The People Spoke. $90M In Plans Come Next

Give small businesses and homebuyers needed cash. Encourage non-car transportation. Teach kids budgeting, saving, investing. Boost wages to keep up with the cost of living.

City Hall has heard those priorities about how to spend $90 million in federal pandemic relief — and is now crafting plans to convert those goals into action.

The Elicker administration delivered that message Tuesday evening at a public event held on the second-floor lobby of the Shubert Theater.

The occasion was the fifth and final ​“Civic Space” community meeting about how to spend $90 million in federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds allocated to New Haven government (not counting a similar haul headed to the school system).

The multi-step process for distributing the city’s ARP funds has moved to its next phase of identifying which existing resources will be invested in, what new developments New Haveners need, and how to enhance existing local grassroots efforts and organizations.

City leaders provided updates at the meeting on what ideas came from the community thus far at the previous meetings held in Dixwell, Downtown, Fair Haven, and the Hill.

The goal is to use the money for lasting change in New Haven rather than one-time, fleeting boosts.

“All of these things add up to finally at every level of government, the federal, state, and the local an investment in people that should’ve had that investment years ago,” said Mayor Justin Elicker said of the feedback produced at these citizen-input sessions.

The city so far has hosted public meetings, interviews, and focus groups to engage the community process and to collect data on spending interest. The next phase involves program development and implementation.

Officials announced that the $90 million will be used for long lasting social and economic recovery efforts through infrastructure investments and pilot programs targeting the city’s racial wealth gap and racial injustice, both of which worsened during the pandemic.

The city has already used ARP money to fuel a $6 million summer reset program and is reserving $8 million for a new Department of Community Resilience.

The community’s feedback on how to spend the remaining $90 million was separated into four priority issue areas: intergenerational wealth, income inequality, home ownership rates, and access to institutional capital. Thirty percent of those who provided feedback said that income inequality is the most important issue to tackle, followed by 29 percent for intergenerational wealth.

Citizens have pushed for easier access to city resources and programs for residents, multilingual and accessible programming for immigrants and non-English speakers, direct implementation partnerships with local nonprofits and grassroots organizations, building impactful systems for the future, and evaluating and enhancing existing programs.

Now the Elicker administration will craft a proposal for how to divide the money, and where it should go: In some cases new programs run by city government, in other cases boosts for existing government efforts, in other cases programs already run by nonprofit entities in town. Then the administration will present its proposal to the Board of Alders for review, public testimony, and approval.

The city’s Civic Space initiative is partnering with a firm called Hester Street to develop the funding plans with a community-based lens.

Over the next month, focus groups will continue with ​“stakeholders,” said Hester Street Director of Community Engagement and Capacity Building Isella Ramirez.

A public report will also be shared on the Civic Space website. The website is also a hub for the city’s ARP spending information.

At the end of the Tuesday meeting community members were given 20 minutes to weigh in on the engagement findings.

One mom of three, Rachel, asked if some ARP funding could be used to restore all-day pre‑K programs.

“Last year at the beginning of the pandemic, all-day pre‑K was cut down to just being 9 to 3, which for a working parent is a nightmare,” she said. ​“One of the reasons a lot of families come to New Haven is because of the awesome programming.”

“We have it on the list. That has been one of the prevailing themes that has come up,” Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli responded.

Business owner Ping Hu owns three upscale Chinese restaurants, including Downtown’s New Haven’s Taste of China. Hu said she recently made expensive renovations to her restaurants just before the Covid shut down and is now struggling to pay her employees and rent.

“We are trying to reopen again, but it’s a very hard time,” Hu said.

Piscitelli talked with Hu after the meeting about potential assistance from the federal Small Business Administration.

Gather New Haven volunteer Janis Underwood asked that some funding be put toward community gardens in every neighborhood. She shared research about why community gardens help combat food insecurity, provide outdoor activities for youth and families, offer places to recover from mental health fatigue, add daily eyes on the street, and teach gardening skills.

Ramirez responded that Gather New Haven is on the city’s list of stakeholders to meet with for the allocation process.

Kevin Steffes asked that a portion of funding be used to make New Haven more walkable and bike-friendly, with climate resilience in mind.

Steffes hasn’t owned a car in six years. He mostly walks to places due to feeling that riding a bike is too dangerous on New Haven streets that ​“prioritize cars.”

Expanded sidewalks and raised intersections are small changes that could save a lot of lives, Steffes said. He added increased street parking increases demand for cars.

“New Haven’s infrastructure makes you have to drive, but owning a car is not cheap at all,” he said. ​“With so many low-income earners, why are we prioritizing cars over walking or biking?”

Other attendees at Tuesday’s meeting left sticky notes of what ideas they had for ARP funds. Some of those ideas were to improve green infrastructure, create open spaces that connect neighborhoods, launch a free bike share for residents, and provide play equipment for downtown and Wooster square youth.