Abdussabur Files For Mayoral Run

The city of New Haven currently has a mayor that doesn’t seem to know what’s happening under his nose, or doesn’t care so long as it serves him. Another one was turned down for a city job and now manages someone else’s campaign that seems to be even more disconnected. Now the latest one is running, likely, because his cleaning company no longer has a contract with the city.
I’m questioning the motivation of all these people, and if they were not self absorbed, they would realize that the city services suck, plain and simple. If anyone running actually cares for the city, they would start by combing each and every single department, and it wouldn’t take too long to see what a mess city hall is. Start by taking care of the people who serve the city, which by the way, is the whole purpose of a city to exist. Third world politics seem more transparent at this point… good luck to us all…

My recollection is that all of the fifteen (and longer) year tax abatement deals required affordable housing as a condition of the abatement. I believe Sgt. A was an Alder when this great deal was approved:
https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/alders_ok_clock_factory_tax_deal

Is it just me but hasn’t the Mayor taken up a rather testy attitude as of late.

Good like to Sgt Abdussabar! That track jacket is sweet!

It appears that the voters are going to get a very issue oriented campaign this time around. There are certainly a lot of issues to discuss.
Incumbents always have the edge, but candidates with big money have gone down in flames so nothing is ensured.
How many debates does the Democracy Fund plan?
Will the Citywide Community Management Teams organize one?
Considering that the next Mayor could have a 4 year term, asking the tough questions is a duty.
Maybe start by asking how many affordable units cost the taxpayers how much in lost tax dollars?
And when will New Haven get its FULL PILOT allocation? In our life time?

"Here are New Haven's problems and I can solve them better than Justin" is not a campaign platform.

I'm open to the idea that someone could do a better job than the incumbent, but it would be nice to hear some original ideas about things they would do that Justin isn't doing, or things Justin has done that they believe were incorrect.

Much of the criticism of Justin sounds a lot like "he has not given me, personally, enough attention or power," which is a pretty self-indulgent line of thinking.

Bottom line, I don't trust any candidate who will not participate in the Democracy Fund. People forget that for any faults he might have, Justin ran and won because people were tired of corruption, and has kept his nose clean and his coffers clear of contractor money. Who wants to go back to the old ways?

Well, I'm happy to see democrats actually CRITICICIZING one of their own. Elicker owns the condition of the city and it isn't good. It isn't NEW either. The problems have existed for quite some time.

Time for NEW blood, vote AGAINST every single current elected leader. They need to go.

Wow, things are gonna get grimy! Elicker is already reacting and lashing out. You can’t govern like nobody will challenge you!
I would like to know where these challengers stand on senior leadership having the option to live elsewhere!! That really makes my blood boil that Elicker feels New Haven is not good enough for all senior leadership to HAVE to live in New Haven City limits. I’m taking that personal. If you don’t want to live in my city then I don’t want you leading anything and collecting pay from my tax dollars.

Patricia, a couple of observations. Any changes to the charter would be prospective. Whoever is elected mayor will (initially) serve a two-year term.

Tax deferrals are set by ordinance, although I believe the city's policy could be more sophisticated. Tax abatements are ad hoc and the process for setting them opaque. Estimates of revenue loss due to tax benefits is little better than a guess. In part this is because the assessor primarily relies on the income method rather than construction costs to value multi-family buildings, (Both assessment methods are legal, but assessors can't cherry-pick their approach to maximize revenues.) In fairness, revenue losses also depend on future mill rates and the effects of future revaluations, which are unknowable.

It is highly unlikely the city will ever be fully reimbursed for the revenue it loses from tax exemptions. The law never provided for full reimbursement; the problem was that for many years the state only partially funded the PILOT program. I am reasonably confident that the state will fully fund the revised PILOT program this year. Beyond that, my crystal ball is rather cloudy.

@1644, Shafiq was not an Alder when that deal was struck. Ninth Square has gotten tax abatements for years and yet home owners has gotten no tax relief. Affordable housing for who is the question not to mention there is no affordable housing for families which most don’t mention. Wait until he rolls out his specific around education, public safety, Taxes, then make a more informative decision about what you think of the candidate that will be coming on the 29th of this month.

Every city department has been shrunk down to bare bones. City hall takes fonds from the all departments and gives it to the city hall workers that sit around and don’t do nothing. Why not go thru City Hall and get rid of all the people that make 6 figures to do nothing and put it back in the departments. PW working with no contract for almost 2 yrs. Parks Department working without a contract for almost 3 yrs. LCI working without a contract for almost 3 yrs. So does this Mayor cares about New Haven and it’s people’s I don’t think so. Take care of the people that takes care of New Haven. Every city worker that actually works out in the community are treated like they don’t matter. It’s Elickers town not the community. People forget that we the people elect these people. So open your eyes and see what’s really going on and not the smoke and pony show.

