The foundation for economic development has and always will be public safety. Public safety has no party affiliation as we all want the exact same thing for our community. Whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, or Independent it’s paramount that we provide a safe environment for everyone. If your city isn’t safe who will move there? If your city is riddled with crime and drugs who will want to establish a small business there? How will we bring in top doctors in order to open up establishments? Do you think teachers will want to teach our kids or will they go to other school districts where they feel safe? If juvenile crime is a major issue why would anyone want to send their children to schools within those communities? Unfortunately, the City of New have continuously experienced elevated levels of crime. New Haven is ranked #1 in violent crime within the entire state of Connecticut. We have a disgraceful crime index of 6, which means we are more dangerous than 94% of the rest of America. This is just one example of why we need to do a better job at allocating resources and ally supporting both our Police and Fire departments to ensure the safety of our New Haven residents.
Without allocating the much-needed resources to ensure a proper education for our youth how can we expect the next generation to become the future leaders of America? New Haven has incredible educators who care about their students, but how can they do their job effectively when they are not given the needed funding to ensure a future pathway to success. Teachers who are currently sitting in classroom with 29 students. That student-teacher ratio makes it extremely difficult to properly educate and engage students. This needs to change immediately. As it sits right now 92% of the 50 total schools in New Haven are below average in school quality. This is a problem that needs to be addressed as these schools continue to take an academic plunge year after year. We can’t keep putting bandaids on the system where we offer programs like school choice, which only gives a small percentage of underprivileged children the opportunity to attend a better school within their district via lottery. Why can’t we use our resources to FIX these schools and foster an environment for ALL children to succeed and ultimately thrive. There’s no excuse for spending $21,000 per year per child and our children are NOT proficient in math and english. With the amount of funding that our city receives from Hartford, there is no excuse to not ensure that every possible resource is given to our children to ensure a bright future.
Where is the money going? It’s evident that the constant failures in budget allocation and the generating of revenue continue to rest on the shoulders of its residents via year after year tax increases. Instead of creating ways to generate revenue in New Haven and eliminating frivolous spending their solution is to tax its residents and sell off its property, which then becomes tax-exempt. Ever wonder why New Haven has some of the highest property taxes in the state? When 60% of all the property in New Haven is tax-exempt who do you think makes up the difference? YOU. What happens when tax-exempt property reaches 70, 75, or 80%? It will be your property taxes that will need to make up the difference. Taxes are a major contributor to the overwhelming increases in the poverty rate for both New Haven and the state of Connecticut. Connecticut is ranked number 1 for the biggest increase in poverty from 1990 to 2020 at a staggering rate of 88% while New Haven alone has a poverty rate of 28%, which is unacceptable.
With the poverty rate at 28% and half of our children falling behind by an unprecedented two grade levels it’s never been more important to provide strong inner-city youth programs and resources to stabilize the community. We need to continuously inspire inner-city children so that they can dream of a future that they never imagined. When children don’t have the resources to fulfill their potential it makes it very difficult to ensure a successful future. Juvenile crime in New Haven is the highest it’s ever been. Drug overdoses related to the current Fentanyl epidemic have hit unprecedented levels and need to be monitored and addressed. This is why New Haven is considered the “drug capital” of the state. New Haven is in desperate need of a call to action that encompasses both youth programs and the mentoring of future entrepreneurs as well as sports-based initiatives to empower the already talented youth within our district.