New Haven Independent

The brainstorming took place Tuesday night at a meeting called by Greg Morehad, who won a special election to serve for the rest of the year as Ward 22’s alderman. Morehead ran on doing more for young people. He called the meeting to enlist neighbors in coordinating the social services that already exist —and to hatch a plan for some new ones.

Morehead pointed out that New Haven Reads has programs for kids, too. Makana Ellis, director of programming at the new Rose Center/ Yale Police station, rattled off a list of athletic, recreational, and educational activities available at the center, for free.

“I want to have all of this on a calendar,” Morehead said.

A calendar for May is on the way, Morehead said. The next meeting there will be a discussion about new programs for the youth. In the meantime, Morehead urged residents to get the young people they know out to a public hearing on May 15 at City Hall, where the Board of Aldermen will take proposals for summer youth programs.

“We have to cater to [the youth] — which I know can be touchy,” said Moses Nelson, who helped Morehead’s campaign. “We have to find out what they want.”

Ellis mentioned the Hill Youth Action Team, a group of teenagers who were paid by the city to conduct surveys of their peers about what kind of programs and services they want. Morehead said he will try to get in touch with the Hill Youth Action Team, and see if he can get some teenagers from Dixwell to shadow them, and then bring the program to his ward.

One resident said the Wexler-Grant gymnasium ought to be more accessible to Dixwell and Monterey Place residents. Morehead said he was told by City Hall that any building in the ward can be opened up to the public, but that fundraisers might need to be held to pay for the activities.

“They said any place I want to have something like an event at, we can do it there: that includes Wexler gym,” Morehead said.

Other residents had issues with Beacon/Corcoran Jennison, the private company that manages two senior housing developments in the ward.

Ward co-chair Shaneane Ragin suggested organizing day trips to Holiday Hills for the seniors, who she said made a deposit with their votes. She also said a new process for seniors to cast absentee ballots needed to be put in place “like, yesterday,” to prevent “tomfoolery and intimidation.”