Markeshia Ricks Photo
Yale should scrap its daytime shuttle service and buy public bus passes for its students and employees.
Democratic mayoral candidate Justin Elicker listed that policy priority in a newly released “Jobs/Economy Platform” that envisions structural changes to the relationship between Yale and the city it calls home.
Elicker’s campaign released the plan Monday afternoon.
“As your 51st Mayor a cornerstone of my administration will be to uplift the systemic inequality that keeps our most challenged neighborhoods from thriving,” Elicker is quoted as saying in a press release about the new platform.
Click here to read the full platform.
The “Transportation” section of the platform states that Elicker will prioritize pushing Yale to buy into a universal transit system. Southern Connecticut State University and UCONN have already purchased U‑PASS tickets for their students, thereby allowing them to ride local buses and trains at no cost.
“Increasing transit ridership enables better service, but the Yale Shuttle diverts riders from our public buses,” Elicker’s platform reads. “If Yale eliminates its daytime shuttle and gives students and employees bus passes instead, it would add to CT Transit ridership and resources, leading to more routes and more frequent buses; furthermore, eliminating a dynamic that separates us instead of bringing us together.”
Yale currently runs its own private shuttle service for students and staff. The daytime service covers five different routes around downtown and the medical campus every weekday. Critics of the system argue that it diverts rides and fares from the public bus system, and therefore contributes to a local public transit system that is consistently needlessly complex, slow, and inefficient.
In a conversation Monday, Elicker called it both economically and environmentally “wasteful” for CT Transit buses and Yale shuttles to cover some of the same routes. And he called it “unethical that we have the bus for Yale and the bus for everyone else.”
Asked about Elicker’s proposal, Harp said she’d like to see the city borrow a model from Cleveland, in which local hospital and university shuttle services allow all local people to ride for free. “I’d also like to see Yale partner with the city to expand its fleet to help us build a free local bus system that is electronic and gets people around routes that we all agree upon,” Harp said, noting that in recent years Yale students have moved out to more New Haven neighborhoods such as Westville and Newhallville.
Brother, Can You Spare $50M?
Paul Bass photo
Justin Elicker at his campaign HQ on Whalley.
The platform also calls for a variety of other “New Deal with Yale” policies, including requiring the university to bump up its annual voluntary payment to the city from $11.5 million to $50 million.
“While $50 million may sound like a lot,” the platform reads, “it is only 1% of Yale’s annual operating budget. When New Haven thrives, Yale thrives.”
Mayor Harp Monday called the $50 million figure “unrealistic.”
“To think any new mayor can get Yale to quadruple its voluntary PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes] is pure fantasy,” she argued. While it makes sense to press Yale for more money, she said, the more important fight is to convince the state to fully fund its PILOT reimbursements to the city for lost revenue on tax-exempt property, since the state is responsible for declaring the property tax-exempt.
“We’ve worked with Yale over the years to increase their contribution. They have done that to some extent. We will continue to push them — but in a way that keeps them at the table for future partnerships and opportunities,” Harp said.
Elicker called “the idea that we can’t get more form Yale” “indicative of a lack of vision and confidence.”
“We have a lot of leverage over Yale. Yale has a lot of interests in New Haven. Yale needs to work with us to reach that $50 million,” he said. “Yale can use its lobbying power to get us more PILOT money from the state. Yale can use its lobbying power to get” the legislature to approve enabling legislation for New Haven to institute a beverage tax and hotel tax.
He also mentioned the idea of inspecting dining halls and buildings on campus more to generate user fees.
Elicker’s platform calls on the city, the Board of Education, and Yale to prioritize buying local when it comes to service, procurement, and construction contracts. (Harp said her administration has increased local contracting by ordering departments to prioritize it, by breaking down large contracts into smaller pieces, and by instituting a priority payment plan to help local vendors with cash flow.)
Elicker’s platform further calls on the university to “meet and surpass its commitment to hire 1000 New Haven residents,” and then to make an annual hiring commitment to “ensure residents get good jobs.”
