NH Register: Democratic candidates assail lack of housing

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NH Register: Democratic candidates assail lack of housing

The New Haven Register July 10, 2006

By Gregory B. Hladky, Capitol Bureau Chief

Hartford - Connecticut's Democratic gubernatorial candidates agree that shortages of affordable housing are boosting crime rates, forcing population declines and cheating minorities out of the opportunities of home ownership.

But the candidates, Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., have some very different ideas about the best way to solve Connecticut's spreading housing crisis.

Recent studies have found that Connecticut housing costs have boomed by 63.6 percent in the past five years, while wages have risen by only 18.5 percent. Another report warned that workers forced to leave Connecticut because they can't find housing could cost the state as much as $133 million a year in tax revenues.

"The lack of affordable housing affects everyone in Connecticut," Malloy said.

DeStefano said affordable-housing shortages are having a ripple effect across the state, with the Naugatuck Valley being forced into the role of housing provider to Fairfield County workers who can't afford to live in Fairfield County.

Malloy said that many of the initiatives he's been a part of as mayor of Stamford, including requiring all new developments to include some affordable-housing units, can serve as models for the rest of the state.

Connecticut must vastly increase its investment in housing and provide incentives for communities to build housing that will offer real home-ownership opportunities to African-Americans and Hispanics, Malloy said.

DeStefano said his long experience as mayor of New Haven has convinced him that urban housing models aren't likely to be accepted by or meet the needs of suburban and small-town Connecticut. He wants to see regional planning that unites concerns about housing, transportation and economic development before allocating state money.

And if a municipality objects to providing affordable housing as part of a regional scheme, DeStefano said the state should be ready to use state aid or withhold it as a carrot to encourage cooperation.

Rich Harris, campaign spokesman for Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, disputed claims by the two Democrats that the state hasn't made affordable housing a priority. "Just since July 1, 2004, (when Rell became governor), the state has invested $65 million in affordable housing," Harris said.

According to Harris, those state dollars "have leveraged $145 million" in federal and private money for affordable-housing projects in Connecticut and Rell has had a special task force working on the issue since April 2005.

"Since she took office, more than 4,000 new units of affordable housing have already been built or are in the pipeline," Harris said.

DeStefano and Malloy are headed for a Democratic gubernatorial primary showdown on Aug. 8. Housing issues could provide Democratic voters one way to differentiate between the two candidates.

Malloy's and DeStefano's complaints about the inadequacy of Connecticut's past efforts to build affordable housing echoed many of those being made by the Connecticut Housing Coalition.

Members of the coalition warn that skyrocketing housing costs are having a damaging impact on this state's economy and quality of life.

Studies found that 257,000 Connecticut families are earning less than 80 percent of the state's median income and are paying 30 percent or more of that income for housing.

Malloy said a major part of the state's failure to find a way to provide more affordable housing is a general lack of understanding of the problem by the public.

"There is still this huge, huge disconnect in the minds of most of our fellow Connecticut citizens when it comes to the issue of affordable housing," said Malloy. "It's as if the only thing they can think about is a failed housing project built in the 1950s or 1960s."

Malloy said the success Stamford has had in building or planning for more than 5,700 new housing units in recent years began with a public education campaign.

According to Malloy, the state's annual investment in affordable-housing construction has declined from $125 million in the late 1980s to "only a pittance" of $5 million to $6 million a year today.

Malloy argued the state must dramatically increase spending on housing programs to alleviate low- and moderate-income housing shortages or face serious consequences in population losses, increasing urban crime and sluggish economic growth.

"There is no wiser investment than good, safe, decent housing," said Malloy.

Malloy cited Stamford's requirement that all new developers include a certain percentage of affordable housing in their projects as one model that can work across Connecticut. He said other communities could also copy another Stamford rule banning the tearing down of affordable-housing units unless an equal number of new affordable units are built.

Malloy said the state must refocus the Department of Economic and Community Development to emphasize housing. "When you take housing out of (the title of) an agency that's supposed to build housing, you're sending a powerful message," said Malloy.

Malloy said he is convinced that Connecticut communities across this small state have much more in common on the issue of affordable housing than they have differences. "We are more alike simply because we live in this little corner of the world," said Malloy.

DeStefano sharply disagreed. He told members of the housing coalition that small towns and suburban municipalities face "a very different kind of challenge - than mature urban communities."

"The solutions of New Haven are not particularly relevant outside of New Haven," DeStefano said. He said 80 percent of New Haven's housing units are rented, three-quarters of the city's housing stock is more than 70 years old and densely packed into a small area with access to mass transit.

"Frankly, it's not the issues or challenges I see when I go to Fairfield County," said DeStefano. He added that eastern Connecticut has a different set of issues because the casinos have created 25,000 new jobs without providing any new housing for those workers.

"There is not one solution that fits the state of Connecticut," said DeStefano. What needs to happen is to have regional councils of government develop real plans that address housing, transportation and economic development at the same time.

DeStefano said it's impossible to deal with any one of those issues without affecting the others.

He also argued that Connecticut's heavy dependence on local property taxes to finance education "is driving land use" and housing development. As one example, he said many towns now prefer to build senior citizen affordable housing because they don't want the additional school children that family housing would bring to already overburdened school systems.

DeStefano disagreed with Malloy that so-called "inclusive zoning," requiring municipalities to force the inclusion of affordable housing in all new development projects, is a solution.

According to DeStefano, the state shouldn't be allocating any money for local housing or other types of projects unless those developments fit into an overall regional plan.

DeStefano said he would like to see state financing for local projects tied to a community's willingness to take part in regional planning efforts.

"I think there are carrots the state hands out all the time that ought to be tied to reform," he said.