ACTS-CNY

Economic Development & Jobs Task Force WINSCommunity Benefits Agreement

The ACTS Economic Development & Jobs Task Force won yesterday (June 10, 2009) a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) for the billion-dollar rehabilitation of Syracuse schools.

The Syracuse School Board unanimously passed a CBA that will provide training opportunities for Syracuse School students, and start a pipeline of trained young people for careers in the construction field. The Syracuse School System will be embarking on a ten year, billion-dollar rehabilitation of every school in Syracuse.

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After our November, 2007 Action Meeting, the Economic Development/Jobs Task Force has worked with our community allies and partners to advocate for a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) for the Syracuse Schools Reconstruction Project.

Community Benefits Agreements are a new economic model being used successfully in many cities throughout the country and the State of New York.  CBAs have been used to ensure that communities benefit from development projects in their neighborhoods, ensuring accountability and transparency and other benefits such as hiring and paying a living wage to local workers as well as utilization of minority and women contractors and businesses.  A CBA is a binding contract between the community and the developer, which benefits both the community and the developer.  CBAs benefit the developer because it provides community support for the use of public monies for the development project.  In our case, we are also looking to establish a youth development and training program in the city school district that will allow students to get experience in the building trades, therefore providing students with more options either to pursue college or to enter a building trade that will provide a decent salary with benefits that can facilitate the student to stay in the greater Syracuse region.

What progress have we made?

• We have done focus groups in various member congregations, and we have organized and held a public meeting on August 6, 2008, at St. Lucy’s Church.Present to make commitments of supportwere: Syracuse Board of Education Commissioners Calvin Corridors and Ned Deuel, Common Councilor Van Robinson and Common Council President Bea Gonzalez, Syracuse City Schools Superintendent Dan Lowengard and Ms. Christine Fix, representing Mayor Matthew Driscoll.
• We presented our CBA proposal to the Syracuse Joint Schools Construction Board (the board that is charged with overseeing the Syracuse Schools Reconstruction Project) on October 8, 2008 and weare starting to negotiate an agreement. We also want to thank Syracuse Community Health Center CEO Dr. Ruben Cowart as a communitymemberof the JSCB and former JSCB member Common Councilor Bill Ryan for his past efforts with us.
• We thank our community partners for their support and guidance: the Central and Northern New York Building and Construction Trades Council, the Spanish Action League, the NAACP, the Minority Contractors Association, the Syracuse Alliance for a New Economy, the Service Employees International Union 1199, and Syracuse United Neighbors.

So what do we want?

• Finalize the CBA for the Syracuse Schools Reconstruction Project.
• Create a new framework with CBAs as a model for all future development in Central New York.
• Emphasize not just that we need more CBAs in our community, but WHY we need CBAs.
• Expand community participation in economic development.

ACTS Receives Recognition from Joint School Construction Board

On Wednesday, August 6, 2008, the Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse (ACTS) held a Community Forum at St. Lucy’s Church. ACTS obtained public commitments from a majority of members of the Joint School Construction Board (JSCB) to meet with ACTS and our community allies by October 15 in order to begin negotiations for a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) for the Syracuse schools renovation project that is estimated to spend $1 billion over the next 10 years. ACTS will meet with the JSCB on Oct. 9.

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