“We have a jobs crisis,” the platform reads. “Our City’s future depends on a skilled workforce. Improving workers’ knowledge and credentials is critical to New Haven’s economic stability, growth and competitiveness.” It criticizes the Harp administration for dismantling the Construction Workforce Initiative.
In a recent interview with the Independent, Harp said her administration has prioritized local workforce development through partnerships with New Haven Rising and local blue collar unions.
“We have partners with the Laborers Union to develop a pre-apprenticeship program at Hillhouse High School that is every bit as effective as the previous program in getting into apprenticeship programs, if not more so,” she said.
The Full Platform
Following is the full text of the platform Elicker released Monday:
Investing in Neighborhoods
While some thrive, others work to survive.
New Haven is becoming a more attractive place to live and work. Yet while downtown grows, neighborhoods fall behind. We have to build up our City, but buildings are not the primary measure of success. Let’s measure success by how much we improve lives.
With honesty and creativity, we can grow New Haven into a City where everyone can thrive. It can be a safe harbor, and a dynamic destination for entrepreneurs, artists, and people who love a vibrant City.
One job should be enough.
Everyone needs access to jobs. But working two or three part-time jobs without benefits is not success. One job should allow a person to live a middle-class lifestyle.
Breaking the cycle of poverty requires ladders of opportunity. Getting a good job takes education, training, and places to gain experience.
We have a jobs crisis. Our City’s future depends on a skilled workforce. Improving workers’ knowledge and credentials is critical to New Haven’s economic stability, growth and competitiveness.
New Haven residents should be winning good jobs. To improve, we need effective job training.
• Health care is one of the fastest growing industries in the country and many of its jobs take minimal training.
• Middle-skill vocational technical jobs with credentials — carpenters, electricians and plumbers — are available too. But since Mayor Harp dismantled the Construction Workforce Initiative, New Haven has no pathway to ensure our residents secure these well-paying, stable jobs.
• The City of New Haven employs over 4,000 people and should prioritize preparing and hiring residents as teachers, firefighters, police officers and more.
• Solar and wind power are growing. When the political stalemate on climate ends, New Haven residents must be prepared to capture green jobs — building retrofits, infrastructure construction, clean-tech manufacturing and installation.
• The Board of Alders created a jobs pipeline for Yale, which we must improve and expand by increasing participating employers, and offering job training.
• Effective job training requires relationships with employers and programs tailored to employer needs that connect graduates directly to jobs.
• The best programs offer long-term support with wrap-around services to ensure participants not only get a job, but secure a sustainable middle-class lifestyle.
New Deal with Yale
As the largest employers, Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital should play a larger role in fostering New Haven’s success. Yale owns $2.5 Billion in untaxed New Haven property, and its contributions to the City should reflect the full extent of that property. Yale should contribute $50 million annually to the City rather than the current $11.5 million. While $50 million may sound like a lot, it is only 1% of Yale’s annual operating budget. When New Haven thrives, Yale thrives.
Yale should meet and surpass its commitment to hire 1000 New Haven residents — half from low-income neighborhoods. It should then make an annual hiring commitment and ensure residents get good jobs.
Plenty of money is going into new development in New Haven, but not enough to City residents.
• As Mayor, I would aim to help all minority-owned, woman-owned, and local small businesses flourish. New Haven’s minority contracts ordinance exists to require a significant portion of City contracts go to minority-owned and women-owned businesses. Unfortunately, the City’s Commission on Equal Opportunities office no longer conducts inspections to ensure contractors follow these rules.
• The Mayor can use project labor agreements, land disposition agreements, and community benefit agreements to secure construction project jobs for New Haven residents. The Mayor just has to more proactively use their authority to do it.
Say no to gentrification.
While new developments are popping up, locals are being pushed out.
• Between 2002 and 2015, units renting for more than $2,000 per month in New Haven increased by 97 percent, while units renting for $800 or less in the City decreased.
• 40% of New Haven homeowners spend more on housing than HUD considers affordable to them.
