs and strategic community policing approaches.

“Our streets are not only safer, but we’re actually connecting individuals who are at the greatest risk of committing or being a victim of an act of gun violence with the support they need to stay safe, alive, out of jail and successfully reintegrate into the community,” Elicker said in his speech.

One of the initiatives Elicker listed was P.R.E.S.S. — Program for Reintegration, Engagement, Safety, and Support — which aims to provide supportive case management for individuals returning from incarceration with a current or prior conviction of a firearm-related offense, as well as for gang or group members who are identified to be at higher risk of involvement with firearms.

Elicker also mentioned Elm City COMPASS, a collaborative crisis-response team, which has just celebrated its first anniversary. Elicker committed to expanding and continuing the development of both programs.

Sustainability takes a backseat as Mayor recovers from interruption

As the mayor began to describe the city’s growing commitment to parks, green spaces and the climate, he was interrupted by a protester from the crowd that lined the chamber. The protesters began to sing and chant in support of the Gaza ceasefire resolution proposed to the Board of Alders. The interruption continued for 20 minutes, until New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson threatened to clear out “anyone who is interrupting city business.”

When the Mayor continued his speech, he jumped to his conclusion, skipping over a prepared section describing ongoing sustainability initiatives. 

In the section, which is included in the copy of the mayor’s comments provided at the meeting, Elicker highlights the city’s Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan, an initiative with nearly $200 million in funding to begin construction on the 18-acre Long Wharf Park and Waterfront.

“A decade from now, in 2034, the Long Wharf and Gateway districts will in many ways be unrecognizable from what it looks like today,” Elicker wrote.

The mayor also promised to develop an Urban Forest Management Plan, double the amount of trees planted in the next five years and “accelerate” the city’s transition to electric vehicles and solar power sources.

After a 20-minute interruption by protesters, Elicker concluded that the state of the city is “strong.”

Ward 27 Alder Richard Furlow told the News that he found Elicker’s speech to be “well-phrased.”

“In these meetings, the business of our city takes precedence for us and our residents,” Furlow said. 

Other attendees echoed Furlow’s statement, disappointed that the protest overshadowed Elicker’s address.

City Hall is located at 165 Church St.

Yurii Stasiuk and Ethan Wolin contributed to the reporting of this article.

The post ANALYSIS: Four takeaways from State of the City appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The protest was organized by the New Haven branch of a pro-ceasefire umbrella organization Shut It Down For Palestine. The event included a march down Chapel Street and speeches from three speakers from New Haven organizations who urged citizens back to action protesting in favor of a ceasefire after a lull in activism during the holidays. 

“We in the U.S. refuse to be complicit in our government’s financial and political support of this war,” Chris Garaffa, one of the organizers of the protest, said. “There’s been an amazing effort across the community to show support for Palestine, constantly putting aside the differences that keep us apart.”

On Oct. 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry; Israel responded with full bombardment of the Gaza Strip. As of Jan. 26, Israel has killed at least 26,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Health Ministry officials in Gaza. On Friday, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to comply with international law on genocide after South Africa brought charges of genocide against Israel, which Israel disputes.

A ceasefire resolution was proposed to the New Haven Board of Alders on Nov. 28, which Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers vowed to assign to a committee in mid-January. The ceasefire resolution could divide opinions on the Board of Alders, which usually votes unanimously.

The protest was organized by the Connecticut branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, in collaboration with the Citywide Youth Coalition, University of Connecticut Students for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine and Pals4Palestine.

New Haven’s protest on Saturday joined others nationwide to increase pressure on the United States and local governments to back a ceasefire and divest from the war. Saturday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, which organizers cited as a reminder of the importance of standing against genocide. Since their first call to action on Nov. 9, Shut It Down for Palestine has organized activist groups to coordinate simultaneous actions around the country.

“Where are you, New Haven?” Ta’LannaMonique Lawson-Dickerson, Citywide Youth Coalition’s director of community organizing, asked in her speech. “There are countless things our money could be funding that aren’t genocide.”

According to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, President Joe Biden pledged $14.3 billion in military aid to Israel in October though the spending was blocked by Senate Democrats in November because of proposed funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service. 