Isn’t the mayoral race possibly with 5 candidates? That’s a pretty exciting number for differences to come out about how our city can be improved. I thought Wendy Hamilton filed all the necessary paperwork a month ago, yet the Independent hasn’t mentioned her candidacy.

The candidates need to present real world solutions to the city’s problems, and educate themselves on the facts before criticizing policies that they don’t know the details to.
I’m tired of politicians promising things they can’t deliver or don’t understand, and then when they get elected, it’s, “oops, I guess not” and also I’m also tired of when they hire all their buddies and suck up to Yale and don’t think in the long term how their decisions impact the city and the regular people who live, work and play here for more than 4-6 years.

Elicker snidely says A bdussabur hasn't participated in school board meetings - and "if he was an alder," he could vote on the paltry $3 million in tutoring money that will help only 25% of the student population. I don't blame Abdussabur for giving up a low pay alder's position in an effort to save his company, dozens of jobs for local people that have since been laid off. If Elicker had ever been an entrepreneur instead of a trust fund baby, he would understand the relationship between an employer and their staff and what it takes to earn the money to take care of your family. As for participating in school board meetings - like the BOA, it never listens, it doesn't matter, it would have changed nothing. The BOE doesn't even listen to the BOA. Solutions by their nature would be adversarial with an entity that holds the keys to your company. Who would do that?

Great - Abdussabur is a promising candidate...better than Elicker and his snide remarks allegedly impugning the integrity of a former friend that was loyal to him. So over his condescending New Canaan tone towards Black New Haveners.

If Mr. Abdussabur had been able to serve more than 6 months as alder, I might take his candidacy more seriously. Why would he run for office if he had a business that would be affected by the new position? If he didn’t know it could be affected, how much does he really know about city government?

I can’t help but suspect that he didn’t like the alder position once he held it. Too much dedication and time with too little power.

@NHvn_Local Shafiq was a very dedicated as alder for our ward, and he has continued advocating since leaving office in a volunteer basis. The language preventing alders from applying for the contract did not exist before, so it's not like he could have anticipated it when he was running for office.

@beaverhills, please explain to me in what ways he has continued to advocate for the Beaver Hills neighborhood on a volunteer basis.

Another Mayoral election, another season of listening to politicians with amnesia who rail against policies they endorsed or enacted! In terms of the Democracy Fund, sounds like Abdusabbur will be raising $ from New Haveners, while Goldenberg will rely on his out-of-town McKinsey friends with deep pockets. Good luck --remember those friends don't vote. Someone tell our mayoral candidates that Black-owned businesses aren't the only MBWE; many minority-owned businesses encounter the same struggles with inadequate financing that limits growth. Here in New Haven however, it seems the same 3-4 companies/people are constantly complaining about the lack of "MBWE opportunities" when what they really mean is "there's nothing here for me!". By all means fix the city's MBWE policies to insure equity and fairness; however, that's not the same as responding to businesses who don't know how to submit competitive proposals then point to a problem in the regulations.

I must say, that the mere mentioning of Black contractors by Mr. Goldenberg was quite surprising and refreshing to hear. Normally white ppl steer clear of mentioning issues germane to the Black community. Caution: Is he sincere about that disparity? Is this a ploy to try and carve out a respectable portion of the Black vote away from Abdussabur, solely for the purpose to thwart his (Abdussabur's) chances to gain victory? The latter wouldn't surprise me at all.

Let's face it, New Haven, Elicker's administration has been a complete disaster! The crime rate in NH under his tenure has increased annually. Garbage is strewn everywhere. The NHPS are so bad, that the School Board is in hiding. There are more potholes in NH, than in Ukraine. After a snowfall in the city, Newhallville, the Hill, and West Rock are left to look like 'Life Below Zero' for several days, while the rest of the city looks like Belaire. If you have a hunchback, walking on sidewalks in most neighborhoods in the city is fine. If not, then be prepared to get smacked in the face by low-hanging branches. Not to mention the high property tax increases he loves visiting in every budget.

I, like others, am eager to listen to the arguments emanating from those vying to unseat this failed mayor. The candidates that are serious, will undress this imposter as a mayor. The ones that aren't, will talk around the obvious by gaslighting.

Take out the popcorn, and kick up your heels.