Thomas MacMillan File Photo
Calder.
Dwight Alderwoman Gina Calder announced Wednesday she will resign July 1, thus ensuring that her ward’s next alderman will be appointed by the mayor, not chosen by popular election.
Calder is stepping down early from her post as Ward 2 alderwoman, but not so early that a special election would be triggered.
Were she to resign any day before July 1, ward voters would choose a successor to complete her term, which ends at the close of this calendar year. As it is, the mayor will appoint a new alderman from among three candidates nominated by the ward Democratic committee.
Calder’s July 1 resignation date runs against the wishes of 100 of her constituents who signed a petition asking her to resign before the date. The petition was created after Calder announced in May she plans to step down due to a promotion at her job at Bridgeport Hospital.
She said at that time, according to the Yale Daily News, that she wanted to finish out the city budget process before stepping down.
But aldermen cast their final votes on the budget last Tuesday night. (And in fact she left the meeting early.) At that meeting, Ward 2 Democratic committee co-chair Frank Douglass presented Calder with the petition. She promised to call him the following day to talk about it. She didn’t call until Wednesday, said Douglass, who is intent on replacing her as alderman.
Calder announced her July 1 resignation date in a Wednesday email to the Independent, but did not respond to calls for further comment. She hasn’t offered a new public explanation for why she must step down on July 1 instead of, say, June 30.
“I tried to convince her to just go ahead and leave,” said Douglass after his call with Calder Wednesday. He said Calder told him she still has “loose ends she has to tie up.” Douglass called her explanations “political bull crap.”
Douglass said he’s working on pulling together the 48-member ward committee for a nomination meeting. He said he and his fellow co-chair Greg Smith are both looking to be nominated.
Even if he’s not appointed by the mayor, Douglass said, he’s going to run for the seat in the fall. “Definitely.”