During this time of the pandemic, many functions and events have been forced to cancel or re-schedule for maybe another time.  One of the most heartbreaking is the cancelling of graduation for all our students, robbing them of the chance to relish their achievements.  And as sad as that is, every generation has been forced to endure some kind of  interruption from events out of their control. This happened to my father in law when he was called up for WWII. 

 My son recently wrote about his own graduation which he had coupled with his grandfather, 50 years later.

Graduation Moments Deferred
Written by Tim Doherty Jr.

Graduates in the class of 2020 are missing out on one of the great rites of passage. Never in the past would we have thought the ability to stand on a stage in a gymnasium or on a football field filled with our peers and families would seem like such a privilege, but alas only in loss do we sometimes see the value of what we had. While the ceremony itself adds little to the educational accomplishments of the class, that ‘graduation moment’ somehow acknowledges, celebrates and completes the work of the student, allowing them to begin their next chapter.

While the pandemic is itself without precedent, its disruption to our important life events isn’t. I offer a story of a graduate who also didn’t cross that stage with his peers, but instead got a more personal opportunity to celebrate his accomplishments.

My grandfather, James Wilson, completed his engineering degree at Lehigh University in 1944. His Lehigh experience was one of a poor kid, commuting from a nearby town, during the tumultuous war years. Everything was focused on the war, even the academic year was altered to a trimester schedule to speed the process of minting graduates for the war effort.

In his last semester, he was selected for an assignment in the Merchant Marine, took his finals a few weeks early and shipped out before commencement ceremonies were held. Like so many who sacrificed greatly for the defense of our country, he never dwelled on missing graduation, but it was none-the-less a part of his story. His degree arrived in the mail in a cardboard tube.

Fifty plus years later, I began my own Lehigh education and grandpa got to observe a different version of ‘the college experience’. I lived in a dorm and enjoyed campus life, and grandpa was a frequent visitor and supporter. We enjoyed sharing Lehigh and although already close, were brought closer by this shared bond.

When it came time for me to graduate, I contacted the university president who agreed to the idea– grandpa should walk in commencement ceremonies with me. It took a little prodding from my grandmother to get him to agree because he didn’t want to take away from my graduation. But I can honestly say it was a far more special day because he participated. After my name was called and I walked across the stage, shook the hand of the University president and received my degree, I turned around just as the announcer read “James Francis Wilson.” Immediately, the whole arena roared with applause and the crowd gave the 75 year old graduate a standing ovation as grandpa finally had his ‘graduation moment’.

While it’s impossible to know what either my or my grandfathers graduations would have been like otherwise, the circumstances of his commencement deferred gave us a special opportunity to personalize our experience. I offer this story because it might be the case for the class of 2020 that your ‘graduation moment’, although deferred, is now yours to choose. Perhaps instead of video commencement or drive thru graduation, the best idea is to offer the class of 2020 the opportunity to participate in a future ceremony (hopefully not 50 years later), maybe with a sibling or at a particular reunion anniversary– whatever might make it even more meaningful to the individual. I hope the administration of schools and universities will give this some consideration, so that instead of the class of 2020 being the class who didn’t have a graduation, they’ll be the class who got to have their ‘graduation moment’ on their own terms.

These past months have been some very difficult ones, having to deal with this Covid-19 virus.  Many of us have had to schedule work hours so that we would reduce the likelihood of personal interactions with others.  We have reduced our general freedom to travel or visit, opting for staying home, or at least limiting the places that we go to.  My day out seems to be our weekly visit to the grocery store, then back home.  So, for me, work, home or grocery store, and that has been it.

For those who have been laid off, or who have had their work hours reduced, that has also reduced the amount of income they are now getting.  For some of our tenants this is true.  Yet we are constantly    approached by outside agencies and groups who perceive the need, and then try to answer the call.

At Project Freedom we have been fortunate to have some local agencies provide food and other household goods for our tenants.  The local organization called “Arm in Arm” has, on a regular basis, dropped off bags of groceries for our tenants.  They have delivered to all of our Mercer County sites several times during this pandemic. 

