Fair Haven Dems Back Elicker, Miller

Mayor Justin Elicker picked up another Democratic ward-committee vote of confidence, this time on his challenger’s home turf — and Sarah Miller emerged as the presumptive nominee for a Fair Haven alder seat, as her erstwhile competitor dropped out of the race.

That was the outcome of Monday night’s Ward 14 Democratic ward committee meeting, which was held online via Zoom.

Nearly 30 Fair Haveners, candidates for local offices, and other members of the public attended the virtual meetup to listen to first-term incumbent Elicker and mayoral challengers Karen DuBois-Walton and Mayce Torres make their pitches for why they should be the Democratic nominee for mayor this year.

Between those present and votes cast absentee, Elicker bested DuBois-Walton 15 – 11. DuBois-Walton lives in the ward, on East Pearl Street.

Two committee members abstained from the mayoral vote. No committee members voted for Torres. 

Unlike in (just about) every other ward in the city, Ward 14 Democratic committee members also entered Monday’s meeting with the opportunity to pick between multiple candidates vying for the Democratic town party endorsement for alder.

The incumbent for the Ward 14 seat, Paola Acosta, has been the most absent legislator in the city this term. She has also told the Independent that she will not be seeking reelection. Community organizer Sarah Miller and homeless shelter manager-turned-real estate broker Carmen Flores have both filed papers to run for the open seat.

Before committee members had a chance to cast their votes Monday night, however, Flores told the group that she is dropping out of the race due to ​“personal priorities.”

“If provided with the opportunity, I would love to get involved and partner with the community, partner with the ward,” Flores said. Just not as a candidate for alder.

With only one alder candidate left on the virtual ballot, Miller easily won the committee’s endorsement. She received 26 votes in support, and two abstentions.

The whittling down of the Ward 14 race means that only one ward in the city, Fair Haven Heights’ Ward 11, currently has a contested aldermanic primary this year. Kurtis Kearney and Robert Lee have both filed papers seeking the Democratic nomination for that seat, which is currently occupied by Renee Haywood. (The only other contested local legislative seat so far is Upper Westville’s Ward 26, where Democratic incumbent Darryl Brackeen, Jr. and Republican challenger Josh Van Hoesen are both running.)

“Jaigantic” Opportunity

While Elicker missed the first half of Monday’s ward committee meeting to attend the Board of Education meeting taking place at the same time, his reelection campaign got an assist from a recent high-profile endorser — State Rep. Juan Candelaria, who represents parts of the Hill and Fair Haven in the state House of Representatives.

At the meeting, Candelaria touted Elicker’s record on a number of local and citywide initiatives.

He credited the mayor and his administration with helping beautify the park on Front Street (“a gem to the ward”), cleaning up graffiti around the neighborhood, working to install new speed humps on Front Street in the coming months, attracting a pair of major new developments — including a brewery and a movie studio—to nearby River Street, working with the state delegation to double the amount of state aid coming to the city, opening a one-stop reentry center for people returning from incarceration, permanently re-housing 600 formerly homeless people during the ongoing pandemic, and ​“strengthening sanctuary city protections” to make clear that the city is welcoming to all residents, regardless of their citizenship status.

Miller asked Candelaria and, later in the night after the mayor had arrived, Elicker himself, about the planned new Jaigantic Studio slated for River Street.

She said she and her husband Lee Cruz had attended a meet-and-greet over the weekend with the prospective studio’s driving force, Michael Jai White.

“We were blown away by the vision and scope and incredible potential for the city” baked into this studio proposal, she said.

She was concerned, however, by the frustrations expressed by some of the private studio backers that the city staff assigned to the project were standing in the way of it moving forward.

“What is the mayor’s commitment to the project?” Miller asked.

“This is an important project,” Candelaria said. Mayor Elicker is ​“committed 120 percent on this project.”

“We are very, very excited about Jaigantic Studios,” Elicker agreed. ​“That kind of project will be revolutionary for our city.”

He said he had not heard any complaints from the studio proponents about their experiences with city staff. ​“If people have specific complaints, please bring them to our attention.”

