During my four years on the Board of Alders, I've been focused on the issues I hear about from residents all over our city—quality of life and infrastructure, housing and taxes, gun violence and street safety, and jobs and education. Here’s some of the work I’m most proud of:

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Quality of Life and Infrastructure

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Over the past four years, I’ve helped get some big things done to improve the quality of life and infrastructure in Ward 7 and across the city:

• I was able to secure a $20,000 in funding to complete the Mulberry Jam Parklet on Bradley St

• I worked with our city and state partners to win a $5.3 million grant that will fund a redesign of State St into a safer street for new housing, walking, and biking

• Alongside my colleagues on the Board, the city, and state and federal officials, I helped support a successful grant application that secured a game-changing $25 million investment to improve our bus system

• I helped get the new sidewalk installed right on Pearl St and fixed others around the ward

• During the pandemic, I worked with Downtown small business owners to close down a lane of College St so that restaurants could set up more tables for outdoor dining, which helped them stay afloat during the pandemic.

• I helped pass a noise ordinance amendment that has cut down on trash haulers who violate city law by waking up residents before 5 am.

• I've also worked to improve the bus stops on Church St, get trees trimmed and potholes filled, install new bike lanes on York St, Chapel St, Wall St and Trumbull St (with more in the works), put in new pedestrian yield signs at Lincoln and Bradley, and more

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Affordability: Housing and Property Taxes

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With both rents and property taxes going up in recent years, affordability is one of the most important issues facing our community. On both fronts, we’ve been making progress:

• I worked with my colleagues on the Board to pass an inclusionary zoning ordinance to require that all new 10+ unit housing developments in much of the city have at least 15% of their units affordable for low- and middle-income residents.

• Due to new funding sources from the state and Yale as well as responsible fiscal management by the mayor and Board of Alders, we have been able to lower the mill rate from 43.88 to 39.75 last year and then again to 37.2 this year. While this decrease may not mean folks’ property taxes actually go down, the change reflects rising property values, new economic growth, and the city’s improved fiscal health.

• To protect tenants from absentee landlords, we passed legislation requiring landlords to disclose the true ownership of their rental properties, and we passed legislation to support the role of tenant unions in empowering and protecting renters in our city.

• We’ve also negotiated development deals and allocated millions of dollars for renter and new homebuyer supports and affordable housing construction across town, including new projects in and around Ward 7.

 

Education and Opportunity

 

As Chair of the Board of Alders Education Committee this term, I have been focused on improving reading outcomes and addressing chronic absenteeism in New Haven Public Schools. Through our work:

• We successfully helped push the district to adopt new research-based literacy programming in our schools

• We worked with the mayor to launch a $3 million tutoring program for NHPS students.

• We have secured renewed focus and investment in outreach to students who are chronically absent, helping us experience a decline in absenteeism this spring.

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Through the American Rescue Plan, we have also made tens of millions of dollars in major new investments in small business support, workforce development, youth programming, and vocational education to provide new opportunities for job training and employment across our city. 

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During the pandemic, I also rallied 25 members of the Board of Alders to pressure Governor Lamont to send pandemic relief funds to undocumented Connecticut residents. Our efforts, combined with activism around the state, helped win millions in critically needed funding.​​

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Public Safety and Community Health

 

To address gun violence and crime, I've supported efforts to:

• Invest millions of dollars to expand the ShotSpotter system and install new cameras throughout the city

• Hire a new police chief with strong relationships in our neighborhoods who is committed to community policing in New Haven

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​These new investments as well as policy and personnel changes have helped increase homicide clearance rates and build the trust that is critical to keeping our city safe.

 

I have also:

• Worked to improve street safety, including by fixing and installing new sidewalks, bike lanes, and signage and working on street design changes in dangerous areas, including South Frontage Rd, State St, Whitney Ave, Orange St, George St, Grove St, and elsewhere

• Teamed up with community organizers and city residents to help organize the Vaccinate Fair Haven effort, which knocked on over 5,000 doors to spread the word about vaccines. This door-knocking campaign helped increase vaccination rates among Black and Hispanic residents in the neighborhood.

• In March of 2021, I passed an Equality Act resolution through the Board of Alders to show New Haven's support for LGBTQ+ rights at the local, state and federal levels.​​