David Yaffe-Bellany Photo
Spell canvassing in Newhallville.
Stacy Spell scanned the neighborhood, his eyes darting from house to house. He was on the lookout for signs of care — a flower pot on the front steps, a manicured lawn.
He pointed to a house across the street, with potted plants arranged on the porch.
“It’s easier to engage a house like that,” said Spell, a retired cop. “I’m always a detective — you never lose those skills.”
Spell — the local manager of Project Longevity, a statewide anti-gang-violence run out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office — explained his canvassing strategy as he knocked on doors last Saturday morning in the Newhallville neighborhood.
He was working alongside the Newhallville Community Management Team in a joint canvassing effort that has only lately come to fruition after years of political squabbling.
“The management team is at the root of everything that happens in every community in New Haven,” Spell said. “Project Longevity is taking a back seat to get community management underway.”
Spell, who has a booming voice and a warm, avuncular manner, was going from door to door encouraging residents to attend monthly meetings held by the Community Management Team — and to participate in local cleanups and community interventions aimed at keeping young people out of trouble.
It will be far easier to educate residents about the mission of Project Longevity, Spell said, once they are already active in their community.
And now that leadership of the management team has changed hands, he added, it should also be easier for Project Longevity to gain a foothold in the neighborhood.
Knock, Knock
Peyton on Bassett Street.
At around 10:30 am, Spell — accompanied by his wife, Virginia; his 15-year-old grandson, Marcus; and a second-year graduate student at Yale named Kyle Peyton — set off down Bassett Street, fliers bursting from the pockets of his khakis. He grimly noted the bullet holes peppering the windowpanes of a deserted-looking house by the corner.
Over the last three years, Newhallville has seen a significant dip in violent crime. But the neighborhood, beset by slumlords, remains one of the poorest in New Haven. City officials are planning to use a $1 million Department of Justice grant to spur broader comnunity-involved crime prevention efforts in the area.
At the first five houses the canvassers approached, no one answered the door. Spell, who is awaiting surgery on his left knee, stopped outside the sixth house, grimacing as he marched gingerly up the front steps.
“Stairs are not my friend,” he said.
As he rang the doorbell, Spell advised Peyton not to stand in the direct line of the door, in case a resident came out holding a gun.
A woman answered the door. She listened politely but was reluctant to give out her contact information. The door shut, and the canvassers moved on.
“We should get shirts that say, ‘Not a Jehovah’s Witness,’” Peyton joked.
Peyton, who studies political science, met Stacy as part of his research on community policing in New Haven. He’s lived in Australia, Texas and Mississippi, but speaks in a nondescript Northeastern cadence.
“Where’s your drawl?” Stacy asked. “You come from the places with the best accents, and you got nothing.”
Long In The Making
Sykes and Spell discuss the canvassing effort.
Spell began his police career as a beat cop in Newhallville and remains popular among residents, who greet him with cries of “Big Stace!” But he has struggled over the years to win the trust of the local political establishment.
According to Spell, Project Longevity “wasn’t well received” by the old leadership of the community management team, which included Newhallville Alder Delphine Clyburn. “Newhallville was one of our main detractors,” he said.
Spell attended the management team’s monthly meetings — but he soon got the impression that Project Longevity wasn’t welcome.
“There were just little slights,” he said. “It wasn’t a receptive and a vibrant and a friendly atmosphere. [Clyburn] ran her own little kingdom.”
Spell grew increasingly frustrated with the atmosphere of the meetings, so he stopped going, sending a different representative from Project Longevity in his place.
Clyburn said she regularly attended management team meetings after being elected alder in 2011 but does not remember interacting with Spell. “He was nowhere in sight for me,” she said.
Jeanette Skyes, the community management team co-chair, said the management team’s approach has changed since she and several other volunteers took over last year.
“When we came in, it was always about the community,” Skyes said. In the past, she added, “I’m not sure if the message was so clear.” Under her stewardship, the team has made an effort to reach “across the aisle” to other local organizations pursuing similar missions.
Looking Forward
Spell greets volunteers by the Bassett Street community garden.
Spell said he remains optimistic about the future of community organizing in Newhallville and was especially proud to see Marcus ringing doorbells alongside the other canvassers.
“I like to see my grandson step up to the plate, because he’s the next rung of leadership,” Spell said. “And he’s a charming S.O.B.”
Spell, still beaming with pride, explained that there are three types of community organizers: “young sparks” whose enthusiasm propels them forward, “gatekeepers” who care more about political gain than improving the community, and “pillars” who have served the city for longer than they can remember. He places himself in the third category. And he’s hopeful that young sparks like his grandson will continue the work the pillars have started.
“It’s only in working collaboratively that we can make social change,” Spell said. “As long as we’re a divided house, we won’t make a difference.”
“But when we stand together,” he added, “then we can make a revolution.”