After Lawson-Dickerson’s comment, attendees began chanting out causes around the United States that they said could benefit from this money instead. Protestors named “healthcare,” “education” and “public transit,” among several others. 

Other members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation of Connecticut also spoke at the protest, as well as Jamarr Jabari, the host of Jabari V.O.C., a podcast that discusses revolutionary politics. All spoke about continuing their protesting.

New Havener Gabriela Margarita de Jesús ’14 also spoke at the protest, telling personal narratives from her experience as a member of a minority group in both New Haven and Yale, using these to support the call for a ceasefire. 

“They are silent during an ongoing genocide,” de Jesús said of New Haven and the University. “Their silence makes them unsafe and dangerous. They protect their images at the expense of real human lives.”

De Jesús also asked attendees to put their hands in the air and use their five fingers to represent the five points they should be putting pressure on to call for a ceasefire — Yales Unions, the  University, Mayor Justin Elicker, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and the Board of Alders. She said that attendees putting their hands above their heads was not a symbol of surrender, but instead a symbol of continued resistance.

The protest ended with attendees marching up Chapel Street chanting “Free, free Palestine” and singing songs together. Signs flooded the streets of downtown New Haven as they marched from the New Haven Green.

The New Haven Green is located at 250 Temple St.

Update, Jan. 30: The article’s subhead was updated to more clearly attribute the claim of genocide to the protestors. The article was also updated to clarify that Israel disputes charges of genocide.

The post Hundreds call for a ceasefire on the New Haven Green appeared first on Yale Daily News.

As the alder for Ward 1, Guzhnay represents Trumbull, Grace Hopper, Davenport, Branford, Saybrook, Pierson and Berkeley Residential Colleges, as well as buildings on the central Yale campus and several blocks of Elm, Chapel and Crown streets. On Jan. 1, Guzhnay’s position will be turned over to Kiana Flores ’25.

A New Haven native, Guzhnay is a Political Science major interested in economic and community development. He has cited growing up in Fair Haven as a reason for getting involved in politics. During his term on the Board of Alders, Guzhnay was Vice Chair, then Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, and a member of both the Aldermanic Affairs and Community Development Committees.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How was your experience being both the alder from Yale and also the youngest member of the Board? 

Alex Guzhnay: I came in with a lot of energy and [previous Ward 1 and current Ward 7 alder] Eli Sabin ’22 was a big help to me before I ran. I talked with him a little bit about what it was like to be an alder. He helped a lot with understanding what the processes are and the structure of the committees. My first term was a lot of learning and really paying attention. Not really taking too many big actions. It definitely helped a lot; some older folks on the Board of Alders kind of appreciated it that I took the time to sit back and listen. 

In terms of being the youngest, there’s always generational divides. It would come up with issues like education. I would try to offer my perspective as someone who just a couple years ago was in the shoes of the students we were talking about. Also, because I grew up here, we were on the same page about the issues that were important. I don’t come from the wealthiest background either, so I think that helped alleviate what is usually the relationship between the Ward 1 Alder and the rest of the Board.

What drew you to the Health and Human Services Committee, and what was your experience on it?

Guzhnay: Health and Human Services is probably one of my favorite committees in general, just because you’re able to work on so many different topics that overlap. I am interested in the health aspect of the city, with issues like lead poisoning. Seeing all of these grants come into the city being able to ask questions of city staff and decide what to do with them, the CDBG — Community Development Block Grant for community and economic development in small cities — process which is a couple million dollars the city receives every year from the federal government for funding nonprofits. It was a process I saw as a committee member and got to jump into with Alder Frank Douglass. It was pretty priceless to be able to hear from nonprofits and, you know, make some amendments to things that I believe we can shift around to help some additional nonprofits get more money. 

Given that you shifted positions on committees, how did your first and second years on the Board differ?

Guzhnay: First year was really like learning and listening to the folks on the Board, building these relationships. They’re really, really lovely people and I’m glad I took the time to just get to know them and joke around with them. My second year was a lot more figuring out things like, ‘Okay, these are things that I’m assigned to, these are some issues I’m interested in. Let’s see what I can do to push the forum up.’  