Another local agency, the Jewish Family & Children‘s Service  (JFCS) has also brought food    supplies to our Mercer County sites with their mobile Food Truck. They were referred to us by Board member, Bob Buda Jr. who helped us with their connection.   We received a check for $1,500 from the local Princeton Corridor Rotary for tenant supplies and our local pizzeria, in conjunction with Nottingham Insurance Agency, Varsity Pizza also brought 42 pizzas, last Thursday, for our tenants at Lawrenceville. 

These good works continue to happen as we make our way through this pandemic.  Americans have   always risen to the occasion when necessary, and we are seeing that today.  That is why, through this column, I want to publicly thank Beth Englezos of the JFCS, David R. Fox of Arm in Arm and members  of the Princeton Corridor Rotary for their support in these challenging times. And to small business owners, such as Kevin Murphy of Varsity Pizza and Jack and Greg Blair from Nottingham Insurance for their community support and their work for Project Freedom.  We will survive this virus and come back stronger as a community and nation.  So, for now, let’s just take care of one another.

Seems like forever that we have been able to go to a retail store or go out to a restaurant for dinner. Because of the COVID-19 virus, Only essential businesses are allowed to stay open, with staff working shifts so as not to have a crowd of people in one office or conference center at a time.  Many small businesses are closed such as hair salons, barber shops, spas, and small retail boutiques, with many pizza shops and small restaurants only doing take out service.  Even weddings have been cancelled, and funerals services have been truncated, with only immediate family members in attendance.  All of us, obeying the Executive Order from Governor Murphy which has effectively shut down New Jersey for a month now.  Is this now the new normal? 

Now some folks would say that the closing of the State was a drastic action, and something maybe the Governor didn’t have to do.  Of course, it is always easy to second guess, after the fact and be a Monday Morning quarterback.  However the fact remains that New Jersey has been one of the hardest hit states, along with New York, that have suffered the greatest effects of this pandemic.  Next to New York, New Jersey has had the most cases per capita of infection, and I believe the most deaths due to this virus, than most other states in the US.  This COVID-19 Virus is nothing to fool around with, and not something to take lightly.

So, for a month now, we have been inside, sheltering in place, many working from home when we can.  For Project Freedom Inc., we have shut our community centers and put staff on rotating work schedules so that we could avoid any large groupings, and thereby reduce our chances of interaction.  Staff still monitors the phones, but we are only really attending to emergency maintenance issues.  Now that the weather is getting warmer, there will be grass cutting and      outside maintenance being done at the properties, so that work needs to be kept up with, otherwise it can get out of hand.  PFI staff is still available for help if tenants need anything and continue to check on many of our tenants.

So, as of the Governor’s latest news conference, he has laid out several conditions that would need to be in place before he will lift the “stay at home order”.  These conditions are a reduction in new COVID-19 cases, more testing of healthcare workers and then the public in general, along with the reduction in hospitalizations.  The Governor is still undecided if he will allow schools to reopen this current school year, which really needs to be done for most people to go back to work.  What is feared mos is for the virus to have a comeback when business is open again; thereby losing all the gains achieved by staying at home.

So, let’s all continue to do our part.  Wash our hands, wear our masks, stay 6 feet away and avoid any large crowds.  By doing so, we will protect ourselves as well as one another.  And, also keep the faith.  We will get through this in time for sure… America has done it in the past, and we will continue in the future. 

In early October, HMFA will be putting on the Governor’s Conference on Housing. This is usually a three day affair in Atlantic City, and it gives businesses and agencies such as Project Freedom the opportunity to see the latest products and services in the housing industry, but to also attend the various learning seminars on housing management and financing. It is also an excellent opportunity to meet face to face with HMFA and DCA officials, staff and other agencies, that impact affordable housing in New Jersey.

This year I have been asked to be part of a panel on Supportive Housing in New Jersey, which I have done in the past. This kind of workshop is very timely now since the affordable housing industry has recently faced some significant changes due to the Federal Tax Reform Act passed last year. That act significantly de-valued the price for Tax Credits by lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 % down to about 15 %. The net effect was to give a tax break to most corporations, who previously would invest in Tax Credits as a way to reduce their federal tax burden. Since taking effect last year, this new law has significantly lowered the price for tax credits ultimately reducing the total paid by as much as $ 500,000.

