A Fair Haven street outreach worker has made official his bid to unseat a six-term incumbent neighborhood alder — putting quality of life, youth violence prevention, and local legislator accessibility on the table for debate in this year’s intra-Democratic Party contest.
On Friday morning, Frank Redente Jr. filed papers at the city clerk’s office at 200 Orange St. to run as a Democrat in the Sept. 12 primary for Ward 15 alder.
That ward covers the northern half of the Fair Haven neighborhood, from Grafton Street to the south, Bailey Street to the north, Main Street to the west, and the Quinnipiac River to the east.
That seat has been held for more than a decade by incumbent and fellow Democrat Ernie Santiago, a Finance Committee member and parks commissioner who has championed the need for investing in vocational and technical education as chair of the board’s Black & Hispanic Caucus. Santiago is currently in the middle of his sixth two-year term on the board.
In a brief Friday morning phone call, Santiago said that he plans on running for reelection this year.
He said he couldn’t talk more this morning because he was at work. He didn’t answer multiple phone calls from this reporter after the time he said he’d be available to talk on Friday afternoon. According to the city’s Election Information webpage, as of the publication time of this article, Santiago had not yet officially filed to run for another term as alder.
Redente, a 48-year-old Fair Haven native and Poplar Street resident who also goes by “Frankie”, was recently hired by the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program (CT VIP) as the neighborhood’s first dedicated street outreach worker focused on youth violence prevention. He also works for the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) as a youth development coordinator based out of Fair Haven School.
On Friday morning, Redente joined his father, former school board member Frank Redente Sr., along with Fair Haven/East Rock Alder Claudia Herrera and campaign treasurer Wilson Reyes, in the city clerk’s office on the second floor of 200 Orange St. to file the necessary paperwork to make his Democratic run for Ward 15 alder official.
Redente cited a number of motivations for why he’s running for the first time for elected office, going up against a six-term incumbent.
He said that “quality of life” in Fair Haven — from youth violence to car speeding to illegal businesses blasting loud music late into the night — needs to be addressed. He said he’s in a good position to help if elected alder, given how committed he is to working with fellow Fair Haven alders like Herrera and Sarah Miller to knock doors, walk the streets, build relationships with neighbors and neighborhood cops alike, and leverage those relationships to make meaningful change. He cited a recently city-installed stop sign at a crash-prone intersection on Peck Street as a result of that very kind of alder-neighbor advocacy. He also lauded “team Fair Haven” when talking about his already-close working relationships with Alders Miller and Herrera, as well as with Fair Haven top neighborhood cop Lt. Michael Fumiatti.
Redente also pointed to Fair Haven Day, which he helped organize earlier this month along with Miller and which brought out thousands of people to Grand Avenue for a daylong celebration of food, arts, and culture in the neighborhood.
“The main thing I want to do is wake up this community,” Redente said. “We showed what we were capable of on May 6 on Fair Haven Day.”
Herrera agreed. “I think Frankie is an important team player,” she said.
Redente also said his work with young people in trouble as well as his owned lived experience of the same has served as a motivation for his run for office.
“My main focus in life is the youth,” he said.
He talked responding to current Fair Haven shootings in his role with CTVIP to console family and friends and try to prevent the next bout of violence. He also spoke about trauma he experienced as a kid, about getting “asked to leave Notre Dame” high school and not having a degree, about falling into street gangs and drugs before becoming a single father at 25, an event that “saved my life.” He said he understands many of the challenges that young people in Fair Haven experience today, and wants to do what he can as a street outreach worker, community leader, and potential alder to mentor those going through what he once did. He added that he’s particularly interested in helping LGBTQ+ youth in the neighborhood, who, he said, too often get kicked out of their homes for religious reasons and end up on homeless.
“Getting guns off the street” is also a top priority, Redente said. That’s the most important thing to do to deal with street violence and to help with quality of life in Fair Haven and all across the city. He spoke about just how frequently he goes to the Valley Street homicide memorial to remember young New Haveners’ he’s known and lost, to find a moment of peace, and to be inspired by the community activism of a mentor and fellow local anti-violence activist, garden co-founder Marlene Miller-Pratt.
Outside of 200 Orange on Friday morning, Redente ran into Livable City Initiative (LCI) neighborhood specialists Ray Jackson and Carmen Mendez, the latter of whom also lives and works in Fair Haven.
Jackson praised Redente for his ongoing work with neighborhood youth, and the three caught up on the latest with an alleged illegal car repair business on Poplar Street that Redente said has frustrated neighbors with its loud noises late into the night.
Redente admitted that he still has much to learn about some of the broader political debates currently playing out across New Haven. Asked if he supports four-year terms for alders, which is one of the proposals recently endorsed by the Charter Revision Commission, he said he has to think more and learn more about it.
He also made clear that he holds no ill will towards long-time incumbent Santiago, whom he’s known for decades and admires.
This isn’t personal, Redente said about his run for Ward 15 alder. Rather, he feels like “it’s time for a change.” If elected, Redente said, he committed to being present and accessible to people throughout Ward 15 by hosting “forums” and “meet and greets” to make neighbors knew exactly who their local legislative representative is and how to reach them.