My second year I had the immigration workshops, the charter revision and the homeless plan. The city received 4.5 million dollars specifically for homelessness. I wouldn’t have been able to make an amendment to move millions of dollars if it wasn’t for that first year. That was one of the one of my bigger highlights: being able to convince the alders to shore up money for more city shelter beds. We’ve been down like one hundred since the pandemic, so we were able to respond to community feedback. 

Would you talk a little bit more about the immigration workshops? 

Guzhnay: We held one in June and another just recently, at the end of November. The first workshop was mainly focused around the wage ordinance, working with the New Haven Law Clinic. They came to present on how the city can work on adjusting labor violations, particularly around wage theft because that’s a big issue for people who are undocumented. 

One of the things I regret most about my time as an alder is [the way I handled one hearing about wage theft.] I had never seen people calling out restaurants and specific businesses around the city for stealing wages and abusing workers, so I didn’t know what we were allowed to hear. Unfortunately, after a couple testimonies, I made a decision to ask folks to not mention the names of the businesses. I regret that because these forums are public spaces and I later found out that they were allowed to speak on it. It was a mistake that I definitely thought about after the meeting. 

The second workshop was much more nonprofit-focused. We heard ideas about what the city can do to improve the framework for helping immigrants. Right now, we’re a sanctuary city, but only through executive orders. Theoretically, and I don’t think this will happen, but in the future the mayor could come in and revoke the order, leaving immigrants exposed. An ordinance would help stamp this into city hall. I hope the city can continue to explore this.

What are your thoughts on Yale’s continuing expansion into New Haven and the increase in their monetary contributions to the city?

Guzhnay: It’s a tricky game to say that you want more development, that you want to support local businesses, you want to give them opportunity, more housing. But, you know that, with that come many more businesses that are a lot more expensive, housing is a lot more expensive and not accessible to everyone. So it’s a tricky balance to plan and Alder Morrison in Dixwell has been especially on top of it, calling on developers to actually make affordable housing. Obviously, that takes a lot more like the support from the city in terms of funding and coming up with the resources to build support that but it’s tricky. 

In regards to Yale, increasing contribution to New Haven is definitely a step in the right direction. Yale just bought a building for 180 million dollars. They said for the meantime, they will keep it on the tax rolls, so that’s encouraging. It’s also scary because down the road, they can take it off the tax rolls and we lose a couple million dollars in taxes. This doesn’t seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things but every penny really does count in this city.

Given the current political climate, what are your opinions of the way the Board of Alders has handled the Israel-Hamas war and the protests in the city? Do you support a ceasefire?

Guzhnay: At the general Board of Alders meeting yesterday, we talked to a lot of focus groups and campus groups that are advocating for a ceasefire and asking for volunteers to endorse or pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire. It was great that they got to speak to many of us about the issue. I’m in favor of a ceasefire, and obviously that means from both sides. I condemn the attacks from both sides. That’s probably not anyone’s favorite answer, but I definitely condemn hostage-taking on both sides, killings on both sides. At the same time, we must acknowledge that Israel has cut off water, food and supplies to folks in Gaza, which we all should not be in favor of. 

When it comes to the resolutions… I think this one should be amended to include a lot of conversations happening in New Haven right now, to account for all of the city’s diversity. I think we’d be doing people a disservice if we didn’t adequately include all different groups involved in the conflict — anti-Muslim and antisemitic movements happening here in New Haven and across the country. I’d be in favor of a ceasefire resolution, but I don’t think it’s ready as it’s currently being presented to the Board.

Do you have any big pieces of advice for Kiana Flores as she enters the Board of Alders?

Guzhnay: My biggest piece of advice to her is just to listen and learn, especially at first. I couldn’t have done anything if I hadn’t taken the time to do that. Listening doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t really do anything or that you have to stay back on the sidelines. It’s just about really being in touch with what you’re working on because it’s a lot. There’s a lot of items that we take action on, so as much as you may want to, you won’t have the bandwidth to work on every single thing that passes through. That’s when you rely on your colleagues who are on these committees whose items are being discussed. I think Kiana understands the Board better than I did coming in.

Do you have any final reflections on your time as an alder? What were your biggest accomplishments, failures and struggles?

