by | May 18, 2023 4:24 pm | Comments (11)
Brennan: Accounting vindicated.
A decision about how to count campaign contributions means Liam Brennan will have $383 extra to spend on his quest to become New Haven’s next mayor — and his competitors may need to reexamine their books.
Continue reading ‘Dem Fund Decision: Credit Card Fees = "Contributions"’
by | May 17, 2023 5:35 pm | Comments (7)
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Andrea Downer files campaign registration papers Wednesday with City Clerk Michael Smart.
This year’s Board of Education campaign officially began Wednesday afternoon, as Andrea Downer filed papers to seek the District 2 seat as a Democrat.
by | May 16, 2023 9:04 am | Comments (22)
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Joshua Van Hoesen finally got to speak to an unaffiliated voter on Benton Street about an upcoming special election for alder. But first he had to break form and agree to break a rule.
by | May 15, 2023 3:35 pm | Comments (9)
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McDonald, Blumenthal, Le and Grayson boosting antitrust bill Monday.
Richmond Le stood outside the Shubert Theater in support of his favorite superstar and her worldwide fans who have both been affected by the bungled concert sales of an under-fire concert-broker — and spoke out in favor of legislation that would break ticket services’ stranglehold over music venues, artists and audiences.
by | May 12, 2023 2:00 pm | Comments (20)
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Mayoral candidate and retired police Sgt. Shafiq Abdussabur at Kaiyden's Coffee: I've learned from "life's lessons."
Decades before Shafiq Abdussabur became a public face of community policing and a mayoral candidate running on cop cred, he was the one in trouble.
Continue reading ‘The Abdussabur File: How Cop's Rough Start Shaped Candidate's Vision’
by | May 12, 2023 1:24 pm | Comments (24)
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Finance Chair Adam Marchand: Drop 25 new jobs to avoid more ARPA spending.
A panel of alders left the mayor’s top-line budget and mill rate numbers intact — even as they recommended slashing more than two dozen proposed new positions from the city fiscal plan set to take effect July 1.
Continue reading ‘Alders Cut 25 Jobs From Amended $662.7M Budget’
by | May 12, 2023 9:05 am | Comments (7)
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Attorney Mednick and Commissioner Furlow charting charter's path ahead.
How much power should politicians have to restructure local government? And which city department heads should have to live in New Haven?
The Charter Revision Commission didn’t land on any answers to those questions at its final scheduled meeting. It voted to let the Board of Alders issue a recommendation instead.
by | May 5, 2023 6:53 pm | Comments (31)
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Smith signs up with City Clerk staffer Michelle Lee Rodriguez.
As East Rocker Caroline Tanbee Smith filed papers to make official her first aldermanic run, Fair Havener Claudia Hererra readied to hand over the local legislative baton — to a candidate she says will build bridges between those neighborhoods and across the broader city if she’s elected to be Ward 9’s next representative.
by | May 4, 2023 5:59 pm | Comments (29)
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Charter Revision Vice-Chair and Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow (right) at a recent aldermanic committee meeting.
Charter revisers took a step towards endorsing four-year terms for mayors and alders — and a step away from allowing city department heads to live outside of New Haven.
Continue reading ‘4-Year Terms, Residency Requirements Embraced’
by | May 3, 2023 11:49 am | Comments (25)
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Liam Brennan, at right, on the mayoral campaign trail.
If not for a questioned $383.08 claim, Liam Brennan would have up to another $11,575.56 right now for his mayoral campaign.
by | May 1, 2023 12:01 pm | Comments (14)
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Sen. Murphy: "The way that we're feeling on both the right and the left is strikingly similar."
Can we talk? About how lonely and disconnected so many of us feel?
Chris Murphy hopes so. Otherwise, he worries, we won’t be able to come together as a nation to tackle challenges ranging from mass shootings to opioid addiction to teen suicide and social-media bullying to political polarization.
by | Apr 28, 2023 3:13 pm | Comments (26)
Ward 26 alder hopefuls Joshua Van Hoesen and Amy Marx.
Upper Westville voters will have the chance to pick between two different candidates running on — checks notes — two different party lines, as Democrat Amy Marx and Republican Joshua Van Hoesen vie to become the next alder for Ward 26 following the resignation of incumbent Darryl Brackeen, Jr.
by | Apr 28, 2023 12:20 pm | Comments (20)
Last summer, one of the other dads at daycare asked if I was on the Westville Dad email listserv.
Continue reading ‘Opinion: On Westville Dads & The Race For Mayor’
by | Apr 26, 2023 5:48 pm | Comments (31)
Where'd you get those addresses?: Ex-teammates, current campaign combatants Elicker, Frank.
Mayor Justin Elicker accused his former campaign manager of stealing an email list, then received a demand for an apology for defamation.
Continue reading ‘"Larceny"? "Defamation"? Email Accusations Fly’
by | Apr 24, 2023 5:00 pm | Comments (26)
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Who's playing identity politics? Squaring off in Wooster Square Park over the Columbus statue removal, in 2020.