For Project Freedom, that reduction in total price paid put a big hole in our financing for our Gibbsboro project. Our investor syndicator did help by scrambling to find some other funds such as the penalty money paid to the Justice Department for claims against some of the largest banks. However, that money was limited and did not provide all the needed funding for this project. We had to do extensive value engineering to our buildings, that is to say, to give up some amenities, so as to bring the cost of the project more in line with our budget or available funds. Now under construction, we are hoping that we can save all of our contingency money so as to put back some of those enhancements.

Couple that issue with the fact that the State of New Jersey’s Budget continues to run a deficit with expected revenues to fall short of the expected spending. In addition, our new governor, Phil Murphy continues to want to increase spending for other social programs without really knowing that the funds will be there for their expense.

Finally, although many towns have settled in court on their Affordable Housing plans for the third Round, there are a number of new proposed bills in the legislature that will impact getting new affordable housing completed. Without giving the bill numbers here, one bill was to have every proposed project do an extensive, and costly, feasibility study before moving ahead.  Another bill wanting to eliminate the PILOT programs that reduce the real estate taxes paid by these affordable housing projects. A third bill would require using Davis Bacon Wage scales to all construction projects that are funded with any federal or State funds. This alone provision would increase the cost of the projects by 30%, and thereby reduce the available funds for more projects.

So, with the fact that the Towns have had to go through the courts in order to get approval of their housing plans, many now are asking for the return of COAH. Funny, what goes around comes around.

“What goes around, comes around.” 

“What once was old is now new.”       

I am sure we have all heard theses phrases before, so you won’t be surprised when I tell you that I am referring to issues revolving around Affordable Housing in New Jersey.

Yesterday I attended an open hearing of the Assembly Committee Housing.  The committee members were called together by chairman Benjie Wimberly (D. Passaic) to discuss the state of affordable housing and the complaints of several Towns about the burden that affordable housing will place on their towns.  This is the result of COAH not passing third round rules back in 2015, so the Towns have had to go to the Courts to resolve these issues.  Most have settled with Fair Share Housing and have had their affordable housing plans approved by the Courts, however with numbers that they still don’t like.  And so, a call for a return of COAH to administer these plans and settle these issues.

That would be all well and good, if COAH had been allowed to work as it originally was set up.  In the early days, the COAH board was a bi-partisan Board and would work with towns to discuss their affordable housing issues and ultimately arrive at a settlement.  However, the towns still railed against having to do their housing obligations, so then governor Christi’ sought to marginalize COAH to the point that it was no longer able to function.  Ultimately, The Supreme Court ruled that until COAH is reconstituted, Towns would have to have their housing plans certified by the courts.  So that is where we are today.

Settling through the Courts was always an option, however today it is the place of last resort, so that Towns now must finally settle, establish their plans and then help to get the construction done.  This is what they don’t like.  At yesterday’s hearing, I heard a lot of statements from the members of the committee, as well as from the mayors of many towns, of how they support affordable housing      however they are worried that they don’t have sufficient infrastructure within their towns, to manage this new growth.  They fear overbuilding of the town, overcrowding in their schools, and higher taxes.  All this really without having any new construction being built yet. 

So, this clearly is still a very big issue for towns in New Jersey.  We are yet to hear about the new Governor’s position on Affordable Housing.  Will the Governor re-institute COAH or a like body that will take up these issues and remove them from the courts.  Or will he allow the process to run its course, through the judicial system, ultimately having judges making the decisions as a Town’s      affordable housing plans.

My experience has been that even when COAH was an active body, some towns would still delay, and throw up barriers as to why they couldn’t comply with the law.  However, with the issues in the hands of the courts, Towns have been forced to settle and move on.  My recommendation would be to stay the course, allow the Courts to do their job, and settle these issues.  No longer are towns     allowed to get away with delay after delay, hoping for some governor or new legislature to change the law.  Given some time, we will begin to see new housing develop that will ease the burden of those who need it.  Finding decent and affordable housing should be something that we should all support.