When Tom Malone rang doorbells in Westville seeking votes for alderman, he was quick to talk about taxes, and his neighbors were quick to respond. Colleen Murphy-Dunning (pictured) said high taxes, combined with private-school tuition, might drive her family to the suburbs.
Voters throughout Ward 25 (roughly bounded by Edgewood Park, Route 34, Forest Road, and Fountain Street) answered their doorbells one recent afternoon to find a smiling man in sneakers and pleated khakis waiting with his hand extended.
“Hi my name’s Tom Malone,” he said. “I’m running for alderman in Ward 25.”
Malone (at right in picture, with Peter Fowles) spoke with his neighbors about campaign issues like schools, crime, fast cars, and most of all: taxes. Malone said he has been going door-to-door almost every day, trying to gain support for his campaign to unseat two-term incumbent Democrat Alderwoman Ina Silverman.
Malone is one of only two Republican candidates for the Board of Aldermen in New Haven’s 30 wards. (The other is incumbent East Shore Alderwoman Arlene DePino.) Malone is running largely on a platform of tax reform and fiscal discipline. “Our taxes are increasing at roughly three times the rate of inflation,” said Malone. “We need a better look at the priorities we’re choosing.”
Over breakfast in her home on Tuesday morning Silverman called rising taxes the result of a decrease in state and federal funding. She said the answer lies in more economic development.
Football and Fiscal Discipline
As Malone spoke to his neighbors on Sunday, one of his first questions was, “Have you seen an increase in your tax bill for this year?” Taxes went up 3.8 percent this year.
One Central Avenue woman who said yes was a pregnant schoolteacher trying to keep her barking dog inside. “It’s not so bad that taxes went up, it’s how much they went up,” she said.
“So you’re the person who can change that?” she asked Malone. As an outsider, Malone replied, he would have more ability to bring about change. “I’m not connected in City Hall,” he said proudly.
Malone is running in opposition to New Haven’s “one-party government.” “Competition is a good thing,” he said. “We need a more independent voice on the board.”
Talking with his prospective constituents, Malone was critical of the way that the city creates its budget. “They publish this 500-page budget report which no one reads,” he told Colleen Murphy-Dunning. “And then they have one three-hour session when citizens can ask questions about it. I want to push for a better process,” Malone said. He would like to see a budget process that facilitates more community involvement.
Malone said that he has talked with a number of Ward 25 residents who are considering moving out of the neighborhood because they can’t afford the tax increases. Indeed, Murphy-Dunning said that she is considering a move to the suburbs. Her concern is not only the tax rate but also the quality of New Haven’s schools. Murphy-Dunning, who lives on Alston Avenue, sends her children to the private Foote School because she doesn’t think that New Haven public schools are adequate.
“I support public education, but I can’t jeopardize their future,” she explained, pointing to her two sons playing a loud and contentious game of tackle football in the front yard. “Our taxes can be doing good, but paying for taxes and private schools? That’s too much,” she said.
“We’re not there yet,” she said of the decision of whether to move, “but we’re having conversations.”
Murphy-Dunning asked Malone how long he’d lived in the neighborhood.
“We moved here in March,” said Malone. “We love it here.”
Malone, who grew up in Atlanta, moved to New Haven from suburban Clinton, where he and his wife had lived for three years. Malone runs a small biotechnology startup in New Haven, which is working on developing a synthetic blood. He said that his experience as an entrepreneur and executive would make him a successful alderman. As a businessman, Malone has been keeping tight records of the results of his conversations with voters. He said that his spreadsheets indicate that it will be a very close race.
Other people Malone talked with on Sunday were less upset about taxes. “If you want services, you have to pay taxes,” said Lilarose Hulton (pictured), speaking over the quiet sounds of lawnmowers and neighbors raking their leaves on Central Avenue. “The state should share more money between the cities and the suburbs.”
Tea and Taxes
Ina Silverman would agree with Hulton. On Tuesday morning, sitting in her sunny kitchen as leaves swirled outside, Silverman argued that since state and federal funding have “dried up,” the city has no choice but to fill in the moneys for necessary programs. For example, “we need to put resources into youth programming or else crime goes up,” she said. Silverman talked about city improvements that have been made and those that are still needed. “But we have to pay for it,” she added frequently.
Silverman (pictured) said that taxes have also increased because of price changes that are beyond the city’s control, like the cost of oil. “We have extraordinary fixed costs, just like households,” she said. “Oil goes up for you, it goes up for the city.” (Click here to read a piece Silverman wrote to her constituents this term about fiscal choices.)
Between sips of black tea with milk, Silverman explained that development of New Haven’s economy is the key to the tax issue. “We need to improve commercial property to take the onus off of residential taxpayers.” She pointed to the Shartenberg deal as an example of progress in this direction. “Shartenberg will bring in about a million dollars in taxes,” she said.
About her record as an alderwoman on taxes, Silverman noted that she co-authored “senior tax freeze” legislation with Republican Alderwoman DePino. This program, which came into effect last spring, puts a freeze on the taxes of senior citizens with an annual income of less than $50,000 and gives those with an annual income of over $50,000 the option of deferring their taxes until their house is sold.
She also helped to organize a series of public meetings with the mayor about the budget. “It was my idea to put the mayor on the road and bring him into neighborhoods to talk about the budget,” Silverman said.
Asked about other aspects of her record that she was proud of, Silverman spoke about the science, math, and engineering high school that she was involved in creating; her position on the mayorally appointed committee overseeing police reforms in the wake of recent corruption scandals; addressing absentee landlords and helping to “rejuvenate” block watches in Ward 25.
Silverman also mentioned less-noticed community-building efforts in Ward 25, like writing monthly email newsletters and organizing a baby group. Silverman said that every week since she became an alderwoman she has made 10 phone calls at random off the voting list for Ward 25 to stay in touch with her constituents.
Silverman, who grew up on Fountain Street and graduated from Yale, has lived in Westville her whole life.
When asked if she anticipates a close race, Silverman said, “I’m just doing what I need to do. I’m sure the best person will win.”
Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 6. The polling place for Ward 25 is Edgewood Magnet School, at the corner of Yale and Edgewood Avenues.