Alder Candidates Promise To … Show Up

Public safety, traffic calming, blighted buildings, and youth engagement in Fair Haven all figure in what is so far this year’s only contested Democratic alder primary race.

A more fundamental issue lingers: Will Ward 14 have an alder who actually shows up?

That would be a change.

Unlike in any other district in the city so far this year, two candidates have filed papers to run for the Democratic nomination for the Ward 14 seat on the Board of Alders.

(The only other contested seat so far is Upper Westville’s Ward 26, where a Democratic incumbent and a Republican challenger have filed papers to run.)

Ward 14 is bounded by Ferry Street to the west, Grafton Street to the north, Quinnipiac Avenue across the river to the east, and Fulton Street to the south, covering most of the eastern half of Fair Haven as well as slivers of Fair Haven Heights and the Annex.

The two candidates who have formally filed to run for the Democratic nomination for alder are Sarah Miller; a long-time community organizer who works for Clifford Beers Clinic, lives on Clinton Avenue, and is Ward 14’s Democratic Ward Committee co-chair; and Carmen Flores, a former homeless shelter manager-turned-real estate broker who lives on Bright Street.

Both candidates are vying to replace one-term incumbent Paola Acosta.

Acosta has not filed reelection papers, and appears not to be seeking another two years representing the Fair Haven ward. She sent a text message to the Independent on Thursday stating that she ​“will not be running again” and that she wishes both Miller and Flores ​“the best of luck in the race.”

Acosta has made similar comments about stepping aside from her position before — and then reversed course. After missing her first two full Board of Alders meetings in early 2020, Acosta told the Independent she planned on resigning because of her busy work schedule. She then changed her mind and was sworn into office less than a week later.

Alder Who?

According to both challenger candidates, Fair Haven neighbors, and Board of Alders attendance records, Acosta may as well have followed through on her initial plans to resign.

She has attended only 11 of 34 full Board of Alders meetings since entering office 18 months ago. So far in 2021, she has shown up to just two of the full board’s 13 meetings, which have all been held online via Zoom.

Three quarters of the way through her first term, she is the only alder on the board who does not even have a picture of herself posted on the city website.

Civically engaged Ward 14 residents told the Independent that Acosta has an even worse track record attending neighborhood meetings — and that the ward’s alder-absenteeism problem predates Acosta, even if she has become the worst offender.

“I really feel like Ward 14 has been underrepresented for years,” said East Pearl Street resident and Vaccinate Fair Haven lead organizer Kica Matos. ​“We have a history of absent alders who really have not made much of an effort to get to know people in the neighborhood, to work in collaboration with residents of this neighborhood.”

That breeds skepticism among Fair Haveners about whether or not local politics can be a vehicle for community cohesion and positive change. ​“When we are not adequately represented and don’t have a voice like we should, we don’t get to fight for what we want, fight for what we need, fight for issues related to equity,” she argued.

Perkins Street resident and Fair Haven Community Management Team corresponding secretary Dave Weinreb agreed. ​“It’d be absolutely unacceptable in any other ward in the city” for an alder to be so absent. He said that he has seen Acosta at only one community meeting over the past roughly two years, and that she never responds to calls or texts. ​“It really hurts to be coming to an end of two years of no representation.”

“I’ve been utterly frustrated with a lot of the issues that have not been resolved, that have not been addressed, simply because we haven’t had someone who clearly pushes” on the Board of Alders, said Front Street resident and Ward 14 Democratic Ward Committee Co-Chair Martin Torresquintero. ​“You need to have someone who works and helps City Hall get results.”

“One of the most important roles of an alder is to advocate” for neighborhood residents and businesses, to push for traffic calming on local speedways and for community policing in areas rife with shootings, said Community Management Team Co-Chair and long-time Fair Haven organizer Lee Cruz (who is also married to Miller).

Under Acosta, and a string of recent Ward 14 alders, no local legislative representative has fulfilled that responsibility.

In separate interviews, Miller and Flores both cited Acosta’s lack of aldermanic presence as a motivation for their own respective Ward 14 bids.

“I am running for alder because there isn’t a current voice, because the current alder, for I don’t know what reason, is absent,” Floes said. ​“This community needs a voice. And why not me?”

