Dawn of a Brand New Day

There was talk of sunsets last night but actually it was a dawn of a brand new day for our CRA.

A couple of residents, Annabeth Karson and Laurence McNamara, said it well--last night’s meeting was the absolute best. I agreed with everyone there even when they had differences of opinion. It was strange but definitely made me feel that we all had hope here with the CRA as a Board and members really tying to “get it right” and make things fair. There was a free exchange of ideas and no one got upset with anyone for their difference of opinion. The Board really worked as a team.

I don’t understand why a financial requirement is too cumbersome as reported. Grants really should be by need and Mark Rickards thought so too. Ed Grimm was right when he said that the CRA should fund programs that have universal value to the City. I like Shanon Materio’s suggestion about focusing on a section and cleaning it up. I also liked everything her husband said. The public at large would see the benefit and as Donna Ross reminded them, people “want our money to be seen.” Wayne Marcinkoski wants to focus on more things that affect our City and eliminate the first come, first serve entitlement in the grant programs.

I agreed with Brendan Lynch that rental properties should not be considered for residential rehab grants and could see Ed’s point that matching funds might not be fair, that we were asking poor people to come up with money. The only way that would work would be full disclosure of financials. When it comes to virtually free money, there are always people out there ready to scam the system.

CLICK HERE and scroll to page three to see the financial requirements for the Home Repair and the Beautification grants. It will be an eye-opener to understanding what “poor” means for these programs.

Ed was also opposed to having an applicant come up to the lectern and discuss his financials. Anyone going for a grant should not be shy in discussing his income, however, and the people do have a right to that information. Wes said that he was not married to the Residential rehab grant, Wayne was for sun-setting the Commercial grant and Shanon for sun-setting both of the programs.

The CRA’s attorney had one statement last night saying that the Board did not have to allow the public to speak. Thanks for earning your fee last night, Mr. Tolces. Mark Bates, our Financial Director, gave his report and not one CRA Board member cried “foul.” The CRA will most likely have $600,000 less in the coming year to work with. The payment on the Bond for the Gateways is $950,000 a year which includes principal and interest. They accepted the news and talked about it rationally and non-emotionally with Joan Oliva, CRA Director, even telling them that it will be very difficult to fund either program next year.

Herman Robinson was sitting next to me and I asked him if he was trying out for this Board. He answered, “yes,” but that the present Board was great. I think everyone there observing, and those who have applied to this Board, would have to agree to that assessment after last night.

As this CRA Board will be changing soon, the present members actually saw the dawn of a new beginning. Too bad they didn’t see the light sooner. Will it be too late for their redemption?