• Among many good recommendations recently provided by an Affordable Housing Taskforce created by the Board of Alders, one of the most important is an inclusionary zoning code that requires large developments to include affordable and deeply affordable housing in new projects so the people from New Haven can benefit from its growth
• Over the last 20 years Stamford’s inclusionary zoning regulations created over 1,200 affordable housing units. New Haven only has half of that. Now Stamford is looking to improve these regulations even more. We must do better to improve existing and future affordable housing projects.
Meeting Basic Needs
Without adequate housing, food, mental health, and freedom from addiction, securing and succeeding in a job is almost impossible.
To get and hold a job, people need stability.
• We need comprehensive support systems to unlock people’s potential. The City must play a stronger leadership role: both by being a better listener to its nonprofit partners, and by better facilitating communication and collaboration among nonprofits to deepen the social services our City provides.
• People who have done their time deserve a second chance. It is difficult to get back on one’s feet after prison. New Haven needs a comprehensive approach to re-entry where we meaningfully connect service providers to each other and provide seamless re-entry to those returning to society.
Supporting Entrepreneurs
New Haven’s entrepreneurial community is growing, and the City has been supportive: helping win grant dollars for start-up space, coaching, and tech training.
• Working together, we — entrepreneurs, inventors, community builders, and City leaders — can grow these efforts to make New Haven the best small City for entrepreneurs in the Northeast.
• Biotech companies are succeeding in New Haven, but they need more space, with specialized equipment such as HVAC systems, lab benches and fume hoods. A partnership between the City, Yale, and the State can enable the sector to attract more investment, create good jobs, and build wealth.
A City that Works
Buy New Haven
The City spends millions each year that could go to New Haven’s people and businesses.
• The Board of Education spent hundreds of thousands on outside consultants, including travel and lodging while we have many experts within our very own school system. It gave contracts to outside artists when there were strong local candidates.
• To keep more money in New Haven, the City should buy local: prioritizing local options for services, procurement and construction. We should expect partners like Yale to do the same.
Transportation
To have a job, you have to get there.
• Better transportation attracts companies and talent. New Haven should advocate aggressively to reduce the commute time by rail to major hubs like New York and facilitate easier and safer access to the train stations through improved bus, bike and pedestrian pathways. The easier and faster we make commuting, the more employment options our residents have, and the more attractive our City is to employers.
• Increasing transit ridership enables better service, but the Yale Shuttle diverts riders from our public buses. If Yale eliminates its daytime shuttle and gives students and employees bus passes instead, it would add to CT Transit ridership and resources, leading to more routes and more frequent buses; furthermore, eliminating a dynamic that separates us instead of bringing us together.
• New Haven should be a haven for pedestrians and bicycles. We can ensure better bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and must enforce traffic laws to reduce speeding and running red lights.
Attracting Talent
New Haven is an ever more exciting place to live, with new gyms, music venues, and breweries.
In today’s economy, a City must attract talent to succeed, and we should welcome talented people looking to make their mark on the world.
• New Haven could be the most livable City in the region, but to do so we must make meaningful investments in our neighborhoods and take care of the small things – everything from cleaning up trash, to addressing the dirt bikes and ATVs that run unchecked through the City.
• We can make it easier to build small developments by simplifying the permit process so we keep the character of our neighborhoods while growing local amenities, investment opportunities and jobs.
• The most creative, entrepreneurial people want to make an impact. The City and Public School System must welcome and nurture New Haven’s robust volunteer culture, so that together with our problems and promise, we will attract even more makers and doers.
Market New Haven
New Haven is a fantastic place to live, but our reputation lags.
• Cities like Detroit and Durham have changed their image and now attract talent and investment.
• We know what defines New Haven is our energy for making our City better. But the outside world often thinks of New Haven for crime and pizza.
• Let’s activate our public spaces, making them feel welcoming for all residents. This includes revitalizing the prominent places that visitors first experience and where we make our first impression, like the New Haven Green and the corridor between Union Station and downtown.
• Let’s help the people who love this place tell the story of New Haven boldly.