Lyddy Supporting Affordable Housing Initiatives To Retain State’s Workforce

By John Voket

As a human services worker, freshman Legislative Councilman Christopher Lyddy sees from the frontline the needs of state residents, and how those like him who provide support continue to be pressed to meet those ever-growing needs. And as a Democratic candidate for the state house, he sees a population demanding services growing, as the workforce available to service those state residents is shrinking.

That observation was among the reasons that brought Mr Lyddy to the Fairfield Hills campus one recent afternoon. The 106th District legislative candidate was there looking over a cluster of single-family homes that is being considered as possible affordable housing stock.

Mr Lyddy said he liked the preliminary idea being tendered by land use officials and Planning & Zoning Commission Chair Lilla Dean, which if deemed appropriate, could allocate some or all of the recycled homes to qualifying town workers like teachers, ambulance volunteers, or firefighters.

He said that this small effort, multiplied across all of Connecticut’s 169 towns and cities, could provide significant incentive to attract or retain Connecticut’s young people, the future workforce that will be charged with servicing and caring for the state’s rapidly aging population.

“It’s definitely something I’m passionate about, not just because I’m one of those young people. But because I see my mom, and my family and the growing retiring population in town being able to stay here,” Mr Lyddy said.

“As they get older, the workforce they will need to provide municipal, school, and health services is not going to be there because of the fleeing of young people who also cannot afford to work here,” he added.

Mr Lyddy said he expects this disproportionate shift between aging residents and young people faced with high local housing costs to bode well for states and communities that offer assistance in the form of affordable housing opportunities.

Earlier in the week, Newtown took the next step in determining if that group of homes at Fairfield Hills can be feasibly reused as affordable housing. The Board of Selectmen on Monday agreed to move a grant application process along to the Board of Finance and Legislative Council.

If eventually delivered, that grant application to a program called HOMEConnecticut could provide enough money to determine if the Fairfield Hills homes and two other sites under consideration for affordable housing are feasible for reuse.

Ms Dean and land use official George Benson told selectmen that if awarded, the grant would be used to hire a consultant to make those determinations. Mr Benson said that while the proposal to apply focuses on the Fairfield Hills cluster, it is because that group of homes is most likely to qualify because of its proximity to local job sites, as well as utility and transportation sources.

Mr Lyddy said he was excited that Newtown might be among the first towns applying for the grant, considering the town currently only designates about one percent of its housing as “affordable.” The state has recently called for every town and city to work to meet a ten percent affordable housing capacity buildout.

HOMEConnecticut defines an affordable housing project as: At least 20 percent of the units in each development within the zone being affordable to people earning no more than 80 percent of the area’s median household income, using no more than 30 percent of their annual income. These affordable units must remain that way for at least 30 years, by imposing deeds, covenants, or other restrictions.

Mr Lyddy said he sees the opportunity to get in on state aid now as critical. He does not believe Newtown, or any town in the state can afford to wait until its aging population’s needs have outpaced the state’s ability to sustain a workforce to care for those requiring services.

“What we’re going to need is that group of people who are fleeing the state,” he said. “We put a lot of money into educating our youth, and rightfully so. But we don’t get much of a return in the form of people coming back and investing in the community.”

Mr Lyddy pointed to a recent study by the UConn Center for Economic Analysis tracking CAPT scores and the students who have taken them. He said a significant proportion of the state’s highest scoring students have chosen to not return to Connecticut, which has a ripple effect on overall economic development.

“This is scary, because it means we’re going to have a more unskilled, undereducated workforce,” Mr Lyddy said. “What kind of a company is going to want to come to Connecticut and invest in, or pull from that kind of workforce?

“Not many.”

Mr Lyddy said he supports the kind of incentives to young working professionals that Newtown is attempting to create in the form of affordable housing stock.

“It allows the town to work creatively to begin bringing back young people, whether it be teachers, firefighters, people providing municipal services. This is great and it’s what we need here in Newtown,” Mr Lyddy said.

The candidate said Newtown needs to begin looking aggressively at smart growth as a component to the affordable housing initiative.

“If you build around where people can work, people can shop, people can eat, who wouldn’t want to live there?” he asked, rhetorically.

Mr Lyddy reminded residents who might adopt a “not in my backyard” attitude that affordable housing should not be confused with subsidized housing developments of the late 20th Century. He said it is frustrating to hear the very people who have invested so much in the community opposing providing affordable local housing opportunities for the very individuals who will be caring for these established residents ten to 20 years down the road.

“This would be one way to nourish reinvestment in our community,” Mr Lyddy said. The candidate said that its important for the state to prioritize assisting communities with programs like HOMEConnecticut, which provides exploratory grants to determine feasibility, then following up with funds to offset related costs to the communities once those affordable units are occupied.

“Connecticut really needs to embark on some kind of campaign to capitalize on this opportunity,” Mr Lyddy concluded. “Government will always be here, education will always be here, health care will always be here…so why shouldn’t we do what we need to do to now, so we can attract or retain the highest quality workforce to staff these kinds of jobs in the future?”