DuBois-Walton Pressed On Yale, Tweed

During her time at the virtual mic, DuBois-Walton — who previously served as a top aide to former Mayor John DeStefano before leading the city’s public housing authority for 14 years — was pressed on two topics of perpetual citywide debate: town-gown relations with Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital, and the pending expansion of Tweed New Haven Airport.

Fair Haven resident Mark Firla said he had heard that Linda Lorimer and other current and former senior officers at Yale University were actively fundraising for DuBois-Walton’s mayoral campaign.

“Is that accurate?” he asked. And if so, ​“why do you think they might be doing that?”

While Lorimer and her husband have donated to her campaign, DuBois-Walton said, ​“they are not fundraisers for me.” She said her campaign has a finance committee with designated ​“solicitors,” or lead fundraisers. She said Lorimer and her husband are not among that group.

And why might they give to her campaign at all?

“I think they would contribute to my campaign for reasons like the hundreds of other contributors,” she said, ​“who are looking for leadership to lead our city forward, to create a safer city, a city of greater opportunity, a city that’s growing.” She pitched her campaign as one that ​“can bring consensus” across a wide spectrum of city residents.

“I’ve been very clear and my track record is clear in fighting for equity and creating opportunities for those historically left behind,” she said. ​“If people of privilege can get on board with that campaign, it recognizes there’s a shared role for all of us in creating greater economic opportunities” for those most in need.

A meeting attendee named Kathleen Shea asked DuBois-Walton for her thoughts on Tweed airport’s planned expansion — including a longer runway, more commercial flights, and a proposed 43-year lease that would enable a Goldman Sachs-owned management company to reap the profits of a larger airport, if they can find the financing for the airport’s expansion

DuBois-Walton criticized the current proposal plan for not having ​“real community engagement.” She said that residents in Fair Haven and Fair Haven Heights will be affected by the expansion, and need to be actively consulted by the airport authority and protected from increased noise.

“Any deals that are struck need to include strong language that ensures resident protection.”

Miller: I Can Work Well With Others

In her pitch for representing Ward 14 on the Board of Alders, Miller promised to prioritize ​“safety, pandemic recovery, education, and neighborhood renewal.”

“It’s been a tough two years here with no political representation to speak of,” she said. ​“We need an alder to not just show up, but to really engage.”

Firla asked Miller about her ability to cooperate with other alders and work together as a legislative collective to accomplish commonly-held goals around improving life in the city.

“You are nothing if not persistent,” he said. He asked about her ​“ability to function well with others.”

Miller said that her community organizing work with NHPS Advocates, the Yale: Respect New Haven campaign, and efforts to beautify and redevelop the vacant former Strong School have led to her forging good working relationships with many alders currently on the board.

“When there’s something I disagree with, I’ll stand up and speak to that,” she said. ​“There’s also a lot of behind the scenes work to build consensus and move things forward in other ways that aren’t as public.”

Under Advisement

So, the ward committee votes are cast. Elicker emerged on top for mayor, Miller for alder, Michael Smart for city clerk, and Ed Joyner for Board of Education District 1 representative.

What happens next?

Now the Ward 14 committee co-chairs will join other ward committee co-chairs from across the city at the Democratic Town Convention on July 27. There, each co-chair from all 30 wards will cast an official vote in support of a mayoral candidate, candidates for other citywide officers, and their own district’s alder.

Will Ward 14’s co-chairs follow the will of Monday’s committee vote? asked Firla.

Miller, who co-chairs the committee along with Martin Torresquintero (but who refrained from leading Monday’s meeting, as she was one of the candidates on the ballot), said that town party bylaws require ward committee co-chairs to take the committee’s vote under advisement.

What does that mean? Firla asked.

Miller said, depending on how close the vote for mayor was, she and Torresquintero might cast both of their votes for one candidate, or they might split their two votes between two candidates.

After the committee voted 15 – 11 for Elicker Monday night, Fair Havener J.R. Logan asked the co-chairs how that vote will be interpreted. Two votes for Elicker? One for Elicker and one for DuBois-Walton?

Miller said that she and Torresquintero planned to talk about the committee vote’s outcome after the meeting. She promised to let the committee members know before the convention how she and Torresquintero would be voting.

Any mayoral candidate who fails to win the party convention’s endorsement can still petition their way onto the ballot for the Sept. 14 Democratic primary by collecting signatures from 5 percent of registered city Democrats.