Board of Aldermen 10-13-2020 Page 22
is the neighborhood that they affect and the TIF and the bonding relationship. | did find in comments that
were made earlier in public comment to be unfortunate in my opinion. Both Bob Keating and (inaudible)
have petitioned us to help the residents of Bronstein but this participation is new. They did reach out to me
previously and throughout the year and as long that (audio cuts out). But they’ve been taking steps on their
own independent, including offering to the residents of Bronstein solutions that are not feasible or realistic.
(audio cuts out) Bronstein, | Know families that are there and not for going out and getting to know them so
that | could use their voice but because | have worked with them for years on volunteer project, and just
seeing them around the community. They don’t want to raise their families on a School Street Apartment
Building. Who can think that’s it is realistic that would let anywhere near the number of families in
Bronstein move into School (audio cuts out). There’s very little chance to coerce a developer taking on the
project and the expense that it unfolds too, there’s been no offer from GSOP or any of these members
(audio cuts out) to implement this program via any support.
Trying to combine different projects run by two different parties and (audio cuts) economy | think. The
Housing Authority has been working on this for years, realigning their full status so that they would be able
to take on projects like this recognizing the larger amount of need for housing as well as the shortage of
public funds available to provide that housing. They saw the housing capacity shortage long before
anybody else did and started working on steps to mitigate that. And | think it does a tremendous amount of
disservice to people who are authentically trying to help people in public housing to (audio cuts out). When
you are talking about people who won't get into housing for the next couple of years because it won’t exist,
because you will have sidetracked the discussion focusing one smaller project that has nothing to do with
the other one is really not meant to be a permanent housing or for housing (audio cuts out) and went over
that and | advocated for that at the beginning too and it just did not make financial sense. You would throw
away an opportunity to build affordable housing with the public housing program and drag them into this; |
think that’s very unfortunate. | think that the survey that they sent out is clearly their own words. | question
their commitment to letting Bronstein residents speak for themselves.
That phrase that’s in the petition that they have, the School Street flats, has literally only ever been used
with GSOP. No one has referred to it as that. We've called it the School Street Project here and the
developer is willing to move with one bedroom apartments because that’s how he can make his project
work. For community agency or organization that is newly formed and not fully engaged in the community,
to try to speak on behalf of both elected officials who do work with the residents and developers who are
actually putting money on the table while offering neither is extremely ill advised | think. It’s unfortunate.
There’s a lot of other projects that we could be working on or GSOP could be providing really useful
information or guidance on that other public housing programs like to focus on. But! would point out that
the Public Housing Authority is the biggest provider in town. They are not the ones that we need to be
focusing on. They do have a relationship with their residents and they have been meeting with them
throughout this project and they set up two housing navigators to address this problem. Where | think
duplicating that and creating a completely (audio cuts out) and asking for meetings with different
stakeholders, is disingenuous. That does not improve the projects for you. It does not help those
individuals in housing that’s appropriate for them. | don’t think it accomplishes anything but distraction. So |
don’t think these two issues should be separated at all because Bronstein should never have been
introduced as a component in this.
This School Street lot it's an empty parking lot. Right now it can be developed to actually bring in tax
revenue and put people into that neighborhood that can spend money in those stores and resources. The
actual abutting neighbors who are all opposed to this are now in favor of it and supporting it; Harbor
Homes, Nashua Wall, | have talked to them. | don’t know whether GSOP has and | don’t see a reason that
these need to be separated. | think this is a good fit, it’s exactly what the Performing Arts Center was
supposed to be doing, bringing in economic development and stimulus and this is a good use of bonding
and TIF money.
President Wilshire
All set, Alderman Lopez?