Miller said that that the stakes are too high right now for Ward 14 to go another term with an absent alder. The coming two years will see the allocation of tens of millions of dollars of pandemic-era federal aid, the once-a-decade redrawing of ward lines to match shifting populations, the once-a-decade charter revision, and a host of other hyperlocal concerns about how Fair Haven will move forward at a time of economic uncertainty and rising crime.

“This is a neighborhood with tremendous needs and tremendous opportunities,” she said. It deserves an alder who does so much more than just show up.

In Ward 14’s recent history, though, even that low bar has proven difficult to clear.

Acosta declined to comment on her Board of Alders attendance record or on community criticisms that she has been absent for nearly all of her term.

Flores: ​“I Want To Be The Voice”

In an interview this week at her sister’s Grand Avenue insurance company — which is doubling as her campaign headquarters — Flores made her pitch as to why she thinks she’s the best candidate to replace Acosta as Ward 14’s alder.

Born and raised on Congress Avenue in the Hill, Flores said her family bounced around between New Haven, Puerto Rico, and Hartford.

For the past 20 years, she has owned a two-family home on Bright Street. She said she recently moved back into that Bright Street home after living on Front Street for a year and a half.

She currently runs her own real estate brokerage, called Flores and Company Realtors LLC, which is based out of Hamden.

Before getting her broker’s license last year and opening her own business in February, Flores spent 13 years working for the local homeless services nonprofit New Reach.

Flores managed three local homeless shelters during her time at New Reach: the Martha’s Place and former Careways Shelter in the Hill, and Life Haven in Fair Haven.

Much of her community activism during that time came through her work for New Reach, which, because of its presence in the Hill, saw her serve a stint as the secretary of the Hill South Community Management Team.

“It gave me a feel of the community work that goes on in the city in every ward,” Flores said.

Now that she’s left New Reach and, even with her own real estate brokerage, has more time to dedicate to community work, ​“I want to be a part of that for this ward,” she said about Fair Haven. ​“Because I feel like this ward has been neglected. I want to make sure that this ward gets an equal, fair share of community resources, of whatever’s available in the city.”

When asked if she would, unlike previous and current Ward 14 alders, show up to community meetings and City Hall obligations, Flores said, ​“I will definitely show up. I’m new to politics, but why not? I want to get involved now. In my past job, I didn’t have time and I was involved in other communities. But now I have the time, and I want to fill that vacancy. I want to be the voice.”

What does she see as the top challenges and needs facing the ward right now?

“I really want to learn from the community about what their issues are. I don’t have an agenda. I’m going to form my agenda as I interact with the community and my constituents.”

Some of the obvious issues in the ward, she said, include traffic calming, ​“a lot of noise,” rising crime, and not enough affordable housing.

When asked how her experience as a real estate broker might inform her priorities as an alder, she said, ​“As a real estate professional, I definitely would want to make the neighborhood more desirable. … I have clients that want to live here, but the inventory is pretty scarce.”

She said that one of her top priorities if elected alder would be pushing for more neighborhood recreational spaces for youth. ​“I think that would really help with neighborhood crime,” she said. ​“There isn’t anything for the youth to really do in this ward.”

She said the former Strong School would be a perfect spot for a future youth center. ​“Give the youth something to do.”

Miller: ​“I’m An Organizer, Not A Politician”

In a separate recent interview in the ward, Miller emphasized that the Fair Haven alder race isn’t only about Acosta’s absence.

It’s also about the current candidates’ track records and visions for what the neighborhood can be.

On a recent walking tour on and around Grand Avenue, Miller — a Westville native who has lived in Fair Haven for two decades — cited her community organizing experience, deep roots in the neighborhood, and current advocacy around specific Fair Haven projects.

“I’m an organizer, not a politician,” Miller said, referencing her leadership roles with Vaccinate Fair Haven, a neighborhood committee for beautifying and redeveloping the vacant former Strong School, the Yale: Respect New Haven campaign, CT Voices for Children’s research into the state of early childcare during the pandemic, the school planning and management team at Fair Haven’s Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration (formerly known as Christopher Columbus Academy, where both of her young children are students), NHPS Advocates’ push for school building safety upgrades during Covid, Mayor Justin Elicker’s 2019 mayoral campaign and subsequent transition team, and church-social service partnerships to open pandemic-era learning hubs for students without reliable Internet access at home.

