Gwyneth Shaw Photo
Jeffrey Kerekes and John DeStefano meet up at Edgewood School Tuesday afternoon.
Mayor John DeStefano inspired a last-minute vote, as well as a curbside debate, outside Edgewood School, while in Fair Haven an influential minister found candidates triply blessed.
That was the scene at two polling places in different parts of town Tuesday as New Haven Democrats voted in primaries for mayor and alderman.
Mayor DeStefano, who faced three challengers, parked himself in Westville’s Ward 25 polling place, Edgewood School, for the post-workday rush.
Cheryl Resch (pictured) wasn’t sure whom she would vote for in the mayoral race when she pedaled her bike to the polls. Then Resch, who’s 52, walked into Edgewood, one of the showpieces of DeStefano’s $1.5 billion citywide school rebuilding program. Her kids went there back before it was a magnet school. The splendor of the renovated digs blew her away. So she decided at the last minute to pull the DeStefano lever.
“At least this man has a legacy and has fixed the schools up,” she said.
She did know whom to vote for in the aldermanic race: Adam Marchand, who was running on a union-backed slate against a mayor-backed candidate named Michael Slattery. Marchand and his supporters visited her several times during the campaign, she said. They impressed her with their knowledge — and their willingness to get her answers to questions for which they didn’t have immediate responses.
She found Slattery to be a nice guy, too, she said. Outside the polling place she encountered both candidates on the sidewalk. “I wish I could have voted for both of you,” she told them. “If the bigger politicians took a page from these men, I think people would vote more.”
The reception wasn’t as friendly on the sidewalk for DeStefano when another neighbor, writer Mark Oppenheimer, passed by. Earlier in the day Oppenheimer had released this endorsement of DeStefano opponent Jeffrey Kerekes on his blog. He raised some of his frustrations with DeStefano directly over his “smug patronage hack-o-cracy” when he saw him Tuesday afternoon at Edgewood.
As Oppenheimer’s pooch and his young daughter waited patiently, the conversation lasted a good 15 minutes, preventing DeStefano from shaking hands with people who might actually vote for him. Oppenheimer made suggestions about the future — and DeStefano responded that he doesn’t even know if he’s running again in two years. The debate ended cordially, with the mayor seeming a bit drained.
Pastor Blesses 3 — & Votes For None
Allan Appel Photo
Tomas Reyes, Josue Vega, Rev. Cesar Velez.
At the polls Tuesday, Josue Vega got the support of his pastor, Rev. Cesar Velez. He was not the only one.
In addition to Vega, who is competing against David Baker and Brenda Jones Barnes, Velez is the proud pastor of Abdias Rodriguez, who is challenging incumbent Jackie James in the Hill’s Ward 3, and Norma Rodriguez-Reyes, who is battling incumbent Dolores Colon also in the Hill’s Ward 6.
Velez said that each of them came to him and asked for permission, as is the custom, Velez explained, when a church member is taking on a public role.
“I said, ‘Go right ahead if you feel you can do it. God bless you.’” Velez said.
Although he blessed all three, he’s voting for none. Velez lives in Hamden.
Part of the reason for asking permission is also “so the pastor can pray for you,” he added.
The Star of Jacob Church on Howard is one of three with that name in the New Haven area. The second Star of Jacob is on Chapel Street in Fair Haven and the third at Atwater and Peck, also in Fair Haven. All belong to the Spanish Eastern District of the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination.
Asked what it is about his sermons or the public service message of the church that might account for his spawning three candidates this election, Velez said: “That’s a good question.”
One of Vega’s other supporters, former Board of Aldermen President Tomas Reyes, offered an answer: Star of Jacob is one of the “institutional” churches of the Latino community of New Haven.
“Most of the people are educated and aspire to be homeowners [if they aren’t already]. And it shouldn’t surprise,” he said, that they realize the importance of voting and participating.