The Connecticut Judicial branch has published, "Rights and Responsibilities of Landlords and Tenants in Connecticut." This official publication is a resource which gives general information regarding the business relationship between the tenant and the landlord.
A local commission dedicated to housing and neighborhood could serve as a resource for tenants and landlords to get information on ways to resolve disputes that arise regarding rental housing. The housing and neighborhood commission would be a local organization committed to publicizing information on state and federal programs which make funds available for energy conservation improvements; tax credits for seniors, disabled & veterans; and, neighborhood improvement projects.
Ward said, "A housing and neighborhood development commission would take the initiative to organize neighborhood projects such as block watch, street beautification, as well as, social and cultural events." He continued by stating, "As economic development continues, it is necessary to maintain housing opportunities within the borough that are affordable to those that have all ready made the decision for Jewett City to be their home."
[click here to view: "Rights and Responsibilities of Landlords and Tenants in Connecticut."]
click here - Southeastern Connecticut Housing Alliance (www.secha.org)
click here - HomeConnecticut (www.homeconnecticut.org)
The article which appears below was published by The Day on April 17, 2007
Affordable Housing Leadership
Opinion of The Day published April 17, 2007
Promoting the creation of affordable, working-class housing is vitally important to the region, which is why a proposal to place that job into the organization most responsible for steering regional development makes a lot of sense.
The nonprofit Southeastern Connecticut Housing Alliance was created last year after repeated studies demonstrated a major gap between the cost of housing in the region, particularly rental housing, and the ability of many working people to afford it.
If not addressed, this affordability gap will have many negative implications. It will continue to create economic hardships for many. It will hinder the ability for economic growth since employees need a place to live. And it will force many workers to travel greater distances from places where they can find housing, adding more traffic to highways and more pollution to the air.
Using state grants and private donations, the alliance created the job of executive director, putting one person in charge of pushing for policies that would encourage affordable housing development.
Those efforts would include working to amend restrictive-zoning regulations that now prohibit the kind of dense, multifamily development needed to build affordable apartments and homes. The director's job also would include lobbying state lawmakers to address the financial disincentives — chiefly higher education costs when young families move into towns — that discourage communities from welcoming affordable-housing construction.
But the fledgling alliance has had difficulty filling the job. Its first director stayed only a short time. Several new, quality candidates have been identified, but the alliance's inability to afford a health insurance and fringe benefit package has stalled the process.
The proposed solution has been to make the director part of the planning staff at the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, the group chiefly responsible for regional transportation and development issues. The COG would include the affordable housing director in its benefits package, costing about $20,000 annually. The alliance would provide the roughly $80,000 salary.
Policy direction for the affordable housing director would be provided by the alliance. The COG's executive director would provide day-to-day supervision.
While the motivation for the proposal was financial, it makes sense in other ways. Promoting affordable housing is a key development issue, so why not include it as part of COG's function? It was the council of governments, after all, which conducted the original blue ribbon study that identified the looming affordable housing crisis. And by sharing in the cost of funding the position, the towns that make up the COG will have a stake in seeing that the affordable housing effort is successful.
The local elected leaders should approve the proposal.
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