Guzhnay: I regret not being more involved in the Cultural Affairs Committee. They’ve shifted the department in a way that I think is more representative, especially of marginalized communities. I want to tell the committee that I was there in spirit supporting them. I regret not doing as much because, unfortunately, I came in with the intention to get involved in that and make change and I fell into the pattern of not going [to meetings] that many before me have fallen into. 

It’s tricky balancing being a student, having fun and politics. I don’t consider myself the most outgoing type of guy, so it definitely would’ve been nicer to be more involved in politics [at Yale], but then again, I also wanted to keep a separate canvas here. I wish I would’ve had more time. On the other hand, I had the privilege of meeting some great people and helping bridge the gap between Yale and New Haven. It was cool to be a part of two once-in-a-decade processes — charter revision and redistricting — and chair a committee as a first-term alder. 

The post Alder Alex Guzhnay ’24 reflects on his term appeared first on Yale Daily News.

New Haven Jewish Voice for Peace — a branch of Jewish Voice for Peace, the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the United States — hosted an interfaith vigil called “No Festivities Until Palestine Is Free” to mourn lives lost in the war.

“The lights are off in Bethlehem, so why should we have these on?” New Haven JVP member Zachary Herring told the News, referring to the Christmas lights on the tree. “We want to show that the real Christmas spirit would be recognizing that these are not normal times.”

In mid-November, Palestinian Christian leaders in Bethlehem encouraged those living in the West Bank city not to turn on their Christmas lights or put up decorations as an effort to spend the holidays standing in solidarity with those impacted by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Christian leaders in Bethlehem have only set up a small nativity and placed rubble atop it to represent the suffering of Jesus alongside his people in Gaza, according to the Washington Post.

Though only about 2 percent of Palestinians and less than 1 percent of the population of Gaza are Christian, most are now homeless due to the destruction of homes or displacement during the war. Israel destroyed the oldest active church in Gaza by airstrikes on Oct. 14.

“I don’t see how so many people can celebrate the shopping and gifts side of Christmas when so many can’t,” Matthew Potter, another New Haven JVP member and organizer, told the News.

On Oct. 7, Hamas attacked Israel, killing at least 1,200 people and taking 240 as hostages, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. Israel responded with ground and air bombardment of Gaza, killing more than 15,500 Palestinians as of Dec. 3, according to figures from the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, the Associated Press reported.

During Thursday’s vigil, New Haven residents of all ages gathered with signs and Palestinian flags around a banner event organizers laid on the ground. The banner read, “Lights are off in Bethlehem. Lasting ceasefire now?” 

The banner anticipated the ending of a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which began on Nov. 24 and lasted for seven days. The pause in fighting was initiated to allow for the release of some of the hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack and to deliver necessary humanitarian aid to residents of Gaza, according to the Associated Press. Israel resumed combat in Gaza on the morning of Dec. 1, after Israel claimed that Hamas had fired toward Israeli territory.

“It’s imperative that we are in mourning,” Rabbi May Ye, who was in attendance at the vigil, said. “We are here demanding a permanent ceasefire now, and representing the majority of Jews and constituents in this country.”

For an hour before the city’s Christmas tree was lit, attendees held LED candles and sang along to traditional Christmas and Jewish folk songs. Organizers distributed a songbook with the lyrics to the songs via a QR code handed out to attendees, some of which had lyric changes to reflect the intentions of the vigil.

The traditional Christmas song O Ye Faithful’s lyrics were changed from “O come let us adore him” to “O come let’s not ignore it,” and the Jewish folk song Lo Yisa Goy was sung in both Hebrew and English.

The flyers distributed with the songbook QR codes on them also gave recipients a guide to calling members of the New Haven Board of Alders to demand that they support a ceasefire. The organizers also distributed pamphlets with information about the number of homes destroyed, people displaced and children killed in the war. 

Once the Christmas tree was lit, attendees stopped singing and began chanting in favor of a ceasefire. “Viva viva Palestina!” echoed through the Green as people gathered around the new Christmas tree. 

The vigil ended with a lap around the New Haven Green as attendees continued chanting and singing. 

New Haven JVP previously hosted a protest for a ceasefire outside City Hall on Oct. 20. 

Correction, Dec. 4: This article has been updated to include a more current estimate of Palestinians killed, reflecting Dec. 3 reporting from the Associated Press. 

The post Vigil for Palestinian lives held at New Haven Tree Lighting on the Green appeared first on Yale Daily News.

