Board of Directors

Mayor Lou Spadaccini announced yesterday his intention to host a Mayor’s Economic Summit in partnership with the Manchester Board of Directors and the Manchester Economic Development Commission. The summit will address issues facing business owners in Manchester and how to improve the Town’s business climate. “Our goal is to improve the business climate in Manchester and make sure that job creators choose Manchester when locating their businesses. I am calling this Mayor’s Economic Summit so that we can learn about the problems and challenges faced by local businesses and how we can make Manchester more attractive to the business community and improve our Town,” said Mayor Lou Spadaccini.

In the wake of troubling business news and businesses struggling with the regulatory process in Town, the Republican-majority Board of Directors is dedicated to improving the business climate and bringing new jobs to the Silk City. “Manchester is perfectly located for business - two major highways, a highly-educated and motivated workforce. As community leaders, we need to ensure that our laws do not prevent us from reaching our goals,” said Spadaccini. “I intend to invite leaders from the local business community, Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN), and State Business Advocate Rob Simmons to Manchester to talk about these issues and how we can improve our business climate.”

“What we learn from this summit will help Manchester develop strategies to pursue sound economic development policies that bring new employers with good paying jobs to Town. We hope to hold the summit it late February. Mayor Spadaccini will be consulting with the Manchester Economic Development Commission and the Manchester Chamber of Commerce in the coming days to work out the details of date, time, and attendees to the Mayor’s Economic Summit.

The Board of Directors met on Tuesday night, holding a public hearing about the proposed landlord registration ordinance.  The proposal being pushed by the Republicans on the Board would require absentee landlords to place their name, address, and contact telephone number on a registry so that they could be contacted if necessary.  With quality of life issues on the docket this month, the Republican Directors are serious about combating blight in Manchester.  Dilapidated buildings, be they residential, commercial, or industrial, hurt community morale, make our Town less attractive to prospective employers and residents, and serve as a drag on property values.  A landlord registry, particularly focused at those landlords who don’t live in Manchester, will give the Town new tools for contacting owners when their buildings aren’t up to snuff.

The Hartford Courant had an excellent article on the subject yesterday which you should read in its entirety.  The highlights:

“Manchester resident David Carlson called the proposal “one of the greatest ideas to come out of this office in the last 20 years.”

The best exchange of the evening, however, occurred when Attorneys Joel Janenda and Barry Botticello spoke before the Board of Directors.  Mr. Scott Aiken responded to their commentary quite effectively. 

Joel Janenda, a lawyer representing two landlords in town, spoke against the proposal.“If your focus is to deal with blight in the community, then focus on enforcement. You already have a property maintenance code,” Janenda said. The proposal “is not a good idea, it’s misdirected.”

. . .

“Scott Aiken, a landlord who lives in the building which he rents, said he was in favor of the ordinance.“I have a really hard time with people crying that this is going to be a burden when they could afford to hire a lawyer to speak for them,” Aiken said. “I think filling out one additional form isn’t going to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

The Journal - Inquirer carried the story yesterday about the busy January planned for the Manchester Board of Directors.  The highlights:
“It’s important to have readily available contact information for owners of non-owner-occupied residential properties,” Republican Mayor Louis A. Spadaccini said today during a press conference. “It’s simply a name, address, and telephone number so the town can have it in the event of an emergency.”Spadaccini said that while Republicans had considered including a nominal, one-time registration fee, they heard from constituents who opposed the idea and back off.”

. . .

“Anybody who owns property in Manchester, the message is you have to be a responsible steward,” Pelletier said. “We want to have the toughest code in the state. We’re going to send out a very serious message.”