Yankees CBA update

The Yankees have received a lot of attention because of delays in distributing funding under the CBA, but it seems that they have finally worked everything out. A spokesman for the community fund said yesterday that Bronx little league teams and and the City University of New York (CUNY) will be the first recipients of funding. Students from the Bronx will receive a preference in applying for the $50,000 CUNY scholarship. It's not clear yet, however, which little league teams will receive funding and how much they will receive.

The spokesman also denied claims that the distribution of funds under the CBA has been delayed. He attributed the problems to getting charitable tax status and finding suitable candidates for the fund's committee. The fact remains, however, that it's taken nearly two years for this funding mechanism to be implemented. Construction has been ongoing for much of that time as well, meaning that the benefits promised in the CBA have not coincided with many of the impacts of the development on its surrounding area. Quite a few people have characterized this as delay, even if the fund's spokesperson won't.

Now that the fund is up and running, I have a question: how is the community being involved in funding decisions? The community wasn't really included in negotiating the CBA, so is the fund going to be distributed in the same way, without real community input?

For more information on the recent funding decisions, see this article in the Bronx Beat. For the photo, thank jpchan.

CBAs go to court (for the first time?)

The first case that I know of to deal with CBAs in any detail was issued this week. The case, Merced County Farm Bureau v. County of Merced (No. 150013, Sup.Ct., County of San Joaquin), was brought under the California Environmental Quality Act by community groups hoping to prevent the development of the Riverside Motorsports Park. In particular, they claimed that the environmental impact report (EIR) was inadequate. The court agreed, in part because the EIR in this case did not address the development agreement and community benefits agreement that had been required by the county when it approved the master plan. As the court explained, "[t]he environmental effects of the Master Plan cannot be evaluated properly without consideration of the Development Agreement and the Community Benefits Agreement that have not been drafted. The absence of this analysis renders the EIR defective as an informational document upon which the public and its officials can rely in making informed judgments. An analysis of the Development Agreement and the Community Benefits Agreement should appear in the EIR or at a mininum in an appendix."

What isn't clear about this case is how the CBA requirement arose in the first place, i.e. whether the county imposed the CBA requirement in response to community concerns about the project, or whether the county put the CBA requirement in the master plan in order to hold the developer to promises that it had made (I'll be checking into this). It's also not clear what the county had in mind when it made the CBA requirement. The minutes of the board of supervisors from December 16, 2006 (just prior to the master plan approval), simply state that "[t]he applicant shall enter into a Community Benefits Agreement that commits them [sic] to a series of benefits that are specific to the nature of the project and the needs of the local community." There's no indication as to whether the county expects the developer to negotiate with community groups or local officials about these benefits. It's also unclear how extensive the benefits have to be.

Still, even if the scope of the CBA is presently unknown, it's good news for CBA supporters that the court rejected the EIR due to the fact that the CBA hadn't yet been completed. CBA provisions may indeed be important to the environmental review of the project. However, this case may not supply persuasive precedent for future cases involving CBAs that aren't required by the municipality.

The planning documents for the Riverside Motorsports project, including the draft master plan and the EIR, are up on Merced County's website. For more information on reaction to the case, see this article in the Merced Sun-Star.

Updated June 11, 2008, here.

It's not a shakedown

Paul Ellis, an attorney for the One Hill Coalition, responded to some myths about the Penguins CBA in yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Here are a few excerpts:

* Myth No. 1: "Hill Residents are trying to shake down the city, the county and the Penguins."

If someone takes something from you, and you demand it back, does that constitute a shakedown, or charity? Of course not.
Many people cannot relate to the Hill's requests because their communities have been physically and culturally intact for the last 50 years, with responsive, funded programs and services. Where were the cries of foul play from these people when local government displaced thousands of Hill District residents to build what is now Mellon Arena for the Civic Light Opera and eventually the Pittsburgh Penguins, followed by a series of broken promises? Can you imagine your entire thriving neighborhood being destroyed?
It is inconceivable that anyone who knows the history of the Hill could fail to understand that Hill residents are trying to avoid the repeat of a devastating act of divestiture....

* Myth No. 2: "All they want is a handout."

It is a statement that is both insulting and hypocritical. The implication: Why don't they just do for themselves?
In fact, most Hill District residents are hard-working citizens just like everyone else in this largely blue-collar city. The hypocrisy lies in the fact that the Penguins are not doing for themselves. They are using hundreds of millions of public tax dollars to reconcile their debts, give investors a nice return and take advantage of prime real estate conveyed for free. What private business group couldn't thrive with that kind of public financial support?
To suggest that Hill District residents should create miracles in employment, health care, public accommodation and quality of life on their own is to ignore the source of the Penguins' funding: the public.
A community benefits agreement could help transform the entire culture of the community, and if Hill residents weren't fighting for equity, they'd be criticized for being apathetic.
As it is, we're criticized for seeking a community center, but expected to keep our kids off the streets. We're excoriated for wanting a master plan by those who have a voice if development is proposed in their neighborhoods. We're the targets of condescension for wanting a grocery store by those who have conscientious grocers nearby. We're ridiculed for seeking life-sustaining jobs by those who already have them. We're blamed for wanting a role in the development of land that was taken by our own government to benefit others, including the Penguins.
Residents of the Hill are very much trying to do for themselves, but certainly a level playing field is not too much to ask.

