Paul Bass Photo
James Cramer, at left, with Beatrice at DuBois-Walton meet-and-greet.
James Cramer popped a question Sunday that will help him — and perhaps other undecided voters — figure out which mayoral candidate to vote for this year.
The question concerned how to give public-school parents like him more of a voice in education decisions.
Cramer asked the question to mayoral challenger Karen DuBois-Walton at a candidate “meet and greet” event in Beaver Hills.
DuBois-Walton has been holding such events and knocking on doors in neighborhoods throughout the city to try to build momentum for her challenge to first-term incumbent Mayor Justin Elicker for the Democratic mayoral nomination.
Host Gary Hogan (center) greets neighbors.
The event took place on the front lawn of the home of Gary Hogan, a second-generation New Haven civic leader (he worked for DuBois-Walton in City Hall and at the Housing Authority of New Haven, and he presides over the Elks), at the corner of Bellevue and Glen Road.
Signs arrayed outside the house reflected the flurry of activity in the neighborhood and calls for change over the pandemic year: efforts by Black and Jewish neighbors to unite against anti-Semitic attacks and a broader uptick in crime; a challenge to an incumbent alder; union organizing to put pressure on Yale University.
The goal of the event was to enlist supporters in campaign work and to win over undecided voters.
Cramer, who runs the Loaves and Fishes food and clothing nonprofit distribution service, falls into the latter category.
He showed up with his daughter Beatrice, who begins attending Beecher School this fall. An older sibling already attends the school.
As a parent, Cramer was disappointed when New Haven was the only public school system in the state not to reopen to in-person learning last September.
He heard DuBois-Walton cite that fact as a central part of her platform. She criticized Elicker, who supported reopening last fall, for not showing more leadership to convince others to support reopening. (Elicker called that Monday morning quarterbacking; click here and here for previous stories in which he and DuBois-Walton made their cases on education policy.)
During the New Haven school reopening debate, some board members and parents were highly skeptical about the school administration’s ability to keep schools clean and safe enough to stem the spread of Covid-19; years of broken HVAC systems and untended air filtration systems contributed to the skepticism.
The board decided not to reopen last fall in a split vote, with just a one-person difference.
DuBois-Walton pitches her candidacy, linking her parents’ civil-rights era activism to a moment for change she hopes to seize in 2021.
After DuBois-Walton opened up Sunday’s event to questions, Cramer spoke about how he felt that groups like the New Haven Public School Advocates and Board of Education members opposed to reopening dominated the debate over the past year. Many parents like him who felt otherwise weren’t heard, he argued.
Identifying himself as an undecided voter, he said he recognizes that the mayor, as only one member of the Board of Education, cannot dictate decisions.
Still, he asked, “How are you going to work with these groups … in a way that represents all the parents and all the children?”
DuBois-Walton responded that a mayor can show more leadership by building coalitions and building trust.
DuBois-Walton argued that she did that in her 14 years as executive director of the Housing Authority of New Haven, during which time the agency partnered with private funders to rebuild 2,000 units citywide and dramatically remake neighborhoods like West Rock. The agency also undertook efforts to offer kids activities and mentoring.
“We would have not been as successful as we have been in transforming the housing authority if we had not built consensus,” she said. The authority’s “contentious” history left tenants distrustful of the agency. She said she helped build support among both board members and residents.
James Cramer with Beatrice after the presentation.
“We worked on it day and day out,” she said. “Clear communication. Clear about what we can and can’t do. More than open, centering on residents,” with the result of “developing public housing now that looks different from anything” that came before it.
She added that “the mayor has a seat on that board, but it is an important seat on that board,” She argued the mayor can set a vision and work with others on it.
Afterwards, Cramer praised DuBois-Walton’s response. It didn’t seal the deal.
“I’m going to be undecided for a long time,” he said. “I feel like both [DuBois-Walton and Elicker] have really good plans. She’s extremely impressive. He’s also impressive.”
This voter, at least, plans to continue paying close attention as the campaign unfolds.
Click on the video watch DuBois-Walton introduce her candidacy and then field questions at the event.