In total, 9,755 New Haveners supported Elicker, while 2,210 cast ballots for Goldenberg. Independent candidate Wendy Hamilton had 223 votes. Elicker received the majority of the votes in all of New Haven’s 30 wards. 

Elicker ran on behalf of the Democratic and Working Families parties, while Goldenberg was a Democratic candidate endorsed by the Republican and Independent parties after failing to gather enough signatures to get on the Democratic primary ballot in September.

“We did [it]! What an awesome night,” Elicker yelled, opening his post-election speech. “I want to congratulate so many people because, let’s be real, Democrats took across the board in the city of New Haven.”

Elicker says the public expressed confidence in the city’s direction

Elicker walked into a crowded victory party at the Da Legna at Nolo restaurant after the election was called and was met with rounds of applause and cheers from supporters. On his way through the room, he shook hands and thanked his supporters. 

He thanked supporters, campaign volunteers, and the New Haven Democrats and the Working Families Party who endorsed him. He also acknowledged New Haven Rising, as well as local unions, UNITE HERE! Local 34 and Local 35. Elicker also thanked his family, who stood by him and who he said sacrificed a lot for his job and “for everyone in this room.”

“I thought that if I could just become mayor, I could make a difference. But me just being mayor, is that what actually makes a difference? No,” Elicker said. “There’s a lot of talk about the New Haven machine … and there’s kind of a tone to it. … We put the fuel into [this machine], and that fuel is knocking on doors, … the day-to-day grind, the partnership with our Board of Alders, with [state and federal governments].”

Elicker said that thanks to these partnerships, the city has received “unbelievable resources” over the past four years.

The Mayor boasted about the city’s accomplishments during his past two terms, including the COVID-19 pandemic recovery, the creation of affordable housing, the establishment of a climate office and the adoption of the first in Connecticut tenants union ordinance. He emphasized that the city achieved them through collaboration, repeatedly asking his supporters to scream “together.” 

The election results, Elicker said, reflect residents’ confidence in the city’s direction. He also said he believes his overwhelming victory reflects the public’s rejection of the divisive rhetoric he claimed his competitor used, referring to Goldenberg. Elicker blamed the challenger for “misrepresent[ing] so many truths about our city” and “scapegoat[ing] the people that were most vulnerable in our community.” 

Democrats also won all 30 alder races as well as the city clerk position and Board of Education seat. The charter revision, which Democrats drafted and supported, was approved by the voters by nearly a 2‑to‑1 margin. 

“This city … is all about hope and stability, both in politics and in government, and it’s because of this team in this city right now,” Vincent Mauro, New Haven Democratic Town Committee chair, said at the party.

Goldenberg: “This is historic.”

At 8:30 p.m., Tom Goldenberg walked into his election watch party at East Rock Market. Around 10 minutes later, he called Elicker to tell Elicker he conceded.

Joined by two dozen family members, friends and campaign supporters, Goldenberg gave a speech thanking them for all of their hard work and support during the elections. He also thanked Republican Town Committee Chair John Carlson for supporting him, a Democratic candidate, which “took guts.”

“When I look back at this campaign, maybe it’s not the exact outcome I would have envisioned,” Goldenberg said in his speech. “But I think looking at what I’ve put in, what my team has put in and all the people we’ve met along the way, we have put our heart and soul into this. We have put our 100 percent into things that we really believe need to happen in the city.”

Goldenberg highlighted his campaign’s attention to education and quality of life around New Haven, mentioning that his pushes toward more engagement in schools have led to Board of Education meetings moving to an in-person format. He also referenced working with the residents of Bella Vista to achieve better living conditions.

His speech was preceded by a speech from Jason Bartlett, a veteran campaign manager and aide to former Mayor Toni Harp who agreed to help Goldenberg on his campaign in June. Both Goldenberg and Bartlett brought up the statement that Goldenberg made in which he agreed to be endorsed by the Republican Party.

“I think that statement is really powerful: Democrats working with Republicans,” Goldenberg said. “If only we would see this at a national level, imagine where we would be … this is historic.”

Elicker was elected for his first term as mayor in 2019.

The post Elicker wins third mayoral term appeared first on Yale Daily News.