Mayor Justin Elicker received clear marching orders from Fair Haveners on Saturday: Fix our roads. Fix our sidewalks.
Street safety was the top concern raised as Elicker hit the reelection campaign trail along Blatchley Avenue.
As he knocked on door after door, residents spoke of dangerous street conditions, from cracked driveways and potholes to loud, speeding motorists.
Carlos Gonzalez, conversing in Spanish with Elicker, said he has observed multiple accidentes right outside his home, at the intersection of Blatchley and Wolcott Street. As a result, he rarely lets his 5‑year-old daughter play outside, he said.
That sparked a memory for Ward 16 Alder Jose Crespo, one of 10 volunteers who canvassed for Elicker in the neighborhood Saturday.
When he was 18, Crespo recalled, a speeding motorist hit him at that very intersection. The alder went on to describe his neighborhood’s roads as a “racetrack” and dangerous.
“One of the things of grave concern in our area is traffic calming,” Crespo said. “Speed bumps, extra signage, bumpouts and even roundabouts to slow drivers down. That’s what our community needs and wants.”
Grand Avenue drew attention after a cyclist death at the Grand/Ferry Street intersection last year. New Haven is in the process of rehauling half a dozen “major corridor” roads, but none so far in Fair Haven.
The mayor, Crespo said, has his support in part for being “responsive” on the issue of traffic safety. He added that he has discussed extra speed bumps, signage, and even roundabouts with transit chief Doug Hausladen and city engineer Giovanni Zinn.
Crespo and Elicker with Aviles on the trail Saturday.
Speeding isn’t the only problem, Guillermo Aviles told Elicker. In recent months, his street has been plagued by vehicle noises that sound like bullets, Aviles said, in some cases even triggering the area’s Shot-spotter system (which electronically records gunfire). The mayor made a promise to focus attention on controlling noise levels.
“We’ve had a lot of serious issues with violence in our city, but that doesn’t mean we can’t address the noise issues too,” said Elicker, a one-term incumbent who faces a challenge for the Democratic Party nomination this year from Karen DuBois-Walton.
Israel de Jesus pointed to his damaged driveway (pictured above) when Elicker knocked on his door.
Celestino Cordova campaigning Saturday with Elicker.
The mayor’s Spanish-speaking skills came in handy in Fair Haven, a majority-Hispanic and largely working-class neighborhood. Challenger DuBois-Walton has lived in Fair Haven for decades. (Elicker, who represented a small slice of Fair Haven for two terms as Ward 10 alder from 2009 – 2013, lives in East Rock.) The mayor enjoyed support Saturday from a trio of active Fair Haveners: Crespo, Ward 15 Democratic Co-Chair Robert Roberts, and Ward 16 Co-Chair Celestino Cordova (shown above with Elicker).
An estimated 31 percent of New Haveners identify as Latino or Hispanic. Although hard figures don’t exist, Elicker is believed to have won that vote in the 2019 election. When asked on Saturday, all seven of the constituents with whom Elicker spoke promised to support him in September, many in Spanish: “¡Claro que si!”
Cordova, a decorated 92-year-old Korean War veteran sometimes referred to as the “mayor of Fair Haven,” has watched the Hispanic community grow rapidly in his neighborhood since he arrived in 1958. He commended the mayor for his work and pledged his support during a pre-canvass gathering at Crespo’s house on Woolsey Street. The alder praised Elicker for his “open lines of communication”.
“He has been coming to Fair Haven with frequency,” Crespo said of Elicker. “I haven’t seen the opposition here in our community.”
Fair Haven’s Wards 14, 15, and 16 reported some of the lowest turnout in the 2019 mayoral election; Crespo’s Ward 16 was tied for last at just 129 voters. Noting the high number of undocumented, elderly, and government-hesitant residents in his ward, Crespo pledged to increase turnout this time around.
“We are trying to accommodate them, and make sure there are no barriers to voting, whether that’s transportation or childcare,” Crespo told the Independent. “Whatever you need, let’s make it happen.”