Allan Appel photos
Cyn Chegwidden, Janis Astor del Valle, and Amy Myers: Voting Campion, and anti-charter revision.
Fabian Baca: DeCola is "always in touch with the neighbors."
Confusion and anger about the formulation of the charter revision question. Strong feelings about an alder who left the scene of a car crash.
Those were among the passionate sentiments of voters leaving the Ward 18 Nathan Hale School polling site Tuesday morning on Election Day.
Amid a gauntlet of signs lining the streets and the driveway entrance to the school, voters showed up to determine the fate of 12-year incumbent Sal DeCola who is facing a challenge from petitioning candidate and Tweed-airport critic Susan Campion and Republican Lisa Milone.
Cyn Chegwidden, Janis Astor del Valle, and Amy Myers -– all East Shore residents for more than a dozen years -– were spotted leaving the polling place chatting amiably. Their demeanor was a contrast to how pissed off they said they are about the charter revision question on the ballot. If approved, that single vaguely worded question will increase terms for the mayor, alders, and city clerk from two to four years each starting in the municipal election year of 2027, among other changes.
“The process,” said del Valle, “needs to be interrogated. How can the city foist this on us! We were purposely misled!”
“I didn’t even vote on the charter question,” responded Myers, “because there are too many issues. It’s not Yes or No.”
Chegwidden laid the fault of the formulation and confusion at the feet of the alders, and particularly DeCola. “He did not give us any information explaining the issue. You had to be like a researcher to understand this issue.”
That was the least of DeCola’s problems in the eyes of these women.
Myers said she voted for Campion — all of them chose Campion — partly because the petitioning candidate “will hold the airport responsible,” and partly because DeCola “doesn’t participate in neighborhood meetings. The only time he came to my house was in the run-up to the primary. He’s ‘hit-and-run,’ which is not the way an official should behave.”
But the greater political sin in Chegwidden’s eyes is that DeCola has not apologized for the way he handled the car crash he drove away from.
“He’s been defensive and not forthcoming,” added del Valle.
Chegwidden too voted “No” on the charter question because “the alders don’t deserve four years. They didn’t inform us, and they ignored lawyers’ advice.”
She would have voted for the mayor to have a four-year term, she said, but she wasn’t given that choice.
DeCola had his supporters and defenders as well. One was 20-year resident Fabian Baca, who described the incumbent as “a neighbor … always in touch with the neighbors.”
And as to the charter question, Baca’s focus was on the tenure of the mayor: “Two years is not enough. After one and a half, then he’s thinking already on the next campaign.”
A genial pox on the Democrats came from Annex-area resident John Beers, a self-described fiscally conservative, socially moderate independent who voted for Lisa Milone for alder, and Tom Goldenberg for mayor. “Straight Republican,” he noted.
He also noted Milone’s call for more police presence in the Cove, citing vacancies in the NHPD, the large size of the district, and the ignored quality-of-life concerns. Beers focused on neighbors blasting away amplified music late into the night. He echoed other voters in suggesting the city of New Haven at large gets real services while the East Shore is ignored.
Not long ago some kids were “messing” with Beers’s fence, he recalled. When the police arrived, he had a heart-to-heart with officers, who said the understaffed department receives many nuisance-type calls to deal with.
John Beers: Better to get rid of a "bum" in two years.
As to the charter revision question, Beers said he enthusiastically voted “No.”
“If there’s a bum in there, if he’s no good, it’s better to get rid of him in two years,” he said.
Veronica Forgione was born in the Cove in 1945 and has been there ever since. Her vote was “yes” on the charter revision, but she was an enthusiastic supporter of Susan Campion. As she spoke of her support, several friends gathered round and revealed their votes, also for Campion, citing what one man called DeCola’s “hit and run.”
“We’d be in jail if we did that,” one un-named man said, and strode to his car.
Julia Werth, a young mom in the Cove, said she cast her ballot for Lisa Milone. She said she feels “we need something different” from long-prevailing Democratic Party dominance. As a young entrepreneur. she responded to that aspect of the Republican challenger’s background.
Werth’s children, 10-month-old Peter and 3‑year-old Rosie, didn’t express an opinion. Rosie wore her mother’s “I Voted” sticker on her hand, covetously, and declined to show it to the press.