IT TAKES A COMMUNITY! getting to community benefits Presented by - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

IT TAKES A COMMUNITY! getting to community benefits Presented by Union United

Presentation outline: ● Framing ● Living out SomerVision ● Who is Union United ● What is a CBA? ○ CBA Examples ● Union United’s Vision ○ What’s in our CBA ○ Community engagement ○ Proposal ● Questions?

Building on a history of community engagement

Who is Union United? Union United is a coalition of stakeholders, including small business owners, residents, activists, immigrant groups, religious congregations, labor unions, and community organizations, working to ensure that the Union Square redevelopment process results in tangible benefits — not displacement — for Union Square through a community benefits agreement

Union United member groups: ● Father Ademir Guerini of St. ● Union Square residents Anthony’s parish ● Union Square small businesses ● SEIU Local 888 ● CAAS/Tri-Cap ● SCATV ● Concord Ave Community Space ● Somerville Community Corporation ● Groundwork Somerville ● Somerville Homeless Coalition ● The Haitian Coalition ● Somerville Labor Coalition ● Immigrant Service Providers ● Teen Empowerment Group/Health ● The Welcome Project ● IBEW Local 103 ● Father Richard Curran of St. Joseph’s, St. Catherine’s, & St. Ann’s parishes

Union United principles: ● Affordable housing ● Community resources ● Local jobs ● Workers’ rights ● Green and open space ● Public safety ● Arts and culture ● Local businesses ● Participatory planning We believe the best way for community members to engage in the process is through a community benefits agreement.

What is a CBA? ● Legally binding cooperation agreement between developers and community coalitions addressing community needs ● Intended to lessen the social, economic, and environmental impacts of development ● Developer agrees to provide specific benefits to the community ● Community agrees to support the development

Who is involved in a CBA? ● Community coalition ○ Residents ○ Business owners ○ Faith groups ○ Immigrant groups ○ Labor unions ○ Community organizations ● City representative ● Developer

Educated, organized community

Successful CBA process: ● Bring community members together ● Identify the issues ● Turn issues into detailed priorities ● Turn priorities into legal language ● Work with developer and City before master agreement is finished ● Sign CBA ● Reference CBA in master agreement ● Monitor and enforce CBA

CBAs create accountability Community CBA Master Agreement (can incorporate CBA) City Developer Share information about project and negotiations

CBA Master Agreement ● Community ● City ● Community ● City ● Developer ● Developer ● Developer ➔ crossover interests ➔ addresses community ➔ addresses required amenities mitigation

CBAs: a growing model across the nation

Why a CBA? ● Community benefits mean buy-in and relationship-building ○ CBAs bring community members to the decision-making table in a meaningful way ● For developers: ○ build in valuable community amenities ○ faster, smoother entitlement process ○ projects and permits get green-lighted because of coalition’s backing ○ greater civic harmony (fewer demonstrations and legal suits) ● CBAs promote constructive, collaborative, and creative solutions to address community needs J.H. Snyder (one of California’s largest commercial developers): “The best way to get our project approved is to join the community.”

STRONG ENFORCEMENT & MONITORING: Models from Los Angeles ● Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy ○ Staples Center and Los Angeles Airport ○ Benefits for: ■ job training and first source hiring ■ affordable housing ■ environmental mitigation ○ Keys to success: ■ organized community ■ strong unions ■ progressive city council that supported coalition Los Angeles, CA ■ binding on successors - covenants run with the land ■ strong legal provisions for enforcement before anything is signed LAANE: “[CBAs] convinced the environmental movement to switch its approach from suing at the back end to helping come up with solutions at the front end.”

CBA SIGNED BEFORE MASTER AGREEMENT Kingsbridge Armory (2013) ● Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance - Kingsbridge National Ice Center ○ Benefits for: ■ “wall-to-wall” living wage requirement. ■ $8 million+ community fund ■ local business grant program ○ Keys to success: ■ Early negotiations between developer and community-labor groups after they voiced their opposition to previous developer’s proposal of turning site into a shopping mall ■ Coalition held pickets and rallies until Northwest Bronx, NY developer signed CBA KNIC Partners: “We knew from the beginning that this project would only work if the community wanted it, so we sat down with them early on to determines how we could create a worthy vision that could benefit everyone.”

WEAK OVERSIGHT Atlantic Yards (2005) ● Various community groups - Forest City Ratner ○ Community groups were hand-picked by the developer ○ Early conflicts between coalition, city, community groups, and developer ○ Weak enforcement ■ Stadium has been built, but local jobs and affordable housing units never Brooklyn, NY materialized

PROJECT CANCELLATION Dearborn Street Project (2008) ● Dearborn Street Coalition for Livable Neighborhoods - Dearborn St. Developers ○ First successfully negotiated CBA in the Pacific Northwest ○ City council included some benefits in its own agreement with the developer, allowing it to enforce provisions along with the community ○ Developer dropped the project due to economic Seattle, WA downturn ○ Lesson learned: CBAs can be tied to the land to ensure ongoing community benefits

What’s our vision?

Why a CBA in Union Square? Already a thriving, diverse community Responsive developer, engaged local stakeholders Model for equitable development We can’t afford not to!

A model for all of Somerville

What are our priorities? Affordable Local jobs Housing Protection for Community small resources, arts businesses and culture Public safety Green and Participatory and open space planning accessibility

Successful community engagement Creating a robust process by which citizens from all backgrounds – including immigrants, working-class residents, and people of color – can share their values and make decisions about what happens in our community.

How can we get there? Proposal: a group to focus on community benefits and a collaborative process convened by Union United, with seats for: ● US2 ● CAC ● City ● other community stakeholders

No time to wait! Opportunities to build! http://www.unionunited2014.org/ Union United 2014 @UnionUnited2014 617-776-5931 ext. 228