2 Slates, 1 Goal: Revive Dwight

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by Melissa Bailey | Feb 18, 2010 12:44 pm

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

Posted to: Politics, Dwight

Melissa Bailey Photo No one votes. Shaw’s is closing. Neighbors are losing homes and jobs. Sounds like a job for ... Democratic ward co-chairs?

Four candidates in Dwight say “yes.”

The candidates are Deborah Davis and Mark Griffin (pictured above) and Greg Smith and Frank “Junny” Douglass (pictured below). The two pairs are running against each other for the little-known offices of Democratic ward committee co-chairs in Ward 2, the Dwight neighborhood.

The race is one of eight primaries across town on March 2. Only Democrats can vote.

Traditionally the job has consisted of nominating candidates for elected office like alderman or mayor. That’s it. This year, candidates in wards like 2 and 8 envision doing more.

All four candidates in Dwight promise to revive democracy in a neighborhood where almost no one voted last fall. They pledge to help victims of layoffs and foreclosure suits find a way to survive. And they say the place to do it is the Democratic ward committee.

Ward committees are the scrawny tentacles of the New Haven’s Democratic Party that stretch out into the city’s 30 wards. With memberships of up to 52 people each, they’re supposed to get voters to the polls and nominate local candidates. So far, the Dwight group hasn’t been doing that. If you can call it a “group.”

In the past six years, the ward committee held only one meeting, according to Griffin, a current co-chair. Smith is the other co-chair. The list of members is way out of date. Teamed up with separate running mates, the two have made a renewed pledge this year to make the committee relevant. Both tickets pledged to beef up the committee to 52 people—and use it to tackle other problems facing Dwight.

Davis, a lifelong Dwight resident who was active in politics in the 1970s and ‘80s, said she was appalled to learn the most recent voter turnout in her neighborhood. In November, when the city elected aldermen and the mayor, only 168 people voted in Dwight. That’s an embarrassing 6 percent turnout, Davis calculated. Only 131 people voted to reelect Alderwoman Gina Calder, who was uncontested.

“A lot of people in Ward 2 are feeling disenfranchised,” agreed Smith. “They’re losing faith in the voting process.”

Citywide, the picture wasn’t much better—only 16 percent of voters turned in a ballot for the mayor’s race, where John DeStefano faced no serious challengers.

Davis, who’s 56, said she agreed to get back into politics this year at the request of her daughter, Bianca Bowles, a secretary in the mayor’s office and an active member of the Dwight Central Management Team.

n her 50 years in the neighborhood, Davis said, she has seen Dwight go through many phases: ravaged by crack cocaine, uplifted by a new grocery store that brought jobs and fresh produce, and now struggling to support more than its share of services for people returning from prison, struggling with drug addition and mental health problems.

Davis said when she was secretary of the ward committee in the 80s, people would come out to vote—no matter if the candidate faced opposition. The ward committee had frequent meetings and got people into politics on a grassroots level—they grilled a then-stranger, young Richard Blumenthal, on his first run for attorney general 20 years ago, she said. Today’s ward committee pales in comparison, she said.

“People aren’t involved,” she said.

Davis said she didn’t know whom to run with—fellow grandmother and neighborhood activist Ruth Henderson declined an invite—until she got connected to Griffin.

Griffin, who’s 45, has been co-chair for six years. He said a family illness caused him to “disappear” to Waterbury for a while last year, but now he’s ready to get back in action. While the ward committee hasn’t been active, he said he has been.

Griffin, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, has focused his energy on advocating for other people with disabilities. He served on the board of Fellowship Place, a rehabilitation center on Elm Street, and worked at a homeless shelter. He said he has lobbied against cuts in funding for mental health services. He said he keeps up with his advocacy work between a couple jobs—one at Wal-Mart, one doing janitorial work at Yale’s Connecticut Mental Health Center.

Smith (at left in photo, with Douglass), who’s 49, has been co-chair for four years. A technician for a fire detection equipment company, he’s been an active neighborhood organizer, known in part for starting parent patrols during a summer of youth violence. He’s teaming up with Douglass in what he called a “double-threat”: two energetic men, both interested in galvanizing the corpse of democracy in their ward—and both interested in running for alderman.

Douglass, who’s 56, put his name on the political map when he ran against Alderwoman Calder three years ago. A chef at Yale’s Trumbull College dining hall, he stays active in his labor union as a member of UNITE HERE Local 35’s executive board. His race made Dwight a battleground for Democratic machine and labor union forces. Douglass lost by 28 votes.

Either Douglass or Smith will run for alderman next year, they said; they haven’t decided who.

Meanwhile, they pledged to revive the group that’s supposed to be the foundation of grassroots democracy.

