Thomas MacMIllan Photo
Alderman Antunes.
Alderman Gerald Antunes shared an old Cape Verdean saying with his colleagues: “Good things don’t last long. Bad things last forever.”
“I don’t want to stay around for 18 years,” he said, as he announced that he will not seek reelection after this, his third term in office representing Bishop Woods
He made the announcement before the full board Tuesday night. He combined the news with a celebration of his Cape Verdean heritage, noting that July 5 is independence day in Cape Verde.
In 1975 Cape Verde won its independence from Portugal, said Antunes, a second-generation Cape Verdean.
He wore a new lapel pin Tuesday depicting the Cape Verdean and American flags crossed. And he had two small Cape Verdean flags flanking his nameplate in the aldermanic chamber. Antunes said he picked up the pin after a long search in New Bedford, his hometown, where he goes every year to celebrate Cape Verdean independence day with the sizable Cape Verdean community there.
Antunes said his mom grew up in Wooster Square. Hhis grandparents spoke nothing but Cape Verdean creole. His mom learned to speak Italian, like the neighborhood kids, he said.
Antunes, who’s 61, has been collecting a salary check from the city of New Haven since before Cape Verdean independence. He became a city cop in 1974, worked his way up to the rank of captain, retired and went to work for the parking authority (where he has since retired), then became an alderman.
He said it’s time for “new blood,” and he’s already found a successor: He and the Ward 12 Democratic committee have decided to support Mark Stopa, an attorney who has lived in the neighborhood since he was 3 years old.
Antunes said he’s looking forward to not having to go home to cold dinners due to evening aldermanic meetings. He’ll also have more time to work on his 1980 Camaro. And maybe even to take a trip to Cape Verde — where he has never been.