“What I love is organizing other people, supporting other people to leadership,” she said about her reluctance to run for alder at all. ​“I want to reboot, build a deeper bench [of politically engaged Fair Haveners], and continue to be involved. But if something needs to be done, I’ll do it.”

Miller’s walking tour included stops at Ferry Street and Exchange Street, where she said a local homeowner’s car has been crashed into 10 times by speeding vehicles.

With Acosta not responding to requests for help, Miller said, she and a fellow neighborhood organizer filled out a Complete Streets application for Ferry Street and submitted the traffic calming recommendations to City Hall.

“This part of the neighborhood has more people who are working multiple jobs” and don’t have time to navigate the city process for getting speed humps, raised crosswalks, and other infrastructure needed to slow cars down and protect all users of the road. ​“They really need a representative fighting on this.”

She also stopped by a boarded up former gas station at 135 Grand Ave., where Chandra Jakka — who also owns Fair Haven Pharmacy just a block away—is trying to redevelop the vacant site into a new commercial and retail use. Miller said she’s been helping Jakka talk to the right people at City Hall as he seeks to bring that blighted spot back to life.

This site needs ​“something that contributes to the economic development of the neighborhood, something that supports community building,” Miller said.

The tour also stopped outside of the old, still-vacant former Strong School at 69 Grand Ave.

In partnership with the city’s Livable City Initiative (LCI), Miller said, a neighborhood committee she’s on has hired a consultant that specializes in former-school-building redevelopments to conduct an analysis of the building and surrounding neighborhood to determine potential future uses.

“It has to be a multi-use that builds community,” Miller said when asked what she would like to see at the former school.

Given the ward’s high concentration of seniors (at Fairbanks Apartments, River Run, and Mary Wade) and kids, the building should include activities for older and younger Fair Haveners alike.

“Taking Care Of The Neighborhood”

Along the way, Miller ran into a few neighborhood residents and business people who heaped praise on her work in the district so far.

“She’s a really caring person,” said Christine, an active member of Sex Workers and Allies Network (SWAN) who has struggled with addiction and homelessness. Christine happened to be carrying in her backpack a book that she had picked up from the ​“little library” neighborhood bookshelf Miller and Cruz have put up outside of their home on Clinton Avenue.

Miller encouraged Christine to swing by her family’s home if she needed anything.

Miller was asked by this reporter about concerns some Fair Haveners have about substance abuse and sex acts performed in the open throughout the neighborhood, including on Ferry Street, She pledged that if elected alder she would work closely with SWAN and to push for ​“local, creative strategies for grassroots community policing that looks at root causes.”

Miller also received an enthusiastic reception from Jakka after walking into his pharmacy on Grand.

“Sarah and Lee, they take care of the whole neighborhood,” he said with a smile visible even behind his face mask. ​“If anything needs to be done here, they go to her and Lee.”

In separate phone interviews, Matos and Torresquintero both endorsed Miller’s campaign for the alder seat.

“She’s somebody I’ve known for a long time. Someone I’ve worked with in the past. Someone who is very steeped in community,” Matos said about Miller. ​“She’s an organizer, and I’m intrigued by the idea that we could have an alder who knows how to move agendas forward and get things done in a way that hears the voices of the people in our neighborhood.”

Torresquintero agreed.

“She’s something that really cares about family values, that really cares about the neighborhood,” he said. ​“She’s somebody that she shown dedication and commitments, and knows how to get results.”

What About Schools?

One of Miller’s highest profile, and most controversial, organizing efforts over the past year has been with the group NHPS Advocates.

She and fellow public school parents and teachers pushed for the school system to address a host of building, teacher, and student safety concerns before reopening public schools to in-person learning last fall amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Some have criticized Miller and that group for keeping schools shut and unduly prolonging online-only learning in New Haven.

Miller responded to that criticism by stating that NHPS Advocates never wanted school buildings to remain shut during Covid. They just wanted — and demanded — to see comprehensive and coherent public health protocols put in place to make sure that teachers, students, and school staff alike would be safe when they returned to the school buildings.

