New Haven Independent

The two candidates — Greg Morehead (pictured at top) and Cordelia Thorpe — seek to fill the Ward 22 aldermanic seat, which King left empty when he resigned last week due to legal troubles.

In a new voting process that emerged after a legal battle in September over how aldermanic nominees get chosen, the Democratic Town Committee filed into lunch tables at the Conte/West Hills Magnet School for a last-minute meeting Thursday. Over 30 gathered, but only two would vote.

The sole voters, Sheneane Ragin and Thorpe herself, are co-chairs of the so-called ward committee, a micro-scale, neighborhood-based branch of the Democratic Party structure.

Ragin voted Morehead. Thorpe voted Thorpe. Voigt (pictured) broke the tie, winning Morehead the endorsement.

A 29 year-old father of three, Morehead owns a house in Monterey Place. He moved to New Haven in 2001. Clean-cut and wearing a gray suit, he took the podium with apparent ease. Reading from a printed page tucked into a leather binder, he gave the crowd a taste of his other profession — motivational speaker.

“I grew up around drugs and violence,” said Morehead, who’s from Mt. Vernon, N.Y. An entrepreneur of computer repair company specializing in erasing spyware off people’s PCs, he said he wants all the city youth to be empowered to believe they can “do something.”

In a brief speech, he called for economic development all over the city, “not just downtown.” His other goals: “Bringing back the respect of God to the neighborhood” and opening up a 24-hour youth center.

Thorpe, meanwhile, fumed over the voting process, saying a “tyranny” of party authority was trying to “control the masses” through an elite vote. Thorpe had expected to first hold a ward committee meeting so neighbors (hand-selected by Thorpe and Ragin) could vote for their candidate of choice, then send a recommendation to Voigt.

Last September, such meetings, with lively Q&A, gave neighbors an in-depth view of candidates’ positions and knowledge of the city. This time around, that step was skipped because of a time crunch and religious holidays that prompted Voigt to schedule the citywide Town Committee endorsement meeting Thursday, preempting the ward meeting, which was set for Friday.

Thorpe called the set-up a conspiracy. “Later on in the week I found out that you had a master plan to break the tie — I don’t think that’s good sportsmanship,” said Thorpe, standing up and addressing Voigt before a crowd of 40.

“We just wanted our voices to be heard,” called out one of a group of Thorpe supporters who came equipped with campaign signs.

In her short time as Ward 22 co-chair, Thorpe has already caused a stir, not known for backing down from her opinions.

“It’s a matter of the Democratic Party giving me the snub — they want someone they can control better,” said Thorpe of Voigt’s selection.

Thorpe, who ran for alderwoman once before, was fired from a job as a city meter maid, she revealed in a discussion with former traffic czar Brian McGrath: “After you fired me, I went to work for the state.” She said she retired after ten years at a state job in the Whalley Avenue correctional facility. Now she plans to open a daycare in her home.

Though there’s no primary, Thorpe will continue her campaign: She said she plans to run as an independent petitioning candidate, which is a simple task, since only two to four signatures are required, by Voigt’s estimate.

If elected, “my first order of business would be to see what’s on the automatic agenda and bring it to my constituents” to examine, said Thorpe. What’s on her agenda? Reviving the Q House, improving public safety and getting people more jobs.

An election, in which only Ward 22 members may vote, will be held on Monday, April 16. The winner will serve a truncated, eight-month term on the city’s legislative board.