Thomas MacMillan Photo
Promising to take the West River neighborhood to “a higher level,” Tyisha Walker became the latest union-affiliated candidate to throw her hat into the ring in an election year marked by contentious municipal labor negotiations.
Walker (pictured above), a 31-year-old department steward in Yale’s Local 35 labor union, officially declared her candidacy for Ward 23 alderman on Thursday evening. She did so flanked by friends and supporters in the “Peace Park” at Boulevard and Legion Avenue as the sun began to sink towards the West River that gives her neighborhood its name.
Walker, a New Haven native, has lived in West River for seven years. She’s taking on incumbent Alderman Yusuf Shah, who has represented the ward in City Hall for a decade.
She said the ward is ready for a new leader to bring West River’s “voice back to the table.” She said the neighborhood needs better access to jobs, increased public safety, and an leader who’s “engaged” with the community.
Alderman Shah, who’s 50, welcomed his challenger and said he’d like to sit down for a conversation with her. He said he plans to run for his sixth term but is open to the possibility of stepping aside for Walker, if she proves to be a good choice and the community backs her.
Alderman Shah.
Thursday’s campaign kick-off came two days after a similar event in Beaver Hills, where Yale union representative Brian Wingate announced he’s taking on Board of Aldermen President Carl Goldfield. Many of the same faces were at both events, including Wingate; Frank Douglass, who’s gunning for Alderwoman Gina Calder’s Ward 2 seat; and Shirley Lawrence, an organizer for the labor-affiliated Connecticut Center for a New Economy (CCNE). Walker’s yellow-balloned refreshments table even featured an glass lemonade dispenser identical to the one Wingate used. Similar labor-activist support has coalesced around two independent-minded incumbents running for reelection, Claudette Robinson-Thorpe of Beaver Hills and Dolores Colon of the Hill. More candidacies are expected on this emerging independent labor slate.
Walker, who’s 31, works as a cook’s helper at Yale. She started at Yale in 1998 as a part-time job as a desk attendant, and worked her way up to full-time. She’s also worked her way up in the union to her current role as a department steward supervising seven stewards.
She’s a single mother to two girls, 15-year-old Hillhouse sophomore Tenaiya Baker, and 8‑year-old Tiasia Jones.
At 5:30 p.m., in the shade of a tall tree, Tenaiya introduced her mom, who she said has been an inspiration to her.
Addressing a couple dozen supporters, Walker cited her New Haven pedigree and her experience as a union supervisor. “I’ve been able to be a leader in the community and at work.”
Walker, who has never run for office before, also cited her political experience knocking on doors for the Obama campaign in Virginia. She also mentioned working for the Community Voter Project in New Haven, where she said she helped increase voter turnout.
“The people of West River want access to jobs,” she said. The “people of West River also want a reduction in crime, a leader who will bring their “voice to the table,” and a leader who is “engaged in the community,” she said.
“I’ve heard you,” she concluded. “I accept the challenge. … Help me help you help the community.”
Walker declined to differentiate herself from the incumbent. “This is not about Alderman Shah, it’s about the community.”
Asked about three specific current issues in municipal government, Walker was noncommittal.
On the city’s $475 million budget, which was recently approved by the Board of Aldermen, she did not express an opinion. “I’m pretty sure that the alderman did what they thought was best,” she said. “I think they spent a lot of hard time on figuring out this budget.”
The budget was shaped in part by the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee, which Alderman Shah chairs.
The alderman was also a prime mover in the recent attempt to resuscitate a controversial parking meter monetization plan, which would have given the city a quick up-front $50 million to plug budget holes at the cost of owing a private company $111 million over the next 25 years and possibly sacrificing some control over parking policy.
“I have no opinion on the monetization plan,” Walker said.
On union negotiations, which have been playing out through heated public discourse between the administration and labor leaders, Walker was also circumspect. “It’s not my place to take a stand on that right now.”
Walker said she’s just focused on what’s going on in her ward right now.
Poole (left) with mayoral candidate Clifton Graves, who stopped by the announcement.
Gerry Poole, a longtime active West River resident and former head of the neighborhood association, offered words of praise for Walker’s campaign.
Walker represents a “fresh mind, fresh blood, and fresh energy,” Poole said. “We’ve got to have some new leadership.”
West River is fractured by small-scale political alliances that prevent people from working together, he said.
“People are afraid to work with each other,” he said. “You’ve got to get some new minds that are not part of that mindset.” That’s why he’s “excited and enthusiastic” about Walker, he said.
Poole said “engagement” distinguishes Walker from Shah. As alderwoman Walker would be more involved in the community, he said.
“You have to be proactive,” he said. “That’s her platform.”
Walker said she does not yet have a campaign manager and that she has no plans to reach out to her union for support. She said her campaign will be community-focused only.
“I want to do all my work here,” she said. “I’m willing to go all the way.”
Shah Eyes #6
Reached Friday at his job at the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, Alderman Shah shared a list of what he sees as the major campaign issues in West River: cleanliness, crime, economic development, creating entrepreneurship possibilities for young people, and “getting our local corner stores to have fresh fruits and vegetables.”
Asked about his aldermanic activity on those issues, Shah said all credit should go not to him but to the community. West River is a very organized area, with several successful block watches and other strong neighborhood associations, he said. Shah said his role has been to help those organizations to further their goals at the level of municipal government.
“We’ve been organizing for the economic development on Route 34 and also for us as a neighborhood to own and operate businesses in that corridor,” he said. “The accolades go to those individuals in the community that have stayed the course and pushed issues. I am their representative.”
Asked about the question of his “engagement” in the ward, Shah said, I’m very much aware of what’s going on in the 23rd ward. If you’re a man like me who works three jobs and is serving as an alderman, there’s no way you can be everywhere. It’s impossible to be everywhere and at every meeting. That’s just a myth.”
Shah said people tell him what the desires and needs of the neighborhood are. “I don’t get involved in the micro-management of any community organization, but they all know that I’m there,” he said. “My re-election record has shown that.”
On future legislative goals, Shah said, “That’s up to the neighborhood. I support everything that the neighborhood supports.”
That sentiment extends even to his own position as a lawmaker. He said he’s willing to step aside if it’s clear the neighborhood supports Walker. But first he’d like to have a conversation with her, he said.
“If she wants to be alderman and I sit down with her and I agree if she’s ready to go now and she’s inspired … I would not seek re-election at this time.”