Fighter For The Little Guy Moves On

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by Melissa Bailey | Jan 5, 2012 1:05 pm

(22) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Thomas MacMillan Photo The alderwoman who wrote a law about too-tall grass—and went on to use that law to fight absentee landlords as a government employee—is hanging up her ruler.

Elaine Braffman (pictured), a neighborhood specialist for the Livable City Initiative, announced this week she is retiring Jan. 27 after over 15 years of service with the city.

Braffman served as alderwoman in Beaver Hills’ Ward 28 for four terms, from 1988 to 1995, before joining the city in 1996 on the first-ever team of LCI neighborhood problem-solvers.

Over the years, Braffman came to define the role of the neighborhood LCI worker, taking a grassroots approach she developed as alderwoman to connect citizens to their government. Along the way, she fought for the little guy against the forces that prey on neighborhoods.

Banklords Warned

Braffman, originally from Wisconsin, moved to New Haven by way of Chicago in the early 1980s.

In 1987, she ran to represent her neighborhood on the Board of Aldermen. She joined a surge of new candidates that represented the last major turnover on the board before this year. She emerged as one of several strong new female leaders in the city’s legislative wing that year, including now-state Sen. Toni Harp and Edgewood’s Liz McCormack.

On the board, Braffman came to embody the constituent alderman, one who took an aggressive approach to solving quality of life problems in the neighborhood.

As a legislator, she took special aim at blighted properties.

“The very first sight of blight is when there are bare spots on the front lawn,” she noted. So she wrote a law allowing the city to fine landlords $100 dollars per day if their grass gets over 6 inches high—another sign of property neglect.

She used that law as an alderman to crack down on “banklords,” a term she coined to describe out-of-town banks that owned lots of run-down properties. A story in the New Haven Advocate featured Braffman in a yard with her ruler, warning the banklords to fire up the lawn mower.

“I was very aggressive when it came to abandoned properties,” Braffman said. When absentee landlords were neglecting their duties, “I would really track them down.”

Braffman then went on to enforce that law as she moved into the second phase of her New Haven career, as a government employee.

Braffman said she had already moved on from aldermanic life when she heard about a new job developing at the city. She heard it had a lot to do with blight and vacant homes. The title was “LCI neighborhood specialist.”

“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, this is perfect,’” she recalled.

She found that the skills she’d developed as alderwoman were “very transferable” to her new job.

“I had an advantage when I started this job because I knew the departments” in city government, she said. “I knew which buttons to press and how to get things done because I had been an alderwoman.”

When she joined the first team of LCI neighborhood specialists in August of 1996, she was assigned to police District 10: Whalley, Edgewood, and the neighborhood she lived in and had represented as alderwoman, Beaver Hills. It was a policing district she had helped to create as alderwoman.

Prostitution? Verified.

Braffman quickly made her mark in the area.

When tenants were wreaking havoc at an Elm Street house abandoned by Deutsche Bank, Braffman tracked down the landlord and spurred it into action by threatening a $250-per-day fine.

And she kept on the case of an Orange landlord who had neglected a home where a pool of heating oil in the basement erupted into a fire.

Braffman said she favored “out-of-the-box” solutions. That often involved entering dangerous situations, sometimes with police backup, and sometimes without.

For example, she once got a complaint of prostitution at a Maple Street home. To investigate, she drove up to the house at 9 p.m. one night. A woman, unable to see the driver through the headlights, approached the car for business.

“They thought I was a john. So I verified—yes, there’s prostitution,” Braffman recalled. She got an administrative search warrant. It turned out there were two male twins “running women” in the home. The city “went in and busted them.”

Neighborhood activist Nan Bartow said Braffman has been instrumental in addressing quality of life problems, while connecting citizens to government in the process.

“People in the neighborhood often see a difficult situation and they don’t know what to do,” Bartow said. “The person we found who could deal with a lot of these situations ... was Elaine Braffman. We knew if we asked Elaine Braffman to help us, she would always do it. And she would do it whole-heartedly.”

Braffman elucidated the workings of government thorough monthly reports at meetings of the Whalley/Edgewood/Beaver Hills (WEB) Management Team, said Bartow. The reports listed cases Braffman was working on and had solved. Braffman gave the reports verbally, as well as in paper and electronic form. From the reports, Bartow said, “people understood that the government could make a big improvement in a difficult situation.”

Braffman didn’t give “lip service,” Bartow said. “She would really investigate. She would work her hardest to clear up the situation.”

“People don’t always have confidence in every government worker,” Bartow said, “but we always had confidence in Elaine.”

Braffman did so well in the WEB district that the city expanded her domain to include police District 2, which is Westville, West Rock and West Hills. The turf she’s responsible for now spans about a third of the city.

