Opposing Campaigners Agree: Rent Is Too High

by Laura Glesby

Over 75 feet away from the Benjamin Jepson School polling place Tuesday, campaigners connected across party lines over the experience of struggling to afford rent in New Haven.

Supporters of both Democratic Party nominee Wildaliz Bermúdez and Republican Party nominee Anthony Acri greeted prospective voters on the sidewalk there and handed out flyers advocating for their preferred 97th General Assembly District state representative candidate.

They were joined by canvassers associated with New Haven Rising, a nonprofit partner of local UNITE HERE unions that has backed Democratic Party candidates — and has recently pushed for a local ordinance amendment that would prohibit most short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs, from operating in New Haven. The New Haven Rising canvassers distributed flyers exclusively focused on the short-term rental regulation advocacy.

Deborah Meade accepted flyers from Acri, Bermúdez, and New Haven Rising advocates on her way to the poll. She said she planned to vote for all the Democrats on her ballot.

Before she cast her ballot, she took a moment to tell the canvassers what was on her mind.

Meade has lived in New Haven for the last 17 or so years. She wants to stay here, she said, but she’s worried she won’t be able to afford rent. She has a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher; her income-based rent contribution recently increased to just over $200 a month. She found out that her landlord was also charging her late fees after the increase, and that she owes “400 and something” in total this month.

As someone who relies on disability benefits through Social Security, Meade said, she’s trying to figure out “how to survive in Connecticut.” Her daughter recently moved to Roanoke, Virginia — a place her daughter had known nothing about, only that the rent was more affordable.

Meade is contemplating a similar move, though she wants to stay in New Haven, where her other kids and her 5-year-old granddaughter live. “I don’t want to move,” she said.

Meade said she likes her apartment, although she lamented that a megalandlord in the city recently bought it up.

At the mention of landlords, Orlando Rodrigo, a campaigner for Acri, chimed in. “They don’t want to fix. They don’t want to do nothing!” he said.

Ward 13 Alder Mildred Melendez, a Democrat supporting Bermúdez, encouraged Meade to connect directly with Bermúdez — who happens to lead New Haven’s Fair Rent department.

Betsy, another Acri supporter, joined the conversation. A current New Haven resident, Betsy said she’s looking for a new apartment with her two sons. She recently came across a four-bedroom in Hamden going for $4,500 a month.

Many landlords charge an application fee for tenants interested in an apartment, said Bermúdez. Ever since her kids turned 18, Betsy said she’s had to pay application fees not only for herself but for the both of them as well. A given apartment application can cost nearly $150, she said. She wondered whether property owners are profiting purely from rental application fees.

“They take that money and they don’t refund it,” echoed a canvasser for New Haven Rising and UNITE HERE Local 217, who declined to provide her name.

The canvasser lives in Hartford, where she said that Airbnbs are “starting to pop up” but haven’t yet become as common as they are in New Haven. She said that as an organizer with the hospitality workers union, she sees many members struggling to afford rent, even after receiving raises at work.

She said she hopes the New Haven Board of Alders will pass the ban on non-owner-occupant Airbnbs and other short-term rentals, in part because she believes that the legislation will have ripple effects on the housing market across the state.

Betsy mused that Airbnb operators “make more money renting it out that way,” as opposed to longer-term rentals.

“Housing is really important in New Haven,” Melendez later reflected, calling back to the rental listing that the opposing campaigner had mentioned. “$4,500? Who has that kind of money? That’s more than my mortgage.”

“I worry about the young people” who can’t afford to live in the city, Melendez said.

Eventually, when Bermúdez returned to the polling place, she noted that among her top priorities as a legislator would be to implement more regulations upholding housing quality. “We need stronger state laws that protect tenants regarding mold,” she said. “Asthma is one of the highest reasons that kids stay home from school.” She also expressed openness to the notion of regulating rental application fees.

Meanwhile, when a sandwich delivery came to the Democratic Party advocates, Melendez offered an eggplant sandwich to Betsy.

Betsy hesitated a moment, before accepting the sandwich. She asked around to see if anyone wanted to split it.

“We feed everybody!” Melendez said.

Deborah Meade: Rent on the mind. Credit: Laura Glesby Photo

Credit: Laura Glesby Photo