With just days remaining to campaign before their primary on Tuesday, the two Democrats looking for party nod for mayor continued to spar over issues. The controversial TOD or Transit-Oriented Development program pushed by the Malloy administration was the first point of contention this week.
Democratic challenger Nancy Rossi accused Mayor Edward O’Brien’s of having a plan for affordable or “low income” housing around the train station. This was something she called “short-sighted and irresponsible.” The mayor, meanwhile, insists his opponent is ill-informed and the city has no such plan in the works.
“The O’Brien administration funded a plan that illustrated building after building of affordable housing in the area surrounding the train station, also known as the Transit Oriented District (TOD),” Rossi said in a campaign release this week.
“West Haven has one of the nicest train stations on the Metro-North line and has so much potential. To build affordable housing in that area would be a monumental mistake. The train station’s location near I-95 makes it attractive to commercial investors if marketed properly. We need to aggressively market the area to attract offices, business, restaurants, and shops,” she said. “The State of Connecticut is encouraging municipalities across the state with train stations to build concentrated residential communities. West Haven has plenty of affordable housing and does not need more. West Haven ranks among the highest in population density in the state and our infrastructure and school system cannot handle or afford more housing. We need to focus on increasing the commercial tax base which will increase our grand list and create jobs.”
The mayor pushed back on the allegation, saying Rossi either doesn’t know the issue, or is being deliberately disingenuous.
I don’t know if Nancy hasn’t read our TOD plan or if she has and is just choosing to lie about it, but her scare tactics will not work on the people of West Haven,” he said. “I encourage anyone who is interested in this subject to go to the city’s website and view our TOD plan for themselves. The only thing we want to make “affordable” in the TOD plan is commercial space for new businesses which will reduce the tax burden on our residents.
O’Brien said the administration is following a plan of mixed-use development that combines some residential with business entities on the ground floor. He pointed to the new Atwood in Allingtown as an example of what the city is seeking.
“The general plan for the TOD area is ‘place-making.’ We want to make this area an exciting place to live, shop, and visit,” he said. “This is achieved through mixed-use developments, similar to what we are seeing happen in the heart of Allingtown. Mixed-use is essentially developing an area with both residential and commercial components so new businesses have built-in clientele. This is the model that is finding success across the country.”
O’Brien said the city’s plan has been looked at by various organizations and received high praise.
“This model is meant to attract young professionals who prefer to commute via rail and want to live in a walkable area. They want to be able to walk to the train station, the grocery store, and to local businesses, and the train station area is perfect for this. These are typically not families with children and the residential components to these developments are commonly sold at or even above regular market value,” he said. “Having a well-planned mixed-use area is the key to attracting developers and new businesses. As matter of fact, our TOD plan has received praise from national organizations such as The Kauffman Foundation and the Mayor’s Institute on City Design. I will say it again: neither low-income nor affordable housing is included in the current TOD plan.”
Meanwhile, Rossi charged the mayor with ducking a requested radio debate in the final days of the campaign.
Rossi said a local radio host offered to have a debate between the two candidates on his program. She accepted, but the O’Brien campaign declined.
“I was really looking forward to debating Mayor O’Brien because we have issues that are important and need to be discussed — people want to know what our plans are. We currently have a $14.5 million budget hole under the Governor’s Executive Order #58 and as a taxpayer I want to know how the Mayor is going to handle it. He has not instituted a spending or hiring freeze and the problem is not going away by itself,” she said.
O’Brien’s campaign responded, saying the entire invitation was represented as something other than a debate.
“First and foremost, when I received the request to appear on the radio show it was framed as an interview, not a debate. Unfortunately we received this invitation last minute and were not able to fit it into the schedule,” the mayor said.
He said he was a bit perplexed by the matter.
“Regarding Nancy’s request for a debate, I’m confused by her decision to wait until the week before the primary to ask for one, as well as her decision to make this request in the press rather than calling me or my campaign directly. Nancy knows that as the mayor I have a very busy schedule and would not be able to attend this event with such short notice,” he said. “The only reason she is doing this one week before the primary and in the press is to get her name in the paper one more time before Election Day.”
Polls open 6 a.m. Tuesday and will be open until 8 p.m.