lefko - CPA money for St. John Cantius Church7/19/22, 2:38 PM City of Northampton Mail - CPA money for St. John Cantius Church
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Sarah LaValley <slavalley@northamptonma.gov>
CPA money for St. John Cantius Church
1 message
Claudia Lefko <iraqichildrensart@gmail.com>Mon, Jul 18, 2022 at 2:22 PM
To: mhl@marthalyon.com, Sarah LaValley <slavalley@northamptonma.gov>
To whom it concerns:
I want to express my strong opposition to using public —CPA--money for private use in developing St. John Cantius
Church. Essentially the developer, O’Connell, will get more than 1/2 million dollars of the city's tax money to use in
constructing (even more) high-end, private housing in Ward 3. It's not at all in keeping, in my opinion, with the intent of
CPC funding. As a taxpayer and Ward 3 resident I am against this categorically, not only for the church but for any
private development project that does not benefit the public—benefit beyond conserving an altered facade. These are
public funds, meant to be spent on public projects.
I would urge you to look again at the petition sent earlier, in support of “saving” the church. At that point, the question was
about saving/re-using the building, NOT about whether public funds should be used. I would venture to guess that some
of those 1500+ who signed saying they valued the church might not support the current proposal to use $500,000 in
public funds.
The city is allowing neighborhoods—houses, trees and gardens—to be demolished. Neighborhoods are at the very core
of what makes a city attractive and livable. Some of the properties being destroyed could potentially be saved using CPA
funding that would: 1) keep them as integral parts of a neighborhood; and 2) guarantee the price range as affordable for
average-income wage-earners. This is where we should be putting public money, into supporting living buildings—
buildings that have a past AND a public future as an integral part of neighborhoods. I object to putting public money into
the pocket of developers who are driving up the cost of housing in our city.
Respectfully,
Claudia Lefko
40 Valley St.