JANE COMINS PHOTO
Kensington Playground (for now).
New Haven’s Republican mayoral candidate Tuesday came out in support of neighbors organizing to save a neighborhood playground and to kill a deal to expand Tweed New Haven Airport.
The candidate, John Carlson, took those stands during an appearance on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
He was joined on the program by other Republican candidates for local office who seconded his opposition to the Tweed deal.
This is the first time the Republicans are fielding a mayoral candidate since 2007. More Republican alder candidates are expected, promising the most robust competition in a municipal general election in decades.
Carlson sided with Dwight neighbors who have been seeking to preserve a playground on Kensington Street. The city has approved a deal to sell the playground to a developer to build new affordable housing on the site. The deal currently is limbo because it is the subject of litigation. Proponents say the deal would provide needed affordable housing while requiring developers to create new open space elsewhere. Opponents say the city needs to preserve precious open playground space to enhance public and environmental health.
In addition to seeking to preserve the Kensington space, opponents have also promoted a citywide campaign to bar any future sales of parkland or playground space. (Read about that here.)
On “Dateline,” Carlson backed both efforts. He promised that if elected, he will not approve any sales of parks or greenspaces, based on environmental and public health grounds.
“Kids need a safe place to play,” said Carlson, a member of the National Arbor Society,World Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club for over 20 years.
“We only have one planet. We can’t get into the business of selling parks,” Carlson said.
He cited one argument alders advanced for approving the Kensington sale: That drug dealers had taken over the playground space, anyway.
“By that reasoning, any park can be taken over by drug dealers” and given up on, he said. Instead, the city should act to reclaim the public space, he argued: “Let police do their jobs. Enforce laws. Let people use the park.”
Carlson also sided with East Shore neighbors who are seeking to oppose a deal with a Tweed-New Haven’s authority that will enable a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs to expand and run the East Shore airport through 2062. (Click here for details on the proposed deal.)
The deal is coming before the Board of Alders for review and approval. Mayor Justin Elicker has urged alders to approve the whole deal rather than amend it.
Signing a 43-year lease is a “bad idea,” period, Carlson argued. He also opposed a provision allowing the city to exercise eminent domain in connection with the expansion. (Click here for a story exploring both sides of that issue.)
Republican City Clerk candidate Anthony Acri, Board of Ed candidate James O’Connell, and alder candidates Gail Roundtree and Joshua Van Hoesen echoed Carlson’s position for the same reasons. They also expressed concerns about harm to the environment from an expansion.
During the interview, the Republican candidates cited a similar overarching platform they share in their campaigns: Providing New Haven voters more choices in elections; and promoting fiscal responsibility, good schools, and public safety.
Emily Hays Photo
Candidate Carlson: 43 years? SMH.
Clerk candidate Acri also spoke about enabling more people to vote by, for instance, placing more drop boxes around town for absentee ballots. Alder candidate Roundtree spoke about filling more of the crater-like potholes along Quinnipiac Avenue. Alder candidate Van Hoesen spoke about promoting better “project management” by alders, including following through on promises, getting constituents answers, monitoring the condition of pension funds, and not purely relying on city staff and “rubber stamping” misguided decisions like greenlighting $900,000 in housing-rehab tax credits for an imprisoned sex offender’s “nonprofits.” O’Connell, a teacher for 42 years, spoke of bringing an informed “outsider” perspective to the Board of Ed.
Most of all, they said, they aim to give New Haven voters choices when they hit the polls on Nov. 2 — on issues like the future of the airport and neighborhood playgrounds.
Click on the video embedded above in this article to watch the full episode of “Dateline New Haven.”