“We felt the need to speak up” because parents and teachers who were concerned about building conditions and Covid-era safety plans had lots of questions, and few answers.

She also noted that NHPS Advocates ultimately had no final say over whether or not in-person schooling would be an option last fall. That decision fell to the Board of Education, which voted 4 – 3 in support of keeping learning online only.

Miller said she is much more comfortable with schools reopening for in-person learning now that so many teachers and staff are vaccinated.

Making A Difference

Flores, meanwhile, is mounting her aldermanic bid with the help of campaign manager Deniz Tek.

Tek is a college student who went to Hopkins School, lives in Woodbridge, and previously worked for U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy’s 2018 reelection campaign. This is his first time managing a campaign.

“She’s a very quick learner,” Tek said about Flores, who is running for office for the first time.

When asked how he knows Flores and how he wound up in the role of campaign manager for her alder run, Tek said that New Haven State Rep. Juan Candelaria connected the two.

“I’ve known Juan for a long time,” Flores told the Independent . ​“We have a lot of friends in common. And I know him from the community, and from the work I did” with New Reach. ​“He’s a very involved state rep. I’d see him at every event we have, at community events. I’ve known him for a long time. I appreciate his expertise and he’s a friend, so I can go to him if I need any advice, hopefully.”

She added that her aunt, Zulma Flores, was involved in Hartford Democratic politics, and has been a source of inspiration and encouragement for this Ward 14 run.

“I wanted to experience [local politics] for myself,” Flores said. ​“I want to make a difference.”

Candelaria, a former alder who lives in the Hill and who represents parts of the Hill and Fair Haven in the state House of Representatives, said that he too has been concerned to see Acosta’s lack of participation in public meetings after becoming alder. Ward 14 is in his state legislative district.

“We want an alder who can represent that ward and be a voice for that ward,” he said.

Candelaria at this point has not endorsed a candidate.

“We have two great candidates with Sarah and with Carmen. I think they’re both strong women who can really represent the constituency of that ward,” Candelaria said.

Who Else Is Running, For What, So Far

The City Clerk’s office is keeping a running tally on its website of which candidates have filed to run for which offices in this year’s municipal elections. See below for a full list of candidates who have filed papers to run for various local posts so far. And click here to read about key upcoming dates on the municipal election calendar.

The Ward 14 Democratic Ward Committee Co-Chairs, Miller and Torresquintero, will vote at the Democratic Town Convention on July 27 as to which Ward 14 candidate to nominate for the Democratic primary in September. Miller said that the Ward 14 committee members will host a public meeting in early July to debate and vote on which alder candidate they want the co-chairs to nominate at the convention. Whichever candidate does not get the endorsement at the town party convention can still petition their way onto the September primary ballot by collecting signatures from 5 percent of registered Democrats in the ward.

Mayor
Justin Elicker, Democrat (incumbent)
Karen DuBois-Walton, Democrat
Mayce Torres, Democrat
Elena Grewal, Democrat (exploratory committee only)

City Clerk
Michael Smart, Democrat (incumbent)

Board of Alders
Ward 1: Alex Guzhnay, Democrat
Ward 5: Kampton Singh, Democrat (incumbent)
Ward 7: Eli Sabin, Democrat
Ward 11: Kurtis Kearney, Democrat
Ward 13: Rosa Ferraro-Santana, Democrat (incumbent)
Ward 14: Carmen Flores, Democrat
Sarah Miller, Democrat
Ward 18: Salvatore DeCola, Democrat (incumbent)
Ward 19: Kimberly Edwards, Democrat (incumbent)
Ward 20: Delphine Clyburn, Democrat (incumbent)
Ward 21: Steve Winter, Democrat (incumbent)
Ward 22: Jeanette Morrison, Democrat (incumbent)
Ward 25: Adam Marchand, Democrat (incumbent)
Ward 26: Darryl Brackeen Jr., Democrat (incumbent)
Joshua Van Hoesen, Republican
Ward 27: Richard Furlow, Democrat (incumbent)
Ward 28: Shafiq Abdussabur, Democrat
Ward 30: Honda Smith, Democrat (incumbent)

Board of Education, District 1
Ed Joyner, Democrat