Lucy Gellman Photo
Roth at January’s Women’s March in D.C.
Abby Roth no longer has an opponent for the Democratic nomination to get her old job back.
Wednesday night the Ward 7 Democratic committee endorsed Roth to become the next alder, after the current alder, Alberta Witherspoon, decided to step down.
Roth had the job prior to Witherspoon.
Roth reported in an email to supporters that not only is Witherspoon not running for reelection; she has decided to resign her alder position for the remainder of her term, which ends Dec. 31. (Witherspoon could not be reached for comment.) In the meantime, a Yale graduate student active in UNITE HERE Local 33 named Lukas Moe will be appointed to fill out her term, Roth announced, while not seeking election to the full term beginning Jan. 1.
However, the mayor’s office has not received notice of Witherspoon resigning, according to spokesperson Laurence Grotheer. He said only then does the process begin of appointing a replacement, with the ward co-chairs and town chair submitting suggestions to the mayor. (Neither the City/Town Clerk Office nor the Office of Legislative Services had been notified of the appointment mid-Thursday.)
So far no one has filed papers to run against Roth in the general election.
WHOA !!! Has the Mayor actually appointed Lukas Moe? Or is this Ward 7 co-chairs Nadine Wall and Alberta Witherspoon trying to usurp that power?
According to the City Charter, Wall and Witherspoon were supposed to send over the names of three qualified Democrats willing to finish out Witherspoon's term. That did not happen. Instead the two of them handpicked Moe as Witherspoon's successor. (Even though Moe declared he was not running for the seat in September.)
New Haven needs another dedicated and hardworking alder like Abby Roth. We do not need yet another Local 33 Hunger Striker as part of Aaron Greenberg and Unite Here's attempt to grab even more political power.
The obvious choice would be for the Mayor to appoint Abby to finish the term, as she has the support of the majority of Ward 7, and the experience to best serve and represent our neighborhood interests.