“The ward committee has always been hush-hush,” said Douglass. “It’s like a private club.”

“I’d like to see all those seats filled,” he said, “with strong leaders that haven’t been approached in the past.”

Priority: Jobs

Both pairs of candidates talked about reconnecting the two parts of their ward, which is divided by Whalley Avenue.

And both said they’d like to use the ward committee to take on a top priority: Jobs.

For Douglass, the most immediate threat is Shaw’s. The grocery store, which employs 100 people, is set to close by the end of March. Douglass said he goes there every day. He knows a lot of folks that work and shop there.

“A lot of people depend on that market,” Douglass said. “It’s going to be devastating to the community” if Shaw’s shuts its doors.

Douglass said he’s lucky enough to have a long-time job at Yale—he started working there in 1989, washing pots—but he sees the jobs disappearing, both for casual Yale workers and other folks in Dwight.

As co-chairs, he and Smith would help connect unemployed folks with services they need, they said.

In a separate interview, Davis and Griffin pledged to do the same. They agreed Shaw’s closure would be a huge setback for the neighborhood.

For Davis, the issue hits home—she got laid off at the end of August after 17 years as a parent educator at the family resource center at the Wexler/Grant School. She’s currently unemployed, but plans to return to the school as a part-time worker in the near future.

Smith also said he’d like to focus on getting help for people facing foreclosure. He turned and offered help to his running mate, who has been struggling to hang on to his own home.

“We should talk,” he said.

Douglass said he’s working hard to pay his mortgage payments and so far, hasn’t seen a foreclosure sign on his lawn.

Elections

The contest in Ward 2 is one of eight primaries across town. A previously slated primary in Ward 18 has been canceled because one of the candidates, Nicholas J. Colavolpe, has dropped out, according to Deputy City Clerk Sally Brown.

The elections in March will set the stage for aldermanic nominations next year—and one election this year. After co-chairs are seated, they’ll form a new, 60-person Democratic Town Committee, and they’ll vote on a leader for the next two-year term. So far, no one has stepped forward to challenge Chairwoman Susie Voigt.

Griffin said Voigt “begged me” to run again this year. She has gone door-knocking with him in the neighborhood, and she helped him find his runningmate. Griffin said he gave Voigt his commitment as town chair.

Davis said she hasn’t pledged her commitment to anyone—it will depend who’s running, she said.

Smith and Douglass said they haven’t made any commitments, either.

Comments

posted by: Ward 2 Resident on February 18, 2010 2:06pm

I’m a Ward 2 resident and this is the first I’ve heard of the elections which are less than two weeks away. Let’s just say for instance I was interested in being an active member of my community, how would I ever be informed if not for this newspaper. Thank goodness!

The first thing these folks can do, whichever team gets elected, is to start a blog, or at the very least, an e-mail list, to keep Ward 2 residents informed and engaged. If you want people to be involved you have to provide a forum to communicate with one another.

I can’t even find out when our CMT meetings are! Any help?

posted by: Alderman Shah on February 18, 2010 2:47pm

The Dwight management meetings are the first Tuesday of the month at 6:30pm at the Troop School on Edgewood Ave. I can be reached at 203-503-3233

posted by: Ward 2 Resident on February 18, 2010 4:54pm

Thank you Alderman Shah!

posted by: Doug Hausladen on February 18, 2010 5:31pm

Ward 2 Resident and Alderman Shah:
The Dwight CMT meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month; 6:30pm at the community room in the police substation at 150 Edgewood - not the Troup School.

Dwight Substation
150 Edgewood Avenue - Phone #: 946-7597
District Manager: Lieutenant Raymond Hassett
Fax #: 946-7549

posted by: SweetBianca on February 18, 2010 5:37pm

Awesome Plug Alderman Shah! The Dwight Central Management Team meets the first Tuesday of every month at the Substation on 150 Edgewood Avenue @ 6:30 PM.
This diverse group of people consists of residents, businesses owners and people vested in our unique community. We serve as a forum for problem solving, community investing and organizing as well as an information exchange focusing on Dwight specific issues. We urge any Dwight resident with an interest in the safety and quality of life in our neighborhood to attend these necessary meetings.
See ya there!

posted by: funny on February 19, 2010 2:04pm

If your Alderman has never been to the Management team meetings how is suppose to know where to go. To Funny to be true.

posted by: Kate Walton on February 19, 2010 3:04pm

I will be voting for Deb Davis and Mark Griffin as I know they will take the responsibility to heart and work hard for Ward 2. I have known Deb in particular for 30 years and she is absolutely a great person and would be a great representative. Mark is extremely dedicated and sincere and I believe that Deb and Mark are the best choice for Ward 2.

