For $24, one can buy a decent dinner, see a movie with a friend or, if you are Westville’s Jim O’Connell, run for alderman.
O’Connell, 56, is a busy man. He teaches high school science in Waterbury. He is paramedic and operations coordinator with an ambulance service in Meriden three or four nights a week. That doesn’t leave him much time to campaign as the endorsed Republican candidate for the seat now held by three-term incumbent 26th Ward Alderman Sergio Rodriguez, a Democrat.
While he hasn’t had much time or money to spend on the race, that hasn’t stopped O’Connell from having positions on issues — such as combining the police and fire departments.
O’Connell (pictured) said he has knocked on the doors of about 80 percent of the ward’s 2,331 registered voters. The $24 he has spent to date went toward printing costs of the campaign flyer he created on his home computer.
Rodriguez, meanwhile, made at least three visits to each household during his hard-fought primary battle against LaShell Rountree last month and at least one since. He said at least one constituent has jokingly told him that if he comes back again, he’ll lose that person’s vote.
O’Connell said that if he is elected, he will free up enough time to tend to his aldermanic duties. Asked if he expects to win, he said no. “The odds are overwhelming,” he said. The ward has nearly 1,600 Democrats — and 102 registered Republicans.
He said he’s running against those odds because “If no one steps up to the challenge, then democracy is not well served.”
Rodriguez (shown campaigning during the summer) said his aldermanic duties take up much of his time when he’s not working. “They [constituents] have to know you are there and can help them when they need it,” he said in a conversatoin last week.
O’Connell is a single man with no children. He lives in the house he grew up in as one of seven children on Kenter Place in Westville, a country lane overlooking busy Vista Terrace. On a rare evening with no activities last week, he answered a reporter’s questions with breezy confidence while sitting in his neat living room.
If O’Connell has not put money into his campaign and has had little free time to campaign, he is not lacking in positions issues. A longtime Republican, O’Connell voted for Ronald Reagan at the 1984 GOP national convention.
“To me, the overwhelming issue has got to be the city budget, the size of the city budget and everything that goes along with that — taxes,” he said. “You know we got a break this year because revaluation was postponed or put off.”
“As soon as this election year is over, that is going to rear its ugly head,” he said. “If you look a year or two down the road, there are going to be some monumental troubles under terms of the budget.”
Asked what he would do about that, he said there “are things, perhaps, if you can think out of the box.”
Perhaps the most radical is a plan to save money by combining the police and fire services into a department of public safety. Not only would administrative duties be combined, but police officers and firefighters would be cross-trained to handle each other’s duties under O’Connell’s plan.
“I would be much more in favor of the creation of a department of safety services or public safety. My goodness gracious, if you would have a department of public safety versus separate police and fire entities, that would do a lot towards freeing up some of that future money.
“Now we have four firemen sitting down on Fountain Street [Engine 15 at Harrison Street]. In the event they are not doing anything, would it be possible to have those guys or women employees out and about in the immediate area? Can they be the eyes and ears and take care of the barking dogs and take [care of}]cars that are illegally parked?” he asked.
He noted that in towns he deal with as a paramedic, he encounters hybrid fire departments that combine volutneers with paid staff.
“I would have joint cross-training. Many of the cops in New Haven are volunteer firemen in the towns that they live in. Who would have thought 15 or 20 years ago that you could train a fireman to be the paramedic? Now here are [people] who used to worry only about burning buildings, but 70 or 80 percent of their time is involved in life-saving skills with EMS [emergency medical services],” he said.
As far as the police are concerned, “wouldn’t it be great if they work three shifts as a city police officer, and then get a day of fire service or something of that nature? They get released from the stresses of their work,” he said.
Rodriguez said combining police and fire services is “not something I have thought a lot about. Things seem to be working pretty well now. We have a wonderful response time for firemen, and the situation with the police is getting better.”
Rodriguez said balancing the budget is more than cutting costs, but looking for a way to add to the city’s coffers. He supported a proposed half-penny sales tax hike, which the city failed to convince the state to pass.
“We have laid people off this year. We went through that process,” Rodriguez said. “We need ways to bring in additional revenue from the state and other entities.”
The West Side Democrats, a committee raising funds for Rodriguez and several other Democratic candidates, raised more than $6,000 in September alone. It spent more than $5,000 on the September primary, mostly for election workers and food, according to its filing with the state Elections Enforcement Commission. Rodriguez said he had a well-funded opponent in Rountree ( shown at right in photo as she heard the primary result), who ran a good campaign.
More Independence?
On other issues, O’Connell said he favors the election of the school board rather than having it appointed by the mayor.
“The $280 million the city will spend on schools this year is under the control of the mayor,” he said. He favored the election of a nonpartisan school board, making sure minority parties are included. Acknowledging the weakness of the GOP in New Haven, he said the minority slots could go to Greens or other parties.
Rodriguez supports the mayorally appointed board.
“We need to find the best people for the job. I am very excited about the educational reform we are undertaking. The mayor appointed two very good people recently” to the school board, the incumbent said.
O’Connell also pressed for more nonpartisan representation on boards or commissions. In Waterbury, where he teaches at Sacred Heart High School, he noted, each party is limited to nine nominations for the 15-member city council, guaranteeing minority-party participation. The 30-member New Haven Board of Aldermen comprises 28 Democrats, one Republican and one Green.
O’Connell said Rodriguez often sides with Mayor John DeStefano Jr. on issues.
“I don’t see a whole lot of independence,” he said. “Even when there are controversial votes, which there are not many of, I don’t see him being a leader of the opposition. That is where a minority party member of the board of aldermen is so vital. If you have 30 people sitting around at a table, and the only difference is how loud someone says ‘yes,’ that’s not good for the city,” he said.
Rodriguez said he has taken independent stands, such as working unsuccessfully to lower the mayor’s budget. He has denied being a rubber stamp for the mayor.
A mayoral appointee to a city board or commission or someone up for reappointment “has to come before the Aldermanic Affairs Committee, on which I serve. All new people have to come in to testify,” Rodriguez noted. “Then the committee and the Board of Aldermen approve or don’t approve. That ‘no’ stands. If the Aldermanic Affairs Committee doesn’t approve, that person is not confirmed.”
That rarely happens. Rodriguez said the committee doesn’t want to discourage public participation in city affairs, so most nominees are approved. But the committee has the power to block any appointment.
O’Connell also suggested volunteers be assembled to help with city parks, something that Rodriguez pointed out is already done with groups such as “friends” organizations at Edgewood, Edgerton, Fort National Hale and East Rock parks, as well as the Elm City Parks Conservancy. The alderman also pointed out that the Finance Committee goes through every line of the 459-page city budget, something O’Connell suggested be done.
The two agreed on many issues.
Both favor continuing city support for Tweed-New Haven Airport, which O’Connell called a “vital link” to city business. Rodriguez called for greater business support of airport funding. O’Connell said businesses already do that with their taxes.
Both men support greater regionalization, working with other communities to mutual advantage. Rodriguez was instrumental in organizing Connecticut Elected Local Leaders Organized (CELLO), along with leaders from Stamford, Bridgeport, Hartford and Waterbury, to lobby the state for more money.
O’Connell suggested regionalization of handling hazardous-materials and other safety functions.
The election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Ward 26 voters will cast their ballots at the Sheridan-Mauro School, 191 Fountain St.