Reveiz Sworn In As New Fair Haven Alder

March 20 is the birthday of Elizabeth Reveiz, who held the Bible for her son’s installation. It is also the birthday of her mother Ana Beatriz Celis.

In 2017 it was also the day on which their son and grandson, Kenneth Reveiz, was sworn in as the alder of Fair Haven’s Ward 14.

Reveiz noted that felicitous feliz cumpleaños moment as he made remarks to a full house of alders, and other city officials and admirers gathered in City Hall’s second-floor atrium.

There Mayor Harp swore him in to take the seat of Santiago Berrios-Bones, who represented the district until he resigned earlier this winter.

After the secretary of state affirmed that officially Berrios-Bones had left his post on Jan. 31, a series of contentious meetings occurred in January, during which members of the Ward 14 Democratic Town Committee sparred with each other about who qualified as a member of the committee entitled to nominate a successor.

Reveiz emerged as the ward committee’s candidate.

He was to stand in a March 17 ward-wide election against any other candidate who wanted to contest the seat.

City Clerk Michael Smart, who was in attendance at the swearing-in ceremony, said no other nominees came forward by the March 10 deadline. Therefore Reveiz, unopposed, became the new alder to finish out Berrios-Bones’ term this year.

The second-floor space was filled up Monday with not only congratulating alders, but members of New Haven Rising, the grassroots group of mostly young people for whom Reveiz is employed as a community organizer.

A youthful 26, and a Yale College graduate who majored in literature including French literary theory, Reveiz said he has been involved in many community activities. He described himself as a poet, playwright, and lyrics.

“I never thought of running until Santiago resigned,” he said.

Reveiz, who lives on Grafton Street, was clearly moved by the moment. ​“I grew up poor. I know how to work my butt off,” he said, pledging to do the same for those he represents across ages, races, and other categories.

He promised to focus most on job creation. ​“The Latino community, white and black folks, are regularly impacted by unemployment and poverty. I want to work across difference” to help remedy this, he said.

For inspiration, Reveiz said, he reads biography. He cited in particular the lives of Bayard Rustin, a key early leader of the civil rights movement, and Harvey Milk.

He said their stories — Rustin was a prime organizer of the 1963 March on Washington and Milk the first openly gay man to hold public office in California — are about more than individual effort.

“I like that there’s a team in these folks’ stories,” he said.

For more strictly literary inspiration and pleasure, Reveiz said, he reads the work of New York School luminary Frank O’Hara, Dylan Thomas and Audre Lorde.

Then Reveiz went off to attend his first Board of Alders meeting and receive his committee assignments.