posted by: anon on February 19, 2010 3:49pm

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/neighborhoodsurveynewhaven is a link to the management team’s neighborhood quality of life survey. Hopefully that will give our Dwight neighborhood organizers good feedback too. According to the Yale newspaper, over 1000 people have taken it so far.

posted by: notty on February 20, 2010 4:32pm

To Kate Walton, voting for people simply because they are nice is not a reason to vote. You vote on what they may or may not do to help the quality of life issues within the community. You say you know Mark to be an extremely dedicated person, what do you know about his current co-chair Greg Smith, if you do a search on his name you will see some of the things he has done on the forgotten side of the ward. Why did Mark and Greg split anyways, why are they running with separate partners when they were both in my opinion good co-chairs that worked together well?

posted by: aldermanshah on February 20, 2010 10:08pm

Funny on feb 19th:

There have been some changes with regard to the meeting places since Dwight School has been closed for remodeling.

I have been to the meetings and I have met at the police sub station.

maybe instead of looking for what is funny and blogging, you could do some work that will have benefit to the community, children and families in the second and 23rd Wards. I am and always been available to the DMCT at a moments notice and have supported all of their efforts.
I would be interested in how much time you spend helping in the community. Blogging is just words. She real work is in the streets.

posted by: che on February 20, 2010 11:00pm

I thought Shaw on Whalley was one of the many Shaws being sold to either Shop-Rite of Stop&Shop;. Either way we will most likely have a supermarket there. On the other hand, I feel bad for some of the workers but not all. Most of these young people have a major attitude at Shaws. They do not look at the customer, they talk with other cashiers and give you lip. I think they need a major adjustment. If you do not like your job than find something else. There are plenty of people looking for work to give to someone with such an attitude who does not wish to be there. I am hoping that if any supermarket moves in they train their people really well. Its about taking pride in your work. Does not matter if you are a doctor, plumber or clerk, you need to be respectful and considerate. I am actually looking forward to the change and I hope the those who are there now, who deserve to be rehired by the new store, do get hired and compensated well for a job well done. Get rid of the rest!

posted by: sue on February 22, 2010 3:33am

GREG SMITH YOU COULD SPEND TIME SAVING SOCO YOU ARE IN IT FOR THE BLANK NOT FOR THE PEOPLE.

posted by: Greg Smith on February 22, 2010 12:14pm

Sue, you obviously do not know me. I have never been into it for the Blank, or did you mean to say Bank. I have always been in it for the community and As Aldermen Shah so eloquently put it, in the streets is where it matters. My focus went far beyong just voters registrations although that is priority however, there are other issues in the community that people are facing and need help and information on services provided to help us all through the tough times we all are experiencing. Those who truly know me, know that I have a passion for helping people and have done that for as many people that reached out to me for help. When re elected, I will continue to serve, which is what being in politics is all about for me. Your officials cant change the world, but if they are sincere about being elected they can at least try.

posted by: Eleanor Willis on February 22, 2010 1:12pm

Deborah Davis is a fantastic person who truly cares for people. I wish her all the success in the world.

posted by: HELEN C.POWELL-KING on February 22, 2010 7:18pm

TO THE READER’S:I’M BEEN WITH SHAW’S SINCE THE DOORS OPENED,I STARTED 5/28/98 WHEN HAD ASK THE
COMMUNITY FOR NEIBORHOOD FOLK’S,I WAS LEAVING
THE COLISEUM AFTER DECIDED TO KNOCK IT DOWN.AND
WANTED SOMETHING DIFFERRENT BUT NEAR THE DIXWEL
COMMUNITY SERVING AND TALKING WITH THE FOLKS IN
SURROUNDING AREA,SHAWS HAS MANY COMMUNITY BASE
THERE (OLD,YOUNG,ORGANIZATIONS)ETC NEAR AND CLOSE,WHAT HAPPEN’S TO THE EMPOLYER’S HERE AND
DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO FALL BACK ON.WILL THE UNION HELP SAVE JOBS AND MAYBE THE NEXT BUYER WILL KEEP US OLD EMPOLYEE’S,AND HONOR HLTH CARE
VACATION,HOILDAY’S OR ASK WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR IN NEW OWNER’S.WE HAVE BEEN SUPPORTING MANY THINGS AROUND AND THE STORE NEIGHBORHOOD
NEED TO GET WITH SOME LETTER’S AND SEE HOW WE THE EMPOLYER’S FEEL ABOUT THIS BIG DECISION.
ALSO MAYBE THE SURROUND LOCAL’S WILL SUPPORT THEIR BRO’S AND SISTERS IN DISTRESSING TIME.

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