AWOL Alderman Resigns; 2 Candidates Emerge

Fair Haven’s Ward 14 should finally have an alderman representing it by the end of February — maybe a soccer league organizer or a Wilbur Cross biology teacher.

The seat opened up now that Gabriel Santiago — the first-term alderman who hasn’t shown up to City Hall for a meeting since July 2, and who has been incommunicado with constituents and the press — has finally formally resigned.

A new aldermanic seat has opened up now that Gabriel Santiago — the first-term alderman who hasn’t shown up to City Hall for a meeting since July 2, and who has been incommunicado with constituents and the press — has finally formally resigned.

The city clerk now has the responsibility for choosing a date for a special election to fill the seat. That election is supposed by law to take place at some time within the next 45 days.

At least two possible candidates have emerged to take Santiago’s place on the board.

Santiago Berrios-Bones, a 64-year-old biology teacher at Wilbur Cross High School, said he had considered a run for the seat, before a group of Latino leaders in November picked a woman named Tatiana Davila as the favorite to succeed Santiago.

Reached by phone, Davila declined to say if she will run. If she doesn’t, Berrios-Bones might, he said. ​“I’m interested, but I have to talk to my wife. This is another decision we have to make.”

Alberto Bustos, a 62-year-old Grand Avenue businessman, said he’s ready to run.

Bustos, who’s from Peru, said he’s lived in Fair Haven for 31 years. He has a travel agency on Grand Avenue called Expresso Latino, where he wires money for customers and helps people with income tax preparation. He said he used to run a Spanish newspaper called Los Andes.

Bustos also runs the New Haven Men’s Soccer League. In 2009, when the city booted soccer players from the league off fields on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, Bustos helped lead a successful campaign to reinstate them. 

“I would like to keep working with the community,” Bustos said. He said he would wants work with kids in Fair Haven, to find more things for them to do after school. ​“They are the future.”

Showing Up

Santiago’s resignation letter appeared at the Office Of Legislative Services Monday afternoon. Someone hand-delivered it. It was unclear Monday night who that someone was.

It read:

To whom it may concern.

I am writing to notify you that, effective immediately, I am resigning from my position as Alderman for Ward 14.

I appreciate the opportunity I have been given and wish I could have served my community for the entire aldermanic term, but personal responsibilities and family issues will prevent me from doing so.

I thank the members of my community that assisted me and supported me during my term and I hope that Ward 14 can find a new alderman with the dedication and commitment that this neighborhood deserves.

Sincerely,
Gabriel Santiago.

While Santiago himself has failed to return requests for comment, his mother told the Independent last Friday to expect a resignation soon.

Santiago finished the year with an abysmal 32 percent attendance record at meetings of the full Board of Aldermen.

Both Berrios-Bones and Bustos promised they would beat that record if they were alderman.

Asked if he would attend meetings, Berrios-Bones said, ​“Why not? That’s what an alderman is supposed to do — go to the meetings and represent the ward. Otherwise, what is the sense of being an alderman?”

“I’d be at all the meetings,” said Bustos. ​“I’d have to do the job, of course.”

“He missed lots of meetings,” Bustos said of Santiago. ​“That’s not going to happen with me.”