Alders Approve New Legislative Agenda

The Board of Alders has a new, official legislative agenda.

Alders voted unanimously in support of that policy-priority roadmap Monday night during the full board’s most recent bimonthly meeting, which was held online via Zoom and YouTube Live.

The resolution that the alders passed identifies jobs for New Haven residents, a safe city for everyone, quality affordable housing, health equity and vibrant communities, and environmental justice as at the top of the local legislature’s lawmaking goals.

The leader of the board, President and West River Alder Tyisha Walker-Myers, said, ​“What I’m going to try to do is bring people who have always been on the bottom, bring them a little closer to the top.”

“My community is hurting right now,” she said. Listening to their voices — and to the dozens of voices of members of the public who testified at last Thursday’s committee hearing on this matter—is what led to the creation of this agenda.

Dixwell Alder and President Pro Tem Jeanette Morrison praised her colleagues for coming together to ​“lay out this roadmap so everyone in this city understands what the priorities are of this board. … This is not only the residents’ voices. This is our voice. Through us, we will see changes. Through us, we will see justice for all.”

Westville Alder Adam Marchand cited the creation of New Haven Works, a reinvigorated Civilian Review Board, and a still-forming permanent Affordable Housing Commission as actions the alders have taken to lay the groundwork for some of the goals laid out in this agenda. More needs to be done, he said.

“I endorse [this agenda] not merely as a recognition of a problem,” East Rock Alder Charles Decker said. ​“I endorse it as a call to action. Action that is just and swift and meaningful. … We must meet this moment.”

RESOLUTION OF THE NEW HAVEN BOARD OF ALDERS ESTABLISHING A LEGISLATIVE AGENDA AND CALLING ON CITY PARTNERS TO INCREASE THEIR COMMITMENT OF RESOURCES IN ORDER TO ENABLE THE CITY TO PROVIDE SERVICES AND TO ADVANCE KEY POLICY PRIORITIES

WHEREAS New Haven is a diverse and engaged community with tremendous potential; and

WHEREAS New Haven faces serious challenges, including the harm caused by decades of segregation and discrimination, which have created economic and social inequality along racial lines; and

WHEREAS the COVID pandemic has exacerbated these inequalities and has had a disproportionate impact on communities of color concentrated in neighborhoods of need; and

WHEREAS these communities face several challenges: high unemployment and limited access to good jobs; a scourge of violence and a lack of trust in the police; an insufficient supply of clean, safe, and affordable housing; inadequate access to quality, affordable health services and poor health outcomes; and proximity to pollution and environmental degradation; and

WHEREAS the Black and Hispanic Caucus of the New Haven Board of Alders has called attention to these legacies of segregation and racism and has challenged political and community leaders to come together to change the maps of redlining and exclusion.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Haven Board of Alders hereby establishes a legislative agenda that advances the following policy goals: Jobs for New Haven residents; A safe city for everyone; Quality affordable housing; Health equity and vibrant communities; and environmental justice.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Alders calls on the City’s partners to increase their commitment of resources to support the City’s ability to provide services to residents and to make strategic investments that advance the policy goals set forth in this legislative agenda.