Hartford Business Journal

20 Hartford Business Journal • February 9, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com OpiniOn & Commentary editorial Hartford's mayoral competition good for city C ompetition in sports and business raises the level of play of those vying for vic- tory or customers. The same can be said for politics. As more candidates throw their hat in the ring for political office, it helps broaden the marketplace of ideas and gives voters more choice. Those are all positives. That's why it's refreshing to see competition heating up in this year's Hartford may- oral race. Already, four candidates have entered the race, and we still have 10 months before voters head to the polls. Others may jump in before all is said and done. The declared candidates, who are all Democrats, include incumbent Mayor Pedro Segarra, Hartford lawyers Luke Bronin and John Q. Gale, and City Councilman Joel Cruz (Cruz is officially a member of the Working Families Party). Some may argue that the number of Democrats entering the race shows weakness of the incumbent mayor. That may or may not be true (we aren't choosing sides yet), but it also demonstrates that Hartford's future shows promise. Few people would jump on a sinking ship, let alone agree to take the captain's seat. If the city's future showed little signs of life, it would be much harder to convince quality and qualified candidates to run for mayor. The fact that this year's race is generating interest among a diverse swath of candidates (even though they are all from the same party) is a good sign. No doubt, the prospects of a renaissance in downtown Hartford makes the city and the mayor's job more attractive. It would be nice to get a Republican or two to join the race as well. Even with brightening prospects, however, the city still faces major challenges that all candidates must address. Two that are top of mind to businesses are the budget and property taxes, which are inextricably linked. City finances remain a big problem, and Hartford is likely to face another significant budget deficit in the year ahead. Making further cuts to an already austere budget will only get the city so far. What Hartford needs is a grand plan to grow its tax base, not just downtown but in the surrounding neighborhoods as well. To do that, the city must tackle its cumbersome commercial property tax burden. Hartford is the only Connecticut municipality that assesses commercial property own- ers a higher tax rate than residential owners. And with a mill rate over 70 there is little incentive to invest in Hartford without some sort of government subsidy or tax break. City leaders past and present have attempted to address the issue but it's proved to be too politically risky. There is no easy solution to make Hartford more affordable for busi- nesses and residents, but this year's mayoral candidates must offer a blueprint to rectify the problem. Any plan should include a joint partnership with Hartford's state legislative delegation, which must ultimately get reforms approved by the General Assembly. Education and crime also will be issues closely watched by the business community. We hope all the candidates bring their best policy ideas to the campaign trail (some- thing lacking in last year's gubernatorial election). While we may not agree with all of them, the more discussions we have about how to improve Hartford's future prospects, the better shot we have in finding the right solutions. n otHer VoiCeS Calling all Hartford visionaries By Bonnie J. Malley A s the new chair of the MetroHartford Alli- ance, I've been asked to gaze into my crys- tal ball and reveal what the future holds for our Capital City and region. I don't claim to have the power of prognostication, but I can make a reasonable prediction based on current progress, challenges and opportunities. And, I can say with certainty that together we can shape the future by our actions and choices today. Momentum con- tinues to build in downtown Hartford. Front Street is hop- ping with restaurants and entertainment. New apartments and condos will soon result in more people living downtown and UConn and Trinity students will contrib- ute to the vibrancy of the city. Public and private infrastructure invest- ments spurred by the iQuilt plan are contributing to the greening of the city and providing pedes- trian-friendly links to our many cultural assets. In the coming years, Hartford will continue to grow as a dynamic urban center, with more people of all ages and stages of life working, living and playing in the city. Additional busi- nesses and services will emerge to meet the needs of new residents, workers and visitors. City neighborhoods and surrounding suburbs will benefit from this growth and development. We are in the process of realizing this exciting vision. It's important to remind ourselves that the development coming to fruition now is, in many cases, the result of years — even decades — of planning and hard work by a number of parties, including public and private sector partnerships. Newer downtown employees may not realize their lunchtime walks from Phoenix's Boat Building to East Hartford and back are made possible by an audacious idea 30 years ago to lower I-91 and recapture the riverfront. Or, that the Science Center sits on a former Phoenix surface parking lot, the result of business and civic leaders envisioning a new entertainment district that now also includes the Hartford Marriott, Connecticut Conven- tion Center and Front Street. Good things happen in our city and region when people share ideas, big and small, and work collaboratively to make them a reality — even if that takes years or decades. We know there will always be obstacles to change and challenges to work through. The necessary resources may not be in place or the right solution not quite apparent. And, no single group or sector can do it alone. Work- ing together, the Hartford region's businesses, government and civic institutions can leverage our collective resources for our future benefit. This year, the MetroHartford Alliance will engage in a strategic planning process to chart its priorities for the next four years. Please join the conversation on how we can continue to strengthen the city as the dynamic urban core of the region. Share your thoughts about what we can do to market the region and attract people, jobs and capital. Let's see what ideas of today take hold and lead to the Hartford of tomorrow. n Bonnie J. Malley is executive vice president and chief financial officer of The Phoenix Cos. Inc. and chair of the MetroHartford Alliance. HartfordBuSineSS.Com Poll Is a statewide mill rate for motor vehicle taxes smart policy? ● Yes ● No To vote, go online to HartfordBusiness.com. Last week's poll results: How did your company respond to the Blizzard of 2015? 55% One-day shutdown 35% Employees worked from home 10% Open; business as usual Bonnie J. Malley Mayor Pedro Segarra Luke Bronin John Q. Gale Joel Cruz Hope for group homes By Chris Powell A dvocates for the mentally and otherwise disabled are encouraged by Governor Malloy's appointment of Morna Murray of Glastonbury as Connecticut's next commission- er of the Department of Developmental Services. That's because Murray has been pres- ident and chief execu- tive of the Connecticut Community Provid- ers Association, the group representing the nonprofit agencies that, largely financed by government, assist the disabled far less expensively than gov- ernment does directly, unions having taken control of government's operations so much that service to the public has become largely incidental. In general the employ- ees of the nonprofits are as underpaid as state government's employees are overpaid. While the annual budget of the Depart- ment of Developmental Services is huge, more than $1 billion, about 5 percent of state government's budget, and the department serves about 19,000 disabled adults and children, it long has neglected as many as 3,000 disabled adults who should be placed in group homes but instead remain the bur- den of their aging and even elderly parents. This has been entirely a matter of state gov- ernment's failure to appropriate the estimated $100 million more per year that would be needed to eliminate the waiting list for housing, even as state government usually manages to find more than that every year in increased appro- priations for politically influential special inter- ests, raises for state and municipal government employees, and other undertakings that are trivial compared with society's obligation to care for the disabled, whose families are start- ing to complain loudly about their neglect. With the appointment of someone so con- nected with the nonprofit service groups the governor may be implicitly recognizing that neglect. But can Murray redirect enough money from within the Department of Devel- opmental Services to eliminate the waiting list for housing, or persuade the governor to find the money elsewhere? If not, her appointment won't mean much more than her chance to qualify for an extrav- agant state government pension. n Chris Powell is managing editor of the Journal Inquirer in Manchester. Chris Powell

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