New Haven Independent

Agnew and Council are cousins of one of the candidates, Lisa Hopkins. So they were walking the streets of Ward 22 Saturday passing out neon green slips of paper with the Hopkins platform, and finding out who needs rides to Wexler-Grant middle school on Monday, where voters will elect a new alderman to replace Rev. Drew King, who stepped down after high-profile arrests.

Ward 22, which covers pieces of Prospect Street, Yale, and a big chunk of Dixwell, has historically had one of the lowest levels of voter participation in the city, and consequently, dimished political power.

But after King resigned, and a special election was called, four separate candidates — Hopkins, City Hall-backed Greg Morehead, Cordelia Thorpe, and Reginald Lytle — stepped forward to compete for the seat. And they have run vigorous campaigns. To read previous Independent stories profiling the four candidates, click here and here; and here, here, and here for profiles in the Yale Daily News.

Two of the four candidates live on the same block — which may have something to do with the revived political energy in Dixwell. Morehead and Hopkins live across the street from each other on block-long Frances Hunter Drive, a new street created to bring homeownership and stability to a stretch of town previously marked by the turbulent Elm Haven projects (since torn down to make way for the Monterey Place complex). The new street has already produced an active homeowners group that fought for improvements from the builder of their houses (click here to read about that) — and now a spirited election for public office.

Contacted on Saturday, Morehead and Hopkins offered differing reactions to the proposed new $445 million city budget, which, when combined with a citywide property reassessment, includes expected tax increases.

“Our taxes went up 20 per cent,” Hopkins said. “How do you call it affordable housing with taxes like this? What do you say to hard-working families who can afford their mortgages but have to move because they can’t afford the taxes?”

Referring to Yale University’s tax-exempt status, Morehead (pictured) said the high rates are an unavoidable part of owning a home in New Haven.

“The reason why the taxes are so high is because half of the city is tax-exempt, so we don’t have revenue from that half of the city. So as a homeowner, my taxes have gone up. I can complain about it, but you know, you have to look at what’s really behind it. I’m half upset, but the other half knows what’s going on.”

When asked how to keep taxes reasonable but still provide social services, both candidates said they want a way to evaluate the social services that already exist.

“We have to look at all of the agencies and see if we can regroup some of those resources and see what we can put our money towards that is going to help,” Morehead said.

Hopkins said expanding services would include a way to measure the success of the ones that already exist.

“We need a progressive means of monitoring, evaluating, and providing funding for non-profit agencies who provide direct services to the community,” Hopkins said.

Regardless of who wins the election on Monday, Hopkins and Morehead both said they would be back on the ballot this coming November.