Mayor In DC For Moolah And JFK Salute

From Mayor Finch:

Continuing CDBG Funding a Top Priority During Mayor Finch’s Attendance at U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C.

(January 19, 2011) Mayor Bill Finch today joined more than 220 mayors from across the nation who are in Washington, D.C., this week to encourage lawmakers to continue adequately funding the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The mayors are attending the 79th Winter Meeting of The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) through Jan. 21, and, in addition to lobbying Congress about CDBG, they also will be pushing lawmakers for assistance in creating jobs, and talking to President Obama in a special meeting.

Today, Mayor Finch joined other Mayors, including Setti Warren, of Newton, Mass., Antonio Villaraigosa, of Los Angeles and Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, among others, along with members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., to urge federal lawmakers to keep CDBF funding level when it comes up for a vote. CDBG, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program, provides communities, including Bridgeport, with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs.

“The CDBG program continually and consistently provides jobs, which are so desperately needed in these tough economic times. The program improves lives every day with one of the most important ingredients to economic recovery – a job,” said Mayor Finch. “I can look out the window of my office and see evidence of CDBG’s success. The City of Bridgeport has greatly benefited from this program with the creation of permanent and temporary jobs and the revitalization of our Downtown. Any cuts to CDBG at this time would be unacceptable.”

While in the nation’s Capitol, Mayor Finch, who traveled to D.C. by train, will meet with U.S. Rep. Jim Himes and U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Joseph Lieberman to discuss federally funded initiatives for Bridgeport which include programs related to public safety, education, infrastructure, transportation and sustainability. (A detailed summary of the City of Bridgeport’s federal priorities is attached to this press release.)

Earlier this month in a letter to U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Mayor Finch described specific CDBG projects which benefited from CDBG funds, used to create an Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund – a flexible source of supplemental financing for economic development activities, which created both permanent and temporary jobs in the City.

These projects included:

· The relocation from Stratford to Bridgeport of Antinozzi Associates Architects. The firm invested $539,000 in 11,000 square feet of leased space at 277 Fairfield Avenue. A CDBG loan of $100,000 was used to fund professional fees related to the design and fund working capital for the business. This resulted in the creation of two full-time jobs and 25 construction jobs.

· Art Space, a key component to Downtown Bridgeport’s mixed-use revitalization plan, benefited from a $200,000 loan from CDBG to partially finance much needed improvements to the ground floor commercial space. As a result, the improvements were completed, commercial space was rented and 10 full-time jobs were created by the businesses that moved in, along with 20 construction jobs. 

· The restoration of the former Bijou Theater, reportedly the oldest continuously used movie house in the country, which has sat vacant and unused for the better part of two decades, received a $100,000 loan from the City of Bridgeport’s Economic Development Fund funded by CDBG. As a result of the loan, two full-time jobs were created as well as 30 construction jobs.

While at the conference Mayor Finch, who serves on the advisory board of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, is a member of its Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports subcommittee, and was recently named co-chair of the USCM’s Climate Protection Task Force, will meet with Cabinet officials, and the President, to talk about joblessness in U.S. cities and the need for job creation.

On Thursday, Mayor Finch will attend an event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to honor the 50th Anniversary of the Inauguration of President Kennedy and his national call to service.