Wanted: Nominations For New Q House Board | New Haven Independent

Organizers of the under-construction Dixwell Community Q House are not wasting any time.
With the foundation already in the ground before winter and an expected ribbon cutting as soon as the end of 2020, they’ve set a deadline for the submission of nominations for an executive board.
Monday night a group of neighbors at the Wexler-Grant School auditorium, organized by the Building Committee for the Dixwell Community House, heard one of its co-chairs, Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison, describe the prospective 19-member board.
Its main job: oversee the long-awaited new version of the iconic Dixwell neighborhood anchoring institution, both as it comes into being and when it is fully operational.
That’s an important job, as the community seeks to avoid a rerun of the Q’s 2003 closing amid financial woes.
The planned 54,000 square-foot, two-story new Q will house the Stetson Library, the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, the Dixwell Senior Center, and a new basketball court and recording studio. It being built just a few feet over from the school at the corner of Dixwell Avenue and Foote Street.
In the spring the mayor signed an agreement with the project’s construction contractor, A. Secondino & Son, to oversee construction on the $16.697 million mostly state-funded venture. Foundations are being poured, with workers racing against the cold weather, toward a finishing date for the building either at the end of 2020 or early in 2021.
Morrison said nominations for the board can be sent in by any New Havener to the mayor’s legislative liaison Esther Armmand here. Due date: Nov. 29.
Why such a short window to send in names?
That’s precisely what Dottie Green asked. She ran programming from 1987 to 1990 at the previous Q House.
“Will enough people be aware of the board if the deadline is Nov. 29?” she asked. “The time frame is concerning.”
Thomas Breen Photo
THOMAS BREEN PHOTO
Jeanette Morrison and Mayor Harp at September Q House launch event.
Morrison said Monday night’s gathering is the first of three public forums and updates on the emerging Q House.

Morrison described that the rushed deadline as a nod of gratitude and respect to Mayor Toni Harp who, Morrison said, has been one of the indispensable backers of the new Q House from as far back as when she was a state senator. Harp has only five weeks left in office.
“Our mayor should be part of the process of selecting people for the board,” said Morrison.
After the review of recommended board members, the mayor passes her choices to the Board of Alders, which holds its own review and then a vote.
With only two meetings of the alders left during the Harp administration, submission of names by Nov. 29 is required to give time for Mayor Harp to be part of the process, Morrison said.
“I want the mayor to have a say, which she deserves,” said Morrison.
most of the board’s 19 members will be representatives proposed from the four constituent institutions, along with representatives from alders, the city’s youth and elderly services departments, and the neighboring Dixwell Congregational Church.
Morrison said she considers the church an informal fifth constituent of the Q House likely to share spaces and services.
The Q’s board will pick an executive director to oversee operational uses of shared spaces and programs, explained Dr. Dakibu Muley.
He’s the director of the city’s Community Services Administration (CSA), to whom the Q House’s future executive director will ultimately report.
The board will also write bylaws and policies; the job description of the executive director; and a strategic plan for the long-term financial health of the new Q House, so the operational money woes that beset its predecessor can be avoided.
Trenching for the foundations.
The basic plan is for the library, elderly services, and Cornell Scott-Hill Health to in effect pay rent monthly rent to the Q House, which will cover part of the estimated $ million operating expenses. The board will also continue fundraising efforts such as an ongoing buy-a-brick-leave-a-legacy campaign to build up an endowment

“This group is going to have a heavy lift,” Muley added. He urged audience members to spread the word of nominations, that representatives should have not only expertise but also the dedication and ability to attend work sessions.
In construction news that emerged from the meeting, Morrison said that about a quarter of the $16.7 million job — specifically the building of the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center component —  is to be broken out into smaller pieces. The purpose: To allow smaller, local, and minority-owned companies to take on those jobs.
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Organizers of the under-construction Dixwell Community Q House are not wasting any time. With the foundation already in the ground before winter and an expected ribbon cutting as soon as...

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