Mr. 9-9-9, Mr. 4-4-4 (left to right).
While Herman Cain’s 9 – 9‑9 plan may never come to be, Wooster Square Alderman Michael Smart’s new 4 – 4‑4 plan will be law — and ensure that the mayor doesn’t have total control over how tax abatements get decided.
That’s how Smart described the purpose of his proposal after the Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to pass it Tuesday night. He proposed an amendment to a bill by the mayor to place a moratorium on new affordable-housing tax abatement and to create a working group to shape a permanent policy. (Read more about the mayor’s proposal here.)
Smart’s amendment defines the make-up of that working group: four aldermen (comprising the chairs of the Tax Abatement and Finance committees and two other aldermen selected by board leadership), four administration staff appointed by the mayor, and four residents selected by board leadership. The amendment also states that “the working group shall complete its work and submit its final report no later than six months from the date of the passage of this order.
Smart’s amendment — dubbed the “4 – 4‑4 Smart-Cain Plan” by West Rock Alderman Darnell Goldson — passed unanimously, as did the mayor’s thus-amended proposal.