nothin Primary Battles Loom In 11 Neighborhoods | New Haven Independent

Primary Battles Loom In 11 Neighborhoods

Thomas MacMillan Photo

(Updated) Just a couple days” after moving into downtown’s Ward 7, Yale undergrad Ella Wood showed up at the Hall of Records to challenge the incumbent alderman for his seat.

Wood (pictured), who’s 19 and will be a junior at Yale in the fall, arrived Wednesday at the office of the registrar of voters, where she handed in over 100 signatures to petition her way onto the Democratic primary ballot as an aldermanic candidate in Ward 7.

Wood is one of 44 aldermanic candidates who filed petitions to appear on the primary ballot by the 4 p.m. deadline Wednesday. Of those, 25 are incumbents. Five aldermen are not running for re-election.

Another last minute candidate is Kevin Diggs, who is challenging incumbent Angela Russell in Ward 27.

As a result, voters in 11 wards will get to choose from more than one candidate at the Sept. 10 primary.

Wood is challenging first-term incumbent Doug Hausladen in Ward 7, which includes downtown and a southern portion of East Rock. She said she lives in the ward on Humphrey Street as of a couple days” ago.

Wood said she previously lived on Dwight Street just outside” Ward 7 and had been waiting to move in.”

She said she grew up in New Mexico and got involved in politics there during Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. After moving to New Haven in 2011 as a Yale freshman, she saw that the city was at the cusp of this pretty incredible turning point.”

Wood said she started reaching out to people” about New Haven Works and New Haven Rising, two initiatives coming out of the new labor-backed majority on the Board of Aldermen. Wood said she’s a member of Students Unite Now, a group affiliated with New Haven Rising that does community organizing on campus.”

Wood said she is inspired by the agenda that union-affiliated aldermen have been working on. She said she’s also been inspired to see grassroots leaders step forward and to have Toni Harp — whom she supports — seeking to be the city’s first female mayor.

It got me to the point of thinking, why not me?” Wood said.

I’ve seen people in different parts of the city developing a connection with their government,” Wood said. In Ward 7 that connection doesn’t exist in the same way. … That’s where my vision for the ward starts.”

Wood said she doesn’t think that having only moved to the ward on Monday makes her a less qualified candidate. That’s a big part of why I decided to run. I had a chance to see stronger relationships between community and government in other parts of the city. I can bring that to the community here.”

Ward 7 is full of newcomers, she said. Almost half the people registered to vote here have lived here less that three years.”

Wood said she decided to move to Ward 7 because in Ward 2, where she had been living, people felt connected to the community and to decisions being made” in city government. She didn’t see that in Ward 7, she said. That’s what made me decide to run.”

Would said she hasn’t voted in previous elections in New Haven and wasn’t registered to vote until a couple weeks ago,” when she registered so that she could circulate candidate petitions. She said she had been waiting to register at her new address in Ward 7.

Although she wasn’t registered to vote, Wood said, I’ve been involved in a lot of political campaigns in New Haven.” She said she worked on Chris Murphy’s campaign for U.S. Senate.

Wood is one of eight aldermanic candidates who filed to run in the general election as well as the primary. It’s important for me to run as a Democrat,” she said. But I don’t want the conversation to stop there.” Running in the general will provide more of an opportunity to build on those relationships” that she forms in the primary.

Hausladen: Let’s Debate!

I’m looking forward to having a challenger,” said Hausladen (at right in photo, with Wooster Square aldermanic candidate Peter Webster). He said he would even have helped her gather signatures.

I’m always a fan of having females on the ballot because I believe having elected women is very important,” he said.

I’m excited to be debating my vision of New Haven. I’m looking forward to a debate with Ms. Wood. … I’m excited to make my case.”

I’ve got seven years of advocacy and activism,” Hausladen said. My record stands for itself as far as constituent services.”

Asked about his major accomplishments as an alderman, Hausladen mentioned: Complete Streets” applications for the Lincoln-Bradley neighborhood, as well as the intersection of Whitney and Audubon; helping people at the housing authority building at 90 Park St. to improve security there; helping to bring a dog park to Wooster Square; working on improving the connections between downtown and Wooster Square; pressuring the feds to get concrete blocks out of the federal plaza; planting trees; neighborhood clean-ups; and working on the city’s long-term debt management.

Hausladen said he’s lived in the ward since 2006, except for one year when he lived a half-block outside the ward.

Hausladen is a founder of Take Back New Haven,” a slate of aldermanic candidates organized in opposition to the union-backed majority currently on the board. Hausladen noted that all candidates on the slate are running in contested races.

