Board of Aldermen 10-13-2020 Page 8
President Wilshire
Thank you. Bob Keating?
Bob Keating Hello, can you hear me?
President Wilshire
Yes.
Mr. Keating Ok, thank you. My name is Bob Keating and | live at 5 Colburn Woods in Nashua. And! am
speaking as a member of JSOP on behalf of the residents of Bronstein and other low income families in our
neighborhoods. There are many, as we know, of low income households with over 3,000 on the Housing
Authority and Redevelopment, Housing & Redevelopment Authority’s list both for public housing and for
Section 8. | am going to read the opening of the petition signed by 28 households of Bronstein. Hopefully
you’ve had a chance to see it. It sets the stage for the expression of the residents hope.
Dear Mayor Donchess, Board of Aldermen, and Board of Directors of NHRA, We the residents of Bronstein
are asking the Board of Director of Nashua Housing & Redevelopment and our elected officials to make
every effort to enable each family who wants to remain in our neighborhood to be able to do so. This will
allow our children to attend their same schools which is very important. It will allow us to maintain our
relationships with our friends as much as possible, we also more easily work and go to our doctors and use
other services and shop at the stores we use.
It is difficult to move especially when you do not choose to do so. We hope you will keep this in mind as you
think about the demolition of Bronstein which means we lose our homes.
The essence of this petition is to give the residents of Bronstein more choices in what happens to them
about their future in regards to the homes that they will lose. The parking garage nor the Performing Arts
Center will have no direct benefit for the Bronstein residents nor likely many low income residents.
Probably few residents will be able to attend events at the Performance Arts Center because of the cost,
the case of the proposed School Street project; none will be able to be houses as the project has studio
and one bedroom apartments.
The development of the project may, in fact, actually lead to increased rental costs in the area as has been
true in many other communities that have gone through a process of gentrification. We know in our own
community that despite adding a certain amount of housing, that rental costs have continued to go up. And
in fact with that | Know many of the residents, many of the Aldermen have spoken about this, that without
assistance low income households and we are talking about families that make less than 50% of our mean,
so about 36,500 and many families are making far less than that. So they are without some kind of price
support, vouchers, tax credits, they will not be able to secure affordable housing, meaning housing that will
be less than 30% of their income.
So the Aldermen today have a chance to assist 48 families of Bronstein in their transition. They can help to
enable residents to stay in their neighborhoods by ensuring that the design of the new project at School
Project, if it goes through, allows those families from Bronstein who wish to be able to move, can stay in
their same neighborhood. | feel that there are families lost in relocation will enable (inaudible) inside about
170 families or thereabouts to have affordable housing that previously would not be able to be housed as a
result of the redevelopment of Bronstein. Because of their loss if you will, | think it’s all the more
appropriate that they deserve our support in the sense of all the people in our community, they are the ones
who are experiencing the loss, it is their relocation that is enabling our community to serve more people,
which is what we want to do to get affordable housing.
So | would ask in closing here that, that’s the official position of Bronstein and GSOP and we are just
minimally asking well for the Board of Aldermen and for the Board of Nashua & Housing Development
