Thomas Breen photo
Mayor Elicker knocking doors, and shaking hands, with Hill Alders Kampton Singh, Ron Hurt, and Carmen Rodriguez.
Two-year terms result in too many elections — which push municipal leaders too frequently from governance to campaigning, and create “fatigue” among voters.
So argued Mayor Justin Elicker as he articulated his support for a newly finalized ballot question that, if approved in November, would bump up mayor and alder terms in office from two to four years each.
Elicker, a two-term Democrat seeking a third two-year term as mayor this contested election year, offered that take while on the campaign trail in the Hill on Tuesday night.
In between knocking on doors up and down Portsea Street near Trowbridge Square alongside Hill Alders Carmen Rodriguez, Kampton Singh, Ron Hurt, and Evelyn Rodrigues, the mayor made his case — when asked by this reporter — for why future New Haven mayors and alders should be able to serve four years at a time instead of two.
He did so on the day after the Board of Alders signed off on placing a single question before voters this November about the Charter Revision Commission’s recommended updates to the structure of city government, which include changing mayor, alder, and city clerk terms from two to four years each.
That single alder-approved ballot question will read: “Shall Charter changes as recommended by the Charter Revision Commission and adopted by the Board of Alders be approved and adopted?”
Elicker said on Tuesday that he “strongly supports” approved the charter revisions, “in particular about four-year terms.”
“Bridgeport has four-year terms. Stamford has four-year terms. Hartford has four-year terms. Waterbury has four-year terms. Hamden” has four-year terms, he said.
Well, he clarified, those cities have four-year terms for mayor. He wasn’t sure off the top of his head about city council. (According to the Independent’s research, while all of those cities and towns indeed have four-year terms for mayor, only Hartford and Stamford have four-year terms for local legislators. Bridgeport, Waterbury, and Hamden legislators serve two-year terms.)
“Four-year terms I think just make a lot of sense. It allows you to make harder decisions. It allows you to govern,” he continued. “Campaigning, while really important, takes away a lot of time from important work that needs to get done.”
Thomas Breen file photo
With reelection Campaign Manager Shad Wojciechowski Tuesday.
Elicker has been vocal from the very start the charter revision process about his support of four-year terms for mayor. But, given that the alders have bundled four-year terms for mayor and alder into one question, why is he in support of four-year terms for alders, too?
“Similar reasons” as for mayor, Elicker said. “There’s also an element of energy around an election. Typical, we see a lot of energy in New Haven, but we need more energy. Us having elections so frequently in this city, I think, sometimes creates some fatigue for people.”
“When you look at the alders,” he continued, “overwhelmingly, and I have seen this first hand, the alders are working really, really hard. Similarly, it’s harder for alders if there’s elections all the time to focus on the work. It would be one thing if there was a lot of alders that were just not doing the hard work. Overwhelmingly, they’re working really hard.”
But what about the fact that the 30-person Board of Alders has consistently seen four or five or six people missing at full board meetings this term? Only 23 alders showed up to Monday night’s vote on the charter revision question.
The mayor repeated that, from his perspective, “overall, the majority of alders” are working very hard, and so the elected office should be bumped from two- to four-year terms.
See below for previous articles about this year’s charter revision process.
• 4‑Year Terms OK’d For November Ballot
• Alders Block Non-Citizens From Boards For Now
• Immigrants Cut Short, Walk Out
• Immigrant Participation, Protections Eyed
• Revisers Punt On Residency Requirements
• 4‑Year Terms, Residency Requirements Embraced
• Immortality Loophole Looms For Board Lifers
• To Split Or Not To Split Traffic & Police Boards
• Charter Revisers Eye Alder Pay Bump
• If It’s Good Enough For Hartford, Middletown
• Elicker Administration Pitches 4‑Year Terms
• Union Targets Mayor’s Ed Board Influence
• Ready. Set. Revise!
• 9 Approved For Charter Revision Commission
• Alders Establish Charter Revision Commission
• 4‑Year Terms Back Up For Debate