Challenger Emerges In East Rock/Newhallville

In Ward 19, which comprises parts of Newhallville and East Rock, a last-minute contender has emerged to challenge attorney Michael Stratton for the seat left open by retiring Alderwoman Alfreda Edwards.

There, Stratton has made a splash as an outspoken candidate who quickly aligned himself in opposition to Yale unions’ machine” politics. After sweeping elections in 2011, the unions now hold a supermajority of labor-backed candidates on the Board of Aldermen.

Contributed Photo

Enter Maureen Gardner. Gardner, who’s 48 and from Meriden, does development work for Yale’s Alumni Fund. She’s a member of UNITE HERE! Local 34, one of two major unions at Yale.

She was asked if she would see herself as part of the labor-backed coalition on the board.

I see myself being a member of a board of 30 people,” she replied. I’m a union member and I’m proud of being a union member,” but she’s also a mom, worker and a wife.” The union does not dictate how I live my life. My values do. If my values are in alignment with theirs, then I will certainly work with them.”

I’m very independent-minded,” Gardner said.

I’m running because I think it’s an exciting time for New Haven,” she said. A public school parent with a daughter at Wilbur Cross High School, Gardner said she sees an opportunity to improve city schools. Our public schools still have a long way to go.”

She vowed to find ways to increase revenues without raising property taxes,” a sensitive issue in East Rock.

Gardner moved to New Haven and to Livingston Street, where she owns her home, eight years ago. Her home used to be in Ward 10, but now lies in Ward 19 due to redistricting.

One of the reasons I moved to New Haven is because of the diversity,” she said. That’s such an exciting part of living in New Haven. It’s also something that divides the city.” Gardner said she participated in an interracial dialogue program through Community Mediation, and would love to continue that kind of work” as alderman.

Gardner also vowed to help connect New Haveners with jobs, through innovative programs like New Haven Works.”

She said she’s lucky enough to have a stable job, but There are way too many families that lack those kind of jobs and that kind of security … There’s so much that we can accomplish.”

Stratton welcomed her to the race. In order for democracy to work, you have to have two sides.” You have to have real debate.”

He also reversed his initial opposition to Yale unions as a political force.

Having unions participate in New Haven politics is a good thing,” he said. He said he arrived at that conclusion after getting to know some of the union-backed alderman who joined the board in 2011. Union support people who otherwise wouldn’t be involved.”

I’m with them when it comes to jobs,” he said. Where I differ is … you have to hold the line on taxes.”

I am softening over the unions,” he said. It’s important to have real citizens participate,” he said, and it’s good that the board now has a core group of African-American women.”

Ward 19 Alderwoman Alfreda Edwards said she is standing by her endorsement of Stratton.

Primary Contests

The following wards will have primary battles:
Ward 2: Frank Douglass* vs. Greg Smith
Ward 4: Andrea Jackson-Brooks* vs. Raymond Wallace
Ward 7: Doug Hausladen* vs. Ella Wood
Ward 8: Aaron Greenberg, Peter Webster,
Ward 11: Barbara Constantinople* vs. Patricia DePalma
Ward 14: Santiago Berrios-Bones* vs. Thomas Burwell
Ward 19: Maureen Gardner vs. Mike Stratton
Ward 20: Delphine Clyburn* vs. Charles Blango
Ward 22: Jeanette Morrison* vs. Helen Powell vs. Cordelia Thorpe
Ward 26: Darryl Brackeen vs. Nick Koululias
Ward 27: Angela Russell* vs. Kevin Diggs

* Denotes incumbent alderman.

All aldermen are seeking re-election except for:
Ward 8: Michael Smart
Ward 10: Justin Elicker
Ward 13: Brenda Jones-Barnes
Ward 19: Alfreda Edwards
Ward 26: Sergio Rodriguez

The following new candidates are running unopposed in the Democratic primary:
Ward 10: Anna Festa
Ward 13: Rosa Santana

General Election

There could be as many as 11 contested races in the Nov. 5 general election, depending on who wins the primary contests.

Four Republicans are running for aldermanic seats:
Ward 1: Paul Chandler
Ward 6: Frank Lobo
Ward 8: Andy Ross
Ward 10: William Wynn

The following Democratic candidates have submitted petitions to run in the general as independent candidates in case they lose the primary:
Ward 2: Frank Douglass
Ward 7: Ella Wood
Ward 8: Aaron Greenberg
Ward 11: Barbara Constantinople
Ward 14: Santiago Berrios-Bones
Ward 19: Maureen Gardner
Ward 20: Delphine Clyburn
Ward 22: Jeanette Morrison

Melissa Bailey contributed reporting.

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