It’s been a busy few months on the Board of Aldermen. I’ve missed some posts, so I’ll try to do a pretty quick roundup.
Over the summer:
- The Board voted to ban alcohol at Lighthouse Point Park over my objections and those of four other aldermen;
- I won a pledge from the City to fund the overflow shelters through the winter;
- We approved a Planned Development District for Science Park (I had to conduct the hearing with the chair absent.);
- And after weeks of tough debates, we passed a budget for this fiscal year.
This semester, I’ve been spending my time working on the response to the events at Elevate Lounge, advancing the living wage proposal, and working on a couple policy ideas with the Food Policy Council that I hope to announce soon. The Parking Working group has also started to meet to tackle challenges with on-street parking and pricing across the city. You can track the group’s progress and give your input here.
We also have the New Haven Action Legislative Aide/Policy Assistant program functioning now, and several students are paired with aldermanic committees performing field research. I’m also acting as chair of the Board’s legislation committee; former alderman Roland Lemar resigned in September to become the next state representative from the 96th district. As vice-chair, I’m filling the role until the chair is named.
Next Monday, I will conduct my first hearing in this capacity, and the main item on the agenda will be Yale’s application for the two new colleges. There was no public testimony offered at the City Plan commission hearing, so I encourage students and other community members to attend and testify this time. The Board could benefit from hearing more perspectives. The meeting will take place on Monday, November 8th at 7p at City Hall.
If you have any questions about this proposal or any other good ideas for improving our community, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at michael.jones@yale.edu. I can’t wait to hear from you!
