TESTIMONY
Paula Segal, Staff Attorney at Take Root Justice, on Community Land Trusts, Public Housing Support, and Municipal Debt Collection Redesign
5:05:23
·
3 min
Paula Segal advocates for increased funding and support for community-controlled affordable housing initiatives and a redesign of the municipal debt collection system.
- Urges increase of funding for the Citywide Community Land Trust Initiative to $3 million in the fiscal 2020 budget
- Calls for robust capital funding for acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of community-controlled affordable housing
- Supports the Homes Now, Homes for Generations platform
- Emphasizes need for both capital and expense funding to support public housing
- Advocates for a new municipal debt collection system that doesn't replicate Giuliani's lien sale
Paula Segal
5:05:23
Thank you so much.
5:05:24
Thank you so much for this hearing.
5:05:26
I feel like I've learned a lot today, and I am really pleased to be in community.
5:05:32
With you committee chair Sanchez and other members of the committee.
5:05:36
My name is Paul Siegel.
5:05:37
I'm speaking today as staff attorney in the equitable neighborhoods practice of take root justice.
5:05:43
My testimony today will be focused on the Community Land Trust Initiative, support for public housing, and the redesign of our municipal debt collection system to support neighborhood and housing stability.
5:05:55
My colleague, Colin Kentaggot, also providing testimony to this committee today with a focus on the stabilizing NYC initiative and take root work in support of tenants in privately owned housing.
5:06:06
Tigroot is a member of the New York City Community Land Initiative, an alliance of grassroots, affordable housing, environmental and economic justice organizations working to promote community land trusts, and neighborhood led development.
5:06:19
Take root has received city council discretionary funding through the citywide community land trust initiatives since it launched in fiscal year 20.
5:06:28
We at take support the growing scale movement for affordable community controlled housing, commercial, and community spaces through direct legal services to CLT members of the initiative into other groups and exploring the community land trust model.
5:06:44
We provide everything from education on governance and incorporation, to transactional legal services in support of negotiating ground leases and joint venture agreements.
5:06:54
We also cancel on transactions.
5:06:56
We wanna thank the council the city council for its vital support and urge you to increase funding for the citywide CLT initiative to 3,000,000.
5:07:04
In the fiscal 2020 budget.
5:07:07
With this enhancement, the CLT initiative will be able to support 21 organizations including new CLTs and Ravenswood and engineer, Queens, and Flatbush, Brooklyn, and extends citywide education organizing and tech clinical assistance to meet the growing and urgent demand for community land trusts.
5:07:25
In addition to
Shekeema Gillans
5:07:26
the required
UNKNOWN
5:07:27
thank you.
Paula Segal
5:07:29
May I finish?
Pierina Ana Sanchez
5:07:30
Thank you.
5:07:31
Go ahead.
Paula Segal
5:07:32
Thanks so much.
5:07:33
So in addition to supporting the CLT initiative, we urge the city council to ensure robust capital funding to for the acquisition, rehabilitation and preservation of community control, the port affordable housing, We're really excited for the home homes for the Homes Now, Homes for Generation's platform.
5:07:52
It just support that in whatever way we can.
5:07:54
We also really wanna echo what I heard our colleagues say earlier about the need for both capital and expense funding to support a public housing and an equitable access to humane living conditions and planning for the future of the housing the residents live in.
5:08:12
And finally, I just wanna remind the committee and particularly the chair that we're all committed to working together to create a an enforcement system for municipal debt.
5:08:25
That is not replication of Giuliani's lien cell, which I the majority of this council has pledged not to bring back.
5:08:33
And we're really excited for your leadership council member Sanchez and also for the diligence of the finance committee staff who were meeting with later this week to talk details.
5:08:44
Be happy to answer any questions.
Pierina Ana Sanchez
5:08:46
Thank you so much, and I look forward to working with you on the related program of
Paula Segal
5:08:52
Yeah.
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Jim Dill, Executive Director of Housing And Services Inc., on Reallocation of New York City's 15/15 Supportive Housing Initiative
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Colin Kent-Daggett, Advocacy Coordinator and Paralegal at TakeRoot Justice, on funding for the Stabilizing New York City Coalition and community housing initiatives