Markeshia Ricks Photo
Paca stumping at the East Shore Senior Center.
Mayoral candidate Marcus Paca had a date with an older woman. Actually, it was a date with about 20 older women. But it almost didn’t happen.
Paca showed up to the East Shore Senior Center on Townsend Avenue at noon Tuesday dressed in a nice suit, ready to charm the women with coffee and cannolis from Rocco’s Bakery. The only thing missing was flowers.
But he got stopped at the door. The center’s director told him he needed approval from the city’s elderly services director if he wanted to come in.
Paca, who is challenging incumbent Mayor Toni Harp in a Sept. 12 Democratic primary, had made the date three weeks ago. He’d spoken on several occasions at the Dixwell/Newhallville Senior Center with no problems. What was the difference this time?
The Channel 8 news crew that arrived with him.
He ultimately was allowed to speak but not with the news crew present.
“They made up that protocol right when I walked in the door,” Paca said. “Because News Channel 8 was here and caught [the director] on camera they rescinded it after 15 – 20 minutes but wouldn’t allow the Channel 8 news to come in.”
Harp administration spokesman Laurence Grotheer said that what happened is exactly the protocol — that’s why Paca was able to speak to the seniors but the news crew was given the boot.
“For each of the city’s three senior centers, the Department of Elderly Services happily entertains political candidates by appointment,” Grotheer said. “We require prior notification if press coverage is involved. His appointment did not include press coverage.
“Mr. Paca is welcome in that setting,” Grotheer added. “But it is professional courtesy to provide prior notification of media coverage.”
Lunch “A Major, Major Concern”
Back on the campaign trail with the TV crew.
After the director put in a call to her boss, Paca was allowed to speak to the women, who were assembled for a game of bingo. But the news crew had to stay outside, she told him. The New Haven Independent arrived while Paca was speaking and after the news crew kicked out. This reporter was allowed to stay without incident.
He spoke about his vision for the city. He also listened to the concerns of the senior women of which there were four: their lunch at the senior center, shoddy bus service, the lack of police presence in the neighborhood, and need for a crosswalk across Townsend Avenue.
Mamie Gagliardi, 90, was one of the more vocal attendees. She said the women have been complaining for a year about the condition of their lunches. She said the food is pre-packaged so they can be “just thrown in the microwave.”
“Before we used to have meals come in from Bridgeport and a woman would spruce them up,” she said. “We would sometimes have crab salad and tuna salad, some variety. But these prepackaged meals? I hate to say it, but I wouldn’t give these prepackaged meals to my dog.
“I know we only pay $3 but I’d rather add another $2 and get a good sandwich,” Gagliardi added.
“I see the lunch program as a major, major concern of yours,” Paca told the women. “And that makes it a major concern of mine.”
City Elderly Service Director Migdalia Castro said later that a not-for-profit agency used to provide meals to the senior center, but when that agency lost its state funding it had to stop. She was able to find city money to keep the lunch program going temporarily through Meals on Wheels.
Castro said she has since found grant money to return to a fuller meal program that will be prepared on site and is working out details with a city union and Gateway Community College, whose students would volunteer to help run the program.
Gagliardi also raised the concerns about bus service and getting crosswalks on Towsend Avenue and said she has been told that they can’t be put on a state road. She said that the city’s director of elderly services is aware of the seniors’ concerns. They even told the mayor during a luncheon at the center. She said all they’re ever told is that “it’s being looked into.”
Paca responded that the reason that such things aren’t being addressed is that both the city and the state are broke. And he blamed over taxing and spending and waste in government. He pointed the finger at what he said is the current administration entering into non-essential contracts, “fighting legal battles that should not be fought,” and a duplication of services in City Hall.
“Who’s hurt?” he asked rhetorically. “I think it’s our young people and our seniors. So what I’m going to do is I’m going to be a better steward of taxpayer dollars. I’m going to cut out all that waste and make sure the priorities of our city are clear. The needs of our seniors are important. The needs of our young people are important. This is not about politics.
“I’m not a career politician like our current mayor,” he added. “I’ve had real jobs.”
Paca told the women that if they elect him mayor he will make it a priority to get East Shore seniors access to better lunches and balance the city’s policing efforts so that the East Shore gets its fair share of officers. He also promised that if elected he’d come by at more than just during election season.
“To me, leadership is about prioritization,” he said. “Leadership is about saying we as New Haveners take care of each other. We as New Haveners take care of our neighbors. We as New Haveners take care of our communities because it’s the right thing to do.”
Gagliardi said Paca was “very nice,” but at 90 she’s seen a lot of people running for office in her day.
“They all come at election time,” she said.
If Marcus wants to get back inside City Hall he needs to call on a big, really big vision for New Haven.
What does he think of the Police Union contract? What are his suggestions for improvements?
What would he propose for a Civilian Review Board and how long would it take to get it up and running?
Does he think Community Policing is a reality or a brand name?
Does he think Internal Affairs does a good job of handling civilian complaints?
Would he re-write the Ethics Ordinance? Would he set up a Commission for enforcement?
Would he campaign to get the Yale Corp. and other wealthy non-profits to pay their fair share of taxes by repealing an anachronistic exemptions from the 1700s?
How can new development along Route 34 actually be used to re-connect the neighborhoods as promised?
Would he pull the city's funds out of Wells Fargo Bank to protest the funding of the Dakota Pipeline across native american lands?
Paca is the underdog. He has nothing to lose from going BIG!