Remarks by Dimple Ajmera
136 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 4 of 6
Thank you. Mr. CFO, I understand this is not a new proposal. This is a $150 million arena appropriation that was from a few years ago. From what I understand, this is a refinancing. Correct?
So in terms of long financing, anything substantial that has changed from our original assumption?
So that means no changes to our tourism fund forecast?
All right, that's all I have. Thank you.
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Okay, so I know historically this program is overutilized, where there is usually a long wait list. Have you explored increasing that funding? Because I know it's oversubscribed, because I've connected many neighborhood, many residents with this program, especially in Hampshire Hills, and they have shared with me that the program is oversubscribed. So do we know what's the current utilization and what's the ask we get every year?
That's good to hear. So it's $5 million plus $3 million from another source that's outside of the housing trust fund.
That's great to hear. And I certainly appreciate how you have energy efficiency because as... As we are seeing extreme heat in our communities, we are seeing urban heat islands, we are seeing utility bills go up significantly as a result. And when we have energy efficient buildings and energy efficient appliances, it actually helps with overall savings and it helps people with overall affordable housing. So it's great to see that's being incorporated because it does have an impact on the bottom line. So I appreciate how that will also help us meet our CF goals. And that's all I have. Thank…
Thank you, Mayor Harrington. Chief, thank you so much for your leadership. And to the entire team, thank you for the work that you do in and out every day to protect our communities. We appreciate your service. Chief, a couple of questions. As a result of this pilot, what metrics will you measure during this pilot?
That's great. I appreciate you listening to the city council. I remember when you first brought this proposal, it was an ordinance and that was permanent. The council asked for a pilot. You made that happen. I appreciate you listening to the council and to the community. I would like to specifically see some of this being included in the metrics. Arrest, calls for service, repeat offenses. You did include teen takeover incidents. And are we comparing them against any baseline?
That's great. So what I would like to see is see this data broken down by age, by demographics, race, geography. geography and enforcement outcome so we can determine whether this policy is actually improving safety without producing unintended disparities. Because the goal here is not to criminalize our teenagers. As a mother of two young girls, I care deeply about our young people. It touched my heart to see young babies Children coming to speak in front of the council, that takes tremendous courage, regardless of what side you are on. So kudos to all the young people. I know this is way…
with clear data, safeguards, and accountability so we can measure whether it actually works or not. Lastly, I've been getting emails from parents throughout the city that said, you know, my teenager does everything they're supposed to do. They are great. Why are they being punished for the behavior of a few? What would your response be?
I appreciate your leadership, and thank you for the work that you do. I know it's very difficult, but you are the right person for the job. Thank you.
I get it. In the past, we would not go over 10. In the future. That was our policy. I think we need to revisit that.
I do want to say a few words. Thank you, Mayor Harrington. Nancy, thank you. And to all the climate leaders, June Blotnick and Beth Henry, And Claire, thank you for staying till the end. And thank you for your leadership. Also, I want to give a big shout out to Robert Dawkins for sending the people ordinance to us for us to review and do our homework. I certainly appreciate it. Last but not the least, thank you, Gustavo, for advocating for the east side. I am so humbled to be your neighbor as you speak and advocate for the children of our communities. Also, I want to give a shout out to the…
Right, and I think that's where the time management is important. Maybe we can start a meeting sooner, but I think after 10 p.m. you're losing a lot of the council members. Everyone is tired, yeah. June and others had raised this public health impact assessment and I was reviewing the report and some of the write-up that was sent to us. I did not see anything specifically on public health impact. So why wouldn't a public health impact assessment be one of the specific deliverables of this extension?
Right so that's great to hear that you are working with the county. I would like to I would like to see a public health formally included in the scope for this work that we are doing, especially not as an afterthought, but certainly alongside water, energy, and the quality of life that we are looking at, especially around the air quality. Also, I had an opportunity to review the report that you had sent. I noticed that data centers are expected to account for 33% of total energy load growth over the next six years. So what analysis, and this could all be part of the follow-up report, what…
Okay, so the residential users will not be subsidizing for the large industrial users. For the infrastructure, correct. Yeah. I know that as part of the water impact, I would like to see some capacity analysis as part of this moratorium. And really, that analysis not just include average year, average usage. I think we need to look at high and low. especially considering the drought conditions. And I also would like to see, I didn't see that as part of the memo that was sent to the council, what has been done to date, what will be done in this one year of extension, and what to expect by the…
Right, and I think here, yeah, this is another reason we need a deeper dive. Some of us haven't seen this, rather than rushing through this. But certainly I support having a public hearing, and hopefully that will give us additional opportunity to hear and actually do a deeper dive on this presentation, because this is one of the consequential policy decisions that we will be making. This does not only impact environment, it affects our residents, our rate payers, our taxpayers, our pocketbooks, most importantly, our quality of life. So I look forward to doing more deeper dive conversation on…
So first I'll make a motion to approve item number 20, and then I'll make a comment. Second. Second. Speaking of Charlotte Water, I just want to highlight Charlotte Water again. They are a champion of the circular economy. And Angela Charles and her team does an excellent job of meeting our CF goals. We have seen that when they unveiled Renew Brew. And this is item number 20. It's just another example of how we recover our valuable resources like phosphorus and nitrogen from wastewater to support a circular sustainable economy. And this is going to result in almost $2 million. So let me say…
Yes, thank you, Mayor Harrington. So, Council Member Johnson, just so that I understand your question, why are we sticking with the existing process if the conversation is in the BGIR committee? So from what I understood from the attorney is that till the new process is adopted, we have to continue with the existing process. Am I correct? That's correct. So I know that this is going to be coming in front of the BGIR committee for a follow-up next month, and this month the BGIR committee had two meetings, and this was... Number second item on our agenda tonight to today earlier today. Okay,…
I make a motion to close the public hearing. Just the second.
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Thank you, Mayor Harrington. You're doing an excellent job keeping track of all the hands that's been raised.
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