NEW BRITAIN – As Election Day fast approaches, New Britain’s two major party candidates for mayor discussed with CT Examiner their proposals on helping the city’s older population and offered differing views on how to do that.
New Britain’s Democratic State Rep. Bobby Sanchez and Republican Sharon Beloin-Saavedra, the city’s Common Council Minority Leader, both said their top issue was affordability for seniors and both promised not to raise taxes in their first year in office.
Both, however, had opposite views on whether the administration of Republican Mayor Erin Stewart had done enough to help seniors, specifically related to affordable housing.
Beloin-Saavedra told CT Examiner that Stewart understands the concerns of that population, noting the city’s several senior housing complexes – including 455 units via the New Britain Housing Authority dedicated to senior living, among others.
Beloin-Saavedra, 60, and a lifelong city resident, also said that when the city’s Senior Center needed support for projects such as a secondary Dial-a-Ride program bus or when the center needed funding for a mini-garage, the administration came through.
“The mayor [Stewart] has put a lot of work into her support of the Senior Center,” said Beloin-Saavedra, who has Stewart’s support. Stewart opted out of running for a seventh two-year term and formed an exploratory committee to run for governor.
Sanchez, 64, told CT Examiner that with regard to the current administration “We still lack enough affordable housing for the seniors when they retire. That’s still concerning…. They may have a Senior Center to go to, but what’s important to them is quality of life.”
Both candidates said they’ve listened to the concerns of the city’s elderly population and agree that affordability is the number 1 top concern.
And, because of that, both said they are pledging not to raise taxes in at least their first year in office.
Beloin-Saavedra, a former Democrat who at one time was also the chair of the city’s Board of Education, told CT Examiner this past week that “I’m going to lower the tax rate… So, I have to grow the Grand List; you bring in more revenue by growing the Grand List. Number 2, I have to retire debt; retiring debt is going to help with the mill rate [which stands at 39.18]…. Bobby has criticized that this budget is already tight, but fiscal management and being on top of the budget and making sure you don’t overspend in any direction, that’s the component of it.” The city’s budget is about $273 million.
Sanchez, also a lifelong city resident, said: “We cannot go up in taxes; there will be no increase. If there’s a decrease, good, but there won’t be an increase.”
Sanchez said that, if elected, he’d keep his tax promise by looking “at the city’s finances immediately… I’ve been told that there’s been so much hiring going on and salaries have increased. Those are things we really have to look at. Do we actually need five people in a department where it could succeed with four?”
Sanchez said he also has a very good relationship with members of the New Britain delegation – all fellow Democrats – as well as Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont.
Those relationships, he said, are vital when it comes to providing resources for the city’s needs.
Both candidates said they’d reach out to developers in order to bring even more affordable housing for seniors in the city.
Beloin-Saavedra said she personally knows some of the developers, saying, “I would like to go into the neighborhoods; downtown has been fairly developed.” She said she’d take an inventory of “what’s available in terms of what we already own or what might be owned privately. We could help leverage the sale and purchase for another developer to create affordable senior housing.”
Beloin-Saavedra noted that the city is in the process of sending out Requests for Proposals [RFP] for a parcel or property on Farmington Avenue for affordable senior housing.
Sanchez said he’s spoken to several clergy members in the city “that have reached out to developers… They also brought to my attention some city properties that could be converted into housing.” He said “anywhere between 40 to 50 units” are needed “right away.” He said some of the properties that could be converted into senior housing are vacant and some are not.
Sanchez also said he’s spoken to mayors throughout the state who told him “you have to provide some tax abatements and incentives in order to get developers to build in your city… I don’t think we should be giving anyone these huge tax abatements of, you know, 20 to 25 years.”
On other issues, Beloin-Saavedra pledged to visit the Senior Center once a month as mayor to do things like play bingo, dance with them and hear their concerns.
“It’s [the center] is a wonderful location. It’s a hub for fitness, for wellness, for socialization, for nutrition,” Beloin-Saavedra said. She also said the Senior Center has one dedicated staff person to help seniors with 10 different application programs, including energy assistance, renter rebates and tax relief programs.
“It’s one stop shopping,” Beloin-Saavedra said.
Sanchez said the Senior Center, which has an annual budget of about $603,000, provides an assortment of activities, but, he said, “I have heard there is a lack of people that speak different languages.” He said the top two languages in need of translators at the center are Spanish and Arabic. “That’s because both populations are really growing here. We need to have people that speak their language.”
According to 2021 Census Data there are about 9,355 New Britain residents 65 years and older. That number represents about 13 percent of the city’s roughly 75,300 population.