Fulfillment of campaign commitment immediately spotlights hiring practices as new IDA board convenes.

In a significant move to hold developers more accountable for creating good, family supporting jobs and more affordable housing in exchange for receiving tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks, the Mayor and City Council recently appointed a union representative to the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the Corporation for Local Development (CLD).

The decision is a direct result of the changed leadership in City Hall and fulfills commitments made by the newly elected Mayor and City Council Members during their election campaigns. 

With the appointment of Miguel Ayala, a lifelong New Rochelle resident and 30-year member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3, they have delivered for their constituents. 

Miguel Ayala

In addition to Ayala, they also appointed Shane Osinloye, Council Member for District 4, and William Iannuzzi, president of the School Board, to fill two other vacant seats on the IDA and CLD. 

Shane Osinloye, William Iannuzzi

The City Council will have an opportunity to appoint an affordable housing advocate and residents who represent the broad interests of the community in March 2025, when another seat opens on the IDA and CLD, and again in 2026, when terms of three other members expire.

The New Rochelle City Council appoints the seven member IDA and CLD boards to three-year, staggered terms. The IDA and the CLD share the same board and meet concurrently the last Wednesday of every month, except during July and August.

The importance of having a union representative who understands development and the commitment to create  careers in construction and building maintenance for New Rochelle residents was on display at Ayala’s first meeting on May 29.

When a second request for the extension of the sales tax exemption for Lincoln Renaissance Apartments LLC & Guion Place Renaissance Housing Development came before the IDA board, Ayala questioned the need for the sales tax extension, saying that if it was related to the construction contractor and a workforce that isn’t skilled enough to do the job, then the extension of the sales tax exemption should not fall on New Rochelle residents to subsidize. 

After a representative from the developer assured the board that the need for the extensions resulted from the pandemic and the unanticipated, expensive flood mitigation measures required to complete the job, Ayala asked how often developers request such extensions. 

This led to an insightful conversation with Commissioner of Development Adam Salgado. Robert Balachandran, the newly appointed IDA Chair, said Ayala asked good questions and explained that the request for an extension of the sales tax exemption coming before the board was “extraordinary” and each such request is considered “case by case” and must stand “on their own two feet.” 

The request then passed unanimously. The IDA meeting was adjourned and the CLD meeting began.

On the CLD agenda was the renewal of the contract with Anchin, Block & Anchin, the firm hired by the city to report on how developers are complying with the city’s Economic Opportunity and Nondiscrimination Policy. The policy recognizes the significant job opportunities generated by the increasing development around the city and the need “to ensure residents and historically underrepresented communities have access to these opportunities.”

Admitting that there is still “a long way to go” in meeting the goals of the policy, Salgado explained Anchin has been instrumental in helping the city “see the trajectory, establish what the patterns are and identify areas where we can put additional effort towards meeting those goals.”

Noting that Anchin receives information from developers on how they are complying with the policy on a quarterly basis, but the board receives their report only annually, Ayala said, “These projects move pretty fast … I think it would be beneficial to us to get these reports quicker so that we can stay on top of these developers to make sure that they are holding up their part of the agreement” in exchange for the tax breaks they receive. 

Ayala continued, “I’d like to know how many of the workers are actually from local hire, [how many are] apprentices, [and] how many are minority and women owned businesses, … and if they are not complying within that first quarter, we would like to enforce that more. That’s why they got these incentives.” He said that if developers are not holding up their part of the agreement, “we can start working on clawback” to recoup some of the lost taxes.

While reading through Anchin’s 2023 report, Ayala noted some of the developers “are falling short of their annual reporting or they are late or incomplete. We have to stress to them that we need this information, we need this data on time.”

Salgado said he had “no issues with getting this information to you on a quarterly basis” and “would be happy” to.

Balachandran, for his part, said Ayala made some good points and that, “It’s our ongoing push for this and it’s good to hear and have another voice who can jump in to drive the change that we are looking for within the construct that we have to work with.”

With that, the discussion ended and the resolution to renew Anchin’s contract for another year passed unanimously.

The next New Rochelle IDA/CLD meeting is Wednesday, June 26, at 7:30pm, at City Hall.