New Haven Independent

You could even say that their taste in cars reflects something about that contest.

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She’s Shirley Ellis-West, a social-services case worker who has represented Ward 12 for the past six years. The ward encompasses part of Fair Haven Heights known as Bishop Woods, a middle-class and working-class neighborhood near the North Haven border disconnected both physically and often psychically from the rest of New Haven.

Ellis-West is allied with a group of aldermen close to Mayor John DeStefano who are seeking to unseat the current Board of Aldermen president and bring what they call a more progressive, policy-oriented majority to the city’s hapless legislative body. That contest, over who’ll become the next board president (elected by the members of the Board of Aldermen next January), is considered too close to call, depending on the outcome of four or five hotly contested races in next Tuesday’s primaries. (See “Showdown at the Polls.”) Three of those races are in neighborhoods east of the Quinnipiac River, including Ellis-West’s.

The shiny new Jaguar shows “that Shirley is progressive,” says Shirley Ellis-West, who’s 49. “I would not be interested in a vintage car. That is just my personality and my mindset. I look toward the future. I’m open to all kinds of things. I like new and different. It’s hard to keep hanging out with the status quo.”

Gerald Antunes, on the other hand, loves vintage cars, “the old classics.” He has been restoring them as a hobby for decades. He used to take a restored ‘72 Nova up and down to shows along the East Coast.

While Antunes decided to run on his own, not as part of the team of politicians opposed to City Hall, those pols hope he’ll win. They hope he’ll help them maintain a board majority that’s independent of City Hall and dedicated to scrutinizing the DeStefano administration’s sometimes high-handed handling, or mishandling, of the nuts and bolts of government. Both candidates have citywide troops helping them: Ellis-West, followers of the city Democratic Party leadership; Antunes, cops and firefighters.

“Mainly I like the old classics because it’s something you can work on to modernize and improve,” says Antunes, a 55-year-old retired police captain who now heads the parking authority’s security force. “The new cars, they’re all down for you. You go to the shop and put down your 20, 30, 40 thousand dollars. You turn the key, and it’s ready to roll. You really don’t know your car.”

The connection with his hopes for becoming alderman, Antunes says, is: “You want things to work right. You want things to be in their best operating condition. You want to be able to go in your car and turn the key and have no problems, no flat tires. It’s the same thing with taking care of your neighborhood. You get back to people. You take care of problems.”

Backboards versus Trees

Antunes claims Ellis-West doesn’t do that—and that’s why he’s running.”She’s doing a good job downtown. She’s involved in the big issues. But what about the neighborhood issues? That’s not happening.”

The “neighborhood issues” Antunes means include “young people who like to test their fate on motorcycles up and down main roads, doing wheelies and stunts”; traffic, drug-dealing, and a park at the North Haven line that needs fixing up. Ellis-West got money for new trees to be planted there this summer. Antunes says the park needs new backboards for the hoops, not trees.

Ellis-West says the trees were a good idea and says she plans to push for more improvements. She argues that she does get back to people and show up at neighborhood meetings, contrary to Antunes’ claim. She says that if reelected she wants to push the city to have more for kids to do. For instance, the old Ross school had a program outside of school hours run by parks and rec. Now the school has been beautifully rebuilt and reopened—but without a rec program.

“You know what?” she says. “I can’t be more in touch. I’m inclusive. If you call me, I’m going to call you back. If I can do anything for you, whether you’re Republican, whether you’re independent, I’m everybody’s alderman in the neighborhood.”