* Myth No. 3: "The community benefits agreement would benefit only Hill District residents."

The same individuals who criticize the Hill's residents would demand a legally binding understanding if major development was proposed in their neighborhoods with their public dollars.... A stronger Hill District would make for a stronger Downtown, encouraging business investment and residential opportunities while luring more visitors, conventions and commerce.

LAX Expansion CBA update

The 2004 LAX airport CBA contains numerous environmental provisions. Now, the airport is spending more than $2 million on an air pollution study as part of its obligations under the CBA. It will be the most comprehensive airport pollution study to have been undertaken in the United States, and it will provide data to show which communities are bearing the brunt of the airport's environmental impacts.

For more information, see this article in today's L.A. Times, and also a press release issued by the airport. Also, check out the new Environmental Defense report, "Everybody Wins: Lessons from Negotiating Community Benefits Agreements in Los Angeles." Environmental Defense played a key role in the CBA negotiations.

Brooklyn Park-Target Headquarters CBA campaign

Target Corporation is planning a new world headquarters to be located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, a suburb located north of Minneapolis. The proposed development will cost around $1.75 billion and cover 340 acres. The plan is to develop a new city center, 3,000 new housing units, a library, public green space, and a retail, office and entertainment complex. The development is expected to create up to 30,000 new jobs, and it will be so large that it has been dubbed "a third downtown" for the Twin Cities.

Residents of Brooklyn Park have been working to ensure that they benefit from the new jobs and housing. In the fall of 2004, Brooklyn Park residents had campaigned to stop the city from demolishing affordable housing in the city, and the African American Action Committee (AAAC), which led that campaign (and won), is now heading up the effort for a CBA.  

Target is receiving $20 million in subsidies from the city, and it may receive more from the county. It has also received a waiver from the city's policy of holding publicly subsidized developments to higher wage requirements--a waiver that conflicts with the goal of CBAs to improve job quality and choice for local residents. As explained by a former board chair of AAAC, "Target has negotiated with our city government for $20 million in tax abatements--that public subsidy should come with some accountability, some benefits for those who are working hard to make a living and struggling to make it in our community."

The coalition supporting a CBA has now expanded to include a number of groups representing community-based, faith, economic and racial justice groups, and it goes by the name of Building Our Community Coalition (BOCC). BOCC has been working with the city, county, Target and the major developer to identify positive outcomes that can be secured from the development. So far, Target has agreed to build 600 units of affordable housing, and the coalition has partnered with community groups and area organizations to develop a workforce-development and training program. BOCC is still working to negotiate a full CBA with Target--it is leveraging the possibility of county subsidies to push for an agreement.

For more information about the African American Action Committee and the BOCC CBA campaign, see this report from the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability. A presentation from BOCC is also available here.

University of Minnesota-Northside Community Partnership

The University of Minnesota has proposed to develop a research facility in Minneapolis that will consist of centers for early education, business and economic development, and a mental health research center. Local neighborhood organizations have been facilitating communications between the university and community through the University-Northside Partnership, which envisions a working relationship that enhances the quality of life in north Minneapolis through the investment of resources in health, education, and economic and employment opportunities. The citizen participation and community development organization for the area, Northside Residents Redevelopment Council (NRRC), has asked the university to commit to these community benefits in a CBA. Elements of the proposed University-Northside CBA include:

• a long term contract for accountability for private development and facility ownership;
• employment opportunities and a workforce that accurately reflects the surrounding neighborhoods;
• development designs that are reviewed by community members;
• utilization of community businesses for contracts and services;
• environmentally sound development; and
• educational opportunities for local residents.

More information can be found in a report by the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, and on NRCC's website.

University Avenue Community Coalition, St. Paul

The University Avenue Community Coalition (UACC) is group of community organizations and residents representing diverse viewpoints, including advocates for organized labor, affordable housing, faith groups, racial and cultural equity, transit, economic justice, environmental groups, and community development and neighborhood organizations. The primary purpose of UACC is to organize community members to fight for community benefits for low-income people and people of color. Recently, UACC has been leading a campaign to negotiate CBAs covering growth associated with the planned construction of the Central Corridor light rail transit system between Minneapolis and St. Paul. The community coalition has developed 6 primary goals:

• To ensure that 30% of all new housing units will be affordable, and that current residents will not be displaced.  
  
• To ensure that minority contractors have equal access, and that civil rights provisions in the economic development laws are fully enforced.
• To prioritize job training and workforce development, minority and local hiring, small business and entrepreneur assistance, and programs that assist lower-income people and people of color in attaining home ownership.
• To ensure that workers receive living wages and benefits and have a right to organize.
• To ensure that transit and development around transit stations reflects the community's needs and identity; job and housing density along the rail line should incorporate good jobs and affordable housing; and bus service should be preserved and expanded.
• To preserve and enhance the existing cultural complexity of the community; revitalization should incorporate creative anti-gentrification tools and promote cultural tourism that would build and expand wealth creation for existing ethnic communities.

