Maya McFadden Photo
Alders Adam J. Marchand, Rosa Santana, Frank Douglass Jr.
A Board of Alders committee voted in favor of creating a permanent 15-member Affordable Housing Commission, with more people than originally envisioned who have lived through a rent squeeze.
The Board of Alders Joint Community Development/Legislation Committee voted Thursday night in favor of a new ordinance creating the commission, tasked with finding ways to create more and sustain affordable housing developments for city residents. The ordinance now goes before the full Board of Alders for a final vote. (Read more about the proposed commission here.)
Before the vote, speakers from the New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA) and other group asked that the committee amend the proposal to change from four to six the number of members who have specific and relevant lived experience as tenants or occupants. The committee voted 4 – 3 passed an amendment doing so.
Lynette Hines and Jaime McPhail.
Jaime Meyers-McPhail of the Connecticut Center for a New Economy testified with Lynette Hines ‚who has been homeless in New Haven for the past month. Hines said she was evicted from her apartment that she lived in for 10 years for no fault of her own. That has left her and her family with no permanent address.
“I’ve had to stay strong for my boys, and so I came here today exhausted and needing your guys’ help,” said Hines.
Alder Richard Furlow.
Before the final vote, Beaver Hills Alder Richard Furlow spoke against the expansion to six members with lived experience.
“It’s more about coming to solutions more than just hearing testimonies,” Furlow said
Alders Charles Decker and Dolores Colón.
East Rock Alder Charles Decker countered that the commission should be a model showing that expertise and lived experience are equally valuable on an effective body.
“Six people send a strong signal that we care a great deal about centering the voices of the people working through this,” said Decker.
“We don’t want a monoculture here. We have a lively vibrant town because we have so much diversity…but gentrification creeps if you’re not prepared to deal with it,” testified Ed Mattison, who chairs the City Plan Commission..