As a New Havener (she now lives in the East Shore), Braffman said she is driven by a “deep feeling” for everyone who lives here—and a desire to protect the city she lives in.

“You Saved My Life”

Braffman said one of the most satisfying moments of her job resulted from a crackdown on an illegal rooming house on Edgewood Avenue.

The owner was hooked on heroin, she said, and had let the house get overrun with prostitution and drug use. “It was horrible for the neighborhood.” Braffman worked with cops to coordinate a drug bust. All the people in the house except the owner were arrested.

After the bust, Braffman she kept up with the woman who owned the house, who still struggled with heroin addiction. “I’d see her walking. I’d stop and say, ‘You’ve gotta get clean. You’re wasting your life.’”

In the fallout from the crackdown, the woman lost the house.

Then, two years ago, Braffman got a Christmas card from the woman. She said she was no longer an addict. She sent a picture of herself—“gained weight, hair beautiful” and holding a baby.

The woman thanked Braffman: “You saved my life.”

“I cried,” Braffman said. She still keeps the photo in her office.

A Seat At The Table

Braffman announced her retirement in an email this week to neighbors, police and community groups she’s worked with.

“I have enjoyed your support for so many years and want you to know how much that has meant to me,” she wrote. “However, I feel I have reached a point that I believe it is time to end this chapter (in the book of my life) and to start a new one….wherever that might lead me.”

Since her job was a special-funds position, Braffman will have no pension.

There is one part of her civic life Braffman isn’t yet willing to give up: She’ll stay on as the volunteer vice-president of AFSCME Local 3144, the union that represents city managers.

Melissa Bailey File Photo Braffman was reelected in November for a second term as vice-president. She said plans to serve out her full two-year term, which ends at the end of 2013.

That means she’ll continue to sit at the negotiating table for the labor contract, which sits in binding arbitration.

“I’m very happy that she’s going to stay on as vice-president of the union,” said union President Cherlyn Poindexter. “Now that she’ll have more time, she can take a lot of stuff off my hands.”

Working for the union without being a city employee will “simplify” the job of vice-president, Braffman said.

“There were times when I couldn’t do what I needed to do because I worked” for the city. “Now I can go full-force on what needs to be addressed.”

When she’s not working with the union, Braffman plans to devote her time to her first biological grandchild, who’s due to be born on March 4.

And she’ll explore what it feels like to have some time to relax.

“I’ve been working since I was 14 years old,” she said. “I’ve never been bored in my life, so maybe I will welcome that.”

Comments

posted by: Henry Fernandez on January 5, 2012 1:24pm

I had the joy of working with Elaine when I was director at LCI and then Economic Development Administrator.

I am of two minds about her retirement. She deserves it, but the city will miss her commitment, intelligence and compassion.

Elaine—Bravo—job well done!

posted by: cedarhillresident on January 5, 2012 1:42pm

Elaine is one of those bright lights in our city! She is a true fighter for all that live here. She is going to be missed. But we know where to find her :)

good luck and thank you for all you have done!

posted by: Stephen Harris on January 5, 2012 1:47pm

Elaine your the best!!

Best of luck in anything you do!!

posted by: westville man on January 5, 2012 1:58pm

I’ve lived in NH for 15 years. By far the fastest and best response I got from City Hall was from Braffman. Time and again she never failed to get back to me with help or assitance.
You will be missed Elaine, by many people, including me!
Best of luck in your future endeavors and a big THANK YOU for your years of service.

posted by: Andrew Orefice on January 5, 2012 2:04pm

Elaine is a rare breed and will truly be missed in Westville. You’d be hard pressed to find someone so committed and capable of getting things done, and who does it all with a smile and cheer. I wish you all the best Elaine- thanks for all you’ve done!

posted by: Stan Kontogiannis on January 5, 2012 2:12pm

I have had the pleasure of working with Elaine in the Westville Management Team for many years. She was a true advocate. Our community and I will miss her enthusiasm and energy in dealing with neighborhood issues. I look forward to hearing about her next endeavor. Thank you Elaine for all your hard work. It will not be forgotten.

posted by: Nadine on January 5, 2012 2:19pm

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Elaine in her professional capacity and she is by far the hardest working, smartest, most capable woman I have ever worked with and we in the WEB neighborhood will miss her so much, but like Nan said we know where to find her :o)

I have also had the pleasure of getting to know Elaine personally and she is just such an amazing woman, strong, caring, giving and I hope that our friendship will continue and we can finally go have that drink or dinner once the weather warms up; that is one lucky grandbaby to have a grandma like Elaine, good luck & best wishes in all you do!!