UACC was able to negotiate a number of benefits to be provided by a SuperTarget on Lexington and University Avenues. Contractors agreed to include 20% minorities in building on the site, and Target agrees to seek about 200 new employees from the surrounding neighborhoods. 

St. Paul's mayor, Chris Coleman, has publicly supported holding future developments along University to higher standards of transit-oriented design and mixed use. Other projects in the transit corridor have begun to incorporate community benefits as well: the nonprofit Episcopal Homes agreed to build 50 units of affordable housing for seniors; TCF Bank built a job training center at its new site; and several developers have committed to local hiring policies.

More information about the University Avenue Community Coalition and its other initiatives can be found in a report by the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability. Information about St. Paul's Central Corridor planning and development strategy is available here.

Harrison Neighborhood, Minneapolis CBA campaign

The Harrison Neighborhood is located in North Minneapolis and is adjacent to the environmentally contaminated Bassett Creek Valley redevelopment area. The Harrison and Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Associations, worried about the effects that the redevelopment might have on the predominantly minority and low-income communities, participated in public meetings and partnered with the major developer to help shape the plan. Neighborhood residents also adopted "Guiding Principles for Redevelopment," a document setting out the neighborhoods' priorities and including affordable and inclusionary housing, living wage jobs and job training, minority and female owned business support and hiring goals, addressing the basic retail and service needs of residents, supporting the neighborhoods' efforts to make a sense of place, using pedestrian-friendly design and improving linkages to other parts of the city.

The developer, Ryan Companies, has agreed to work with the neighborhood associations to reach a CBA. More information is available in a report by the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, and from Minneapolis' planning department.

Update, 01.22.09:
On November 27, 2008, the Minneapolis City Council passed an amendment supporting good jobs and affordable housing goals. See here, and here for the council's minutes.

Connecticut Responsible Growth Task Force recommends CBA legislation

The report of the Connecticut Responsible Growth Task Force, released on Feb. 4, 2008, recommends that the state adopt legislation authorizing CBAs. The report states:

The Task Force recommends that state statutes be amended to authorize
municipalities to utilize Community Benefit Agreements for projects that are consistent with Responsible Growth principles. These agreements would be between the developer and the municipality and could address such things as: off-site developments or improvements; impact fees; Tax Increment Financing (TIF); and Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) or Transfer of Development Credits (TDC), as well as other items of local concern.

Yankees update

Just a few weeks ago the New York Times reported that the money the Yankees were supposed to supply for a community benefits fund had been languishing in escrow for nearly a year and a half. 

Today, the New York Daily News reported that things have not gotten any better. Apparently, a dispute arose at a meeting between several Bronx officials and the Yankees President, Randy Levine, when he couldn't supply them with information about how many local residents had been hired or why the money for the CBA fund hadn't been distributed. Levine told the local officials to ask Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, who played a significant role in brokering the CBA, about these problems. Carrion didn't attend the meeting, however, nor did any of the other local officials who signed the CBA.

A Yankees spokesperson did state that the team had met its 25% local hiring goal. The "construction advisory committee" that the CBA called for to monitor compliance has apparently never met, however. 

Penguins update

After weeks of negotiations without a CBA, the Pittsburgh One Hill Coalition announced yesterday that it had filed a lawsuit to block construction of the new Penguins Arena. The suit , filed just before the appeals deadline, seeks to overturn the approval of the arena's master plan. One Hill wants work on the arena to be postponed until a CBA is finalized, and the lawsuit may be dropped if a deal is reached.

Another article about the suit (with a few more details) is available here.

Penguins update

The city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority has decided to continue demolitions, land purchases and other preparations for stadium construction despite protests from the One Hill Coalition that a CBA has not been finalized yet. Carl Redwood, chairman of the coalition, is quoted as saying:

"We feel that in some ways community members are being toyed with in this process where people come to the table but not in a serious manner, and you're just going to string us along."

Atlantic Yards update

The Atlantic Yards project is one step closer to happening. The Second Circuit ruled yesterday in Goldstein v. Pataki that the project's use of eminent domain does not violate the Fifth Amendment. The plaintiffs, who all own property in the project's footprint, had basically argued that the development was never meant to benefit the public, but that it had been orchestrated by the developer, Bruce Ratner, from the beginning and that the government had simply fallen in line. The court rejected this, though, holding that there were public purposes, like creating open space, building a stadium and affordable housing and improving the transit system. Since there were public purposes, the plaintiffs' contentions amounted to "concerns about the wisdom of the Atlantic Yards project and its effect on the community." And those sorts of concerns are not within the purview of the courts.

The plaintiffs are planning to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

Penguins update

It seems that the Hill District is one step closer to getting a grocery store. Save-a-Lot announced that it sees itself as "a perfect fit" for the neighborhood, and it may become involved in CBA talks. One Hill Coalition wants to make sure that the community has a part in planning for the grocery store, and it may even seek partial ownership.