Mayoral candidate Shafiq Abdussabur made a play for East Shore voters by calling for tax cuts for airport neighbors and questioning the removal of Wooster Square Park’s Christopher Columbus statue.
In the process, he and incumbent Mayor Justin Elicker ended up accusing each other of playing “identity politics.” Neither meant it as a compliment. Or as having the same meaning.
Continue reading ‘Candidates Clash On Columbus Statue Removal’
by | Apr 18, 2023 3:42 pm | Comments (26)
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Brennan (right) with Fabian Menges, Max Choulideer, and Dave Cruz-Bustamante.
Don’t rely just on bashing Yale and begging the state when it comes to raising enough money to fill city budget gaps.
Liam Brennan offered those words of caution as he pitched his mayoral campaign’s vision for how best to craft a “fair share,” pro-housing budget that rethinks the bounds of permissible local government action.
Continue reading ‘Brennan Looks Beyond Yale, State For Budget Boosts’
by | Apr 18, 2023 11:54 am | Comments (21)
Shafiq Abdussabur (left), then an alder, in Goffe Street Park last year pushing neighborhood concerns with city economic development chief Mike Piscitelli and mayoral Chief of Staff Sean Matteson.
Reorganize how the parks department works. Get high schoolers into a “pipeline” to fill green jobs. Bring back the rangers. And enlist neighbors to pick up all that litter!
Those are among the ideas offered by mayoral candidate Shafiq Adbussabur for taking the city’s parks to the next level.
by | Apr 17, 2023 4:17 pm | Comments (5)
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Abdussabur (right) talking with Sandra Beamon on the campaign trail.
With his mom, sister, and wife by his side, Shafiq Abdussabur knocked on Newhallville doors to bring his mayoral-challenger message directly to the neighborhood where he used to work as police district manager — even as he continued to fast for the holy month of Ramadan.
Continue reading ‘Candidate Doesn't Break Amid Ramadan Fast’
by | Apr 12, 2023 1:59 pm | Comments (14)
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Mayoral candidates take on West River encampment's demise.
a) The city responded well in its controversial dismantling of the West River homeless encampment.
b) The city needs to amp up the pressure for greater state and federal funding for rental subsidies.
c) The city needs to convert more publicly-owned property into affordable housing, and promote the same on private land.
d) The city needs to collect better data on how many people are actually experiencing homelessness in New Haven.
e) The city never should have shut down the encampment at all.
That multiple choice set’s worth of perspectives came through as five mayoral candidates hashed through housing policy, and sought to differentiate themselves from the pack, during the first citywide candidate forum this mayoral election season.
Continue reading ‘Debate Q: The Lesson Of Tent City Was ...’
by | Apr 11, 2023 3:50 pm | Comments (10)
Members of Goldenberg's $1,000 Club: McKinsey's Vishnu Kamalnath, Kevin Straight, Kevin Buehler; former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter, who met the candidate at Columbia Biz school.
Staff Photos
Maxed-out developers: Elicker donors Yves Joseph, Carter Winstanley, Randy Salvatore, Lynn Fusco.
Mayoral candidate Tom Goldenberg grabbed $1,000 donations from 17 different people — and ended up with less cash than all his Democratic primary competitors who swore off taking four-figure checks.
by | Apr 11, 2023 8:28 am | Comments (9)
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A chemical engineer at vax-building work in a Science Park lab.
We should all be proud of efforts like New Haven Rising’s demand for Yale to hire more New Haven residents. We should also be proud of NAACP’s #WeGotThatWork campaign to ensure that returning citizens have access to jobs. The aspiration of these initiatives – of achieving economic justice and access to opportunities – is on target.
by | Apr 10, 2023 3:45 pm | Comments (18)
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Gage Frank, Shafiq Abdussabur's new campaign manager, filing papers in 2019 for then-boss Justin Elicker.
Gage Frank, Justin Elicker’s former campaign manager and mayoral spokesperson, has returned to the trail — to try to defeat his former boss.
Continue reading ‘Abdussabur Campaign Hires Ex-Elicker Aide’
by | Apr 10, 2023 2:43 pm | Comments (11)
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Darryl Brackeen, Jr. is stepping down this month from his role as Upper Westville’s alder, becoming the fourth local legislator this term to resign his seat.
by | Apr 1, 2023 5:49 pm | Comments (40)
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After Saturday morning's double homicide on Winthrop.
The following opinion essay was submitted by Democratic mayoral candidate Tom Goldenberg.
With today’s double homicide on Winthrop Avenue, New Haven again has families and friends that have lost loved ones and are in pain. This is deeply concerning, especially after the recent string of violent events the city has seen, including numerous drive-by shootings, some involving minors.
Continue reading ‘Opinion: Gun Violence Reveals Leadership Failure’
by | Mar 31, 2023 6:28 pm | Comments (8)
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Tom Goldenberg and Alex Taubes at a comedy campaign fundraiser to remember.
What does a mayor even do?
That question was posed during a two-hour comedy-fueled fundraiser for mayoral candidate Tom Goldenberg — with no punchline, or answer, delivered.