Say hi to Breezy for me ;o)

posted by: Salvatore A. DeCola on January 5, 2012 2:44pm

Elaine: Congratulations you really deserve this. The city is losing a valuable asset. I am glad to hear you are staying on with the union. Lot’s of luck and I’ll keep in touch.

posted by: Nan Bartow on January 5, 2012 2:51pm

We will miss Elaine so much. I can’t imagine our Management Team meetings without her lively and special presence. I’m glad that she knows her way to Westville and Beaver Hills. We know our way to her. Your daughter and your grandchild are very lucky to have you in their lives.

posted by: Tomas on January 5, 2012 3:38pm

Good Luck and Godspeed in whatever you do next
Alderwoman Braffman. I had the good fortune of
serving with you on the BOA and can truly attest to your dogged perseverance,focus,
commitment, and high energy. You were a great
ally on issues and a respected and sometimes
feared opponent on others but I will say with-
out trepidation, that you always championed whatever you felt was right. I`m sure the city
will miss you very much!

posted by: Gretchen Pritchard on January 5, 2012 4:29pm

Goodbye, good luck, thanks for everything, and hoping that you find yourself so bored in retirement that you keep your hand in, one way or another, past that AFSCME VP expiration date. We need folks like you.

posted by: Thomas Alfred Paine on January 5, 2012 4:32pm

I nominate Elaine Braffman to run for mayor of the City of New Haven.
Through the many years we have known her in the Beaver Hills neighborhood, Elaine has been a tireless advocate for the needs and interests of the people of this city. She has always been caring and compassionate and passionate.
We wish her well in whatever she aspires to do in the future, but I would have Elaine keep this thought in mind: in the 374 year history of this city there has never been a woman to hold the office of mayor.
Elaine for mayor! Break the glass ceiling and the too long tenure of John Destefano.

posted by: Ora on January 5, 2012 9:17pm

Nice article. Thomas Alfred Paine, interesting comment, “Elaine Braffman for Mayor”. Something to think about perhaps?

posted by: Carlton L Highsmith on January 5, 2012 9:25pm

First introduced to Elaine 25 years ago by my young 5 year old daughter Jennifer, as the mother of her new best friend (Heather) at school. I’ve admired Elaine and I’ve been a big fan since that very first meeting.
Congratulations on a meaningful and distinguished career. May you have a long and happy retirement

posted by: A Campion on January 5, 2012 11:26pm

Elaine:

Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the working class. I wish you the best in your retirement.

posted by: Paul Wessel on January 6, 2012 7:28am

Can’t wait to see what you do next, Elaine. I enjoyed working with you. See you around, I’m sure.

posted by: MICHELE SIMONE on January 6, 2012 10:33am

Elaine,

Best of luck to you in your new endeavor. I enjoyed working with you and supporting you as our Vice President in the Union. Your the best!!!!

posted by: Jim Paley on January 6, 2012 10:35am

Elaine,

We’ve worked together since your days as an alderperson. I’ve always admired your dedication, passion, perseverance, and effectiveness as alderperson and later as a nighborhood specialist at LCI. You have excelled at whatever you have undertaken and the City of New Haven is a far better place thanks to you and your hard work. We will certainly miss you following your retirement, but I take reassurance in knowing that if I ever need your help, I’ll know where to find you.

All the best,
Jim Paley

posted by: Grateful resident on January 6, 2012 11:00am

Elaine helped us with a terrible situation on our street: tenants who left knee-high piles of leaves, trash and snow on the sidewalk. Will anyone be hired to take her place?

posted by: Rafael Ramos on January 6, 2012 8:50pm

Elaine, we spent a good part of our lives working together we became good friends. I enjoyed all the years working together in the neighborhoods. I will miss you. The Code Enforcement division will miss you. Nobody fights the good fight like you do. Iam sure Westville will miss you. Congratulation Good Luck and Enjoy your retirement

Your Friend Always Rafael.

posted by: Lynn Smith on January 7, 2012 8:51am

Elaine: Enjoy a hard-earned retirement and the exciting opportunity to start a new chapter of life. At every management team meeting I attended you were active, responsive, prepared, and informative - even with the challenge of a new report form that drive you nuts for a while :o). I know you hold New Haven close to your heart. And the new grandbaby coming into this world is very lucky to have such a powerful role model! Lynn

posted by: Elaine Braffman on January 7, 2012 8:36pm

To all the wonderful folks that have posted comments in the NHI and on Facebook….Thank You for all your kind words. My work wasn’t a job to me, it was a labor of love. I met so many wonderful people and we all shared the same common interest and goal of keeping each neighborhood strong and having a positive effect on the quality of life. Stay in touch and please know that although I will no longer be working with you through the city…. I sure as heck will be there for you and available when ever needed.
Fondly,
Elaine

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