nothin Young Brooksider Seeks West Side Seat | New Haven Independent

Young Brooksider Seeks West Side Seat

Markeshia Ricks Photo

Delgado gets some straight talk from senior Flemming.

Charlie Delgado didn’t enter the room and immediately start introducing himself and shaking hands. He didn’t pass out his campaign literature or deliver a polished campaign stump speech.

Charlie Delgado was there to seek votes. But, he told the crowd, he is not a politician.

Delgado is one of three candidates vying in what has become a surprisingly crowded field of candidates for alder in Ward 30, which is bifurcated by West Rock. At a Thursday afternoon forum with the residents of Park Ridge Apartments, his political newcomer status showed.

Alder Sepulveda listens to a forum attendee.

Delgado faces Michelle E. Sepulveda, who served as Ward 30 alder for two terms, was recently appointed by Mayor Toni Harp to the Ward 30 seat to complete the term of Carlton Staggers, who resigned, in the Sept. 12 Democratic primary. He also faces Ward 30 alder candidate Tosha James-Goldson, who was not in attendance at Thursday’s forum, in both the primary and the general election. (Unlike the other two candidates, Sepulveda did not file to run as an independent in the Nov. 7 general election. Read more about Sepulveda and James-Goldson here.)

Instead, when the 21-year-old Southern Connecticut State University senior got to say his piece, he called it like he saw it.

The seniors are left out,” he said when asked about what he would do to help the city’s older residents. A lot of times people try to ask and inquire about the seniors when it’s election time. When election time rolls around they’re forgotten.”

Park Ridge resident Gloria Flemming asked how he’ll change that. She’s seen a lot of politicians come and go around election time, she said, but when it’s all said and done, she and her neighbors have nothing to show for it.

He said he would want to direct more funding, particularly grant funding, at the amenities that seniors in the ward say they want. My main initiative is to ask the seniors what they want to see change and give the funding directly to them,” he said.

How often do you plan on coming out to see the seniors?” Flemming asked.

I’ll come twice a week if I have to,” he said. I’m just a full-time student. I’m not a politician. I’m just trying to do my best to help the community.”

Candidate Rising

Delgado speaks about why he’s running.

Delgado grew up in the old Brookside. When it was torn down to be redeveloped, he moved to Newhallville. Once the new Brookside was up, he moved back.

The Co-Op High graduate and New Haven Promise scholar said he’s ready to try his hand at being a leader in the community like his grandfather, the Rev. Charles Ashe III, and another man he considers a mentor, New Haven Rising’s the Rev. Scott Marks.

He has been active with New Haven Rising. He said that sparked his run for alder. Before that, though he knew his alder, he said he really had no concept of what an alderperson was, or what that person did.

When I joined New Haven Rising, I saw that politics really isn’t for the young,” he said. And New Haven Rising was the first group that really tried to involve young people, the only group really trying to push for young people to get involved. Other groups weren’t doing anything.”

But he knows he’s got his work cut out for him. He pointed out that former Alder Carlton Staggers was elected with just 54 votes during the last municipal election.

That’s why he’s been knocking doors and putting in appearances. He secured the signatures he needed to make the ballot for both the Democratic Primary on Sept. 12 and the Nov. 7 general election. The forum at Park Ridge was his third such event in recent weeks. He spoke at his grandfather’s church, First Pentecostal Church of Christ on Whalley Avenue, and during a Brookside Community Day event.

Though he might not have been of voting age when Sepulveda was first in office, and just barely so during Staggers’ tenure, he said he remembers each of their time in office and can’t point to anything that either of them did that made a difference for the community.

I didn’t see anything,” he said. I can’t see any change. I noticed that there was a homicide in Brookside where a lady was tied up, naked. I didn’t see Michelle then or Carlton then. I didn’t see anybody trying to schedule events or food drives. The housing authority was doing that.”

He said if elected he’ll focus on those matters but also jobs particularly for young people and public safety. He said he wants police officers back on foot, back living in Brookside and getting to know the members of the community.

I feel like youth is key to everything,” he said. They have been left out and still are. They don’t know about aldermanic meetings. They don’t know anything about politics in New Haven and it’s why the voter turnout is so low.”

Delgado: I want to help people.

Delgado, who is majoring in business administration and taking additional classes in grant and proposal writing, said he hopes to start a community-based agency like the Community Action Agency, where his grandfather worked, or like the old Q House.

I want to be in politics, but I’m not a politician,” he said. I just want to help people.”

He told the seniors of Park Ridge that he believes that politicians lie, which set off a bit of murmur given that he was in the room with at least three people who had all run for office at some time or another: Sepulveda, probate judge candidate Clifton Graves, and former mayoral candidate Kermit Carolina. And at least two people in the room were related to former Mayor John C. Daniels. But Delgado pressed his case.

I’m coming in with a clean slate,” he said. I’ve never been an alder. My goal has always been to help the community. I’m not a liar.”

Delgado’s campaign manager, Edward White, who is a contemporary of Delgado’s grandfather, later pointed out that Delgado wasn’t calling any politician in that room a liar, but simply pointing out that he would not be shading the truth.

His slogan is, Let’s get it right,’” White said. That what he plans to do with this mayor or whoever is the mayor if they are willing to work with them. And if they’re not, he is still going to try to get it right on his own.”

As for his tough question asker, Gloria Flemming said she was weighing what she heard from Sepulveda, who has a history with the residents of Park Ridge because her mother lived in the complex and her son practically grew up there, and Delgado, whom she said tried to be honest about what he knew.

He’s not a politician,” she said of Delgado. It was good to hear what he feel he knows but it is up to him to follow through.”

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