Laura Glesby Photo
Just over two-thirds of alders attended last Monday's full board meeting. (The missing alders in this photo include some with relatively strong attendance records, like Honda Smith, Sal DeCola, and Eli Sabin.)
Only 24 of the city’s 30 alders on average have attended full Board of Alders meetings this term, raising questions about a spike in local legislative absences.
Data compiled by the Office of Legislative Services shows that an average of six out of 30 alders were absent from a given full board meeting in 2022 — a trend that has slightly worsened during the first three months of 2023, which saw an average of seven absences per full board meeting.
Alders’ attendance this term has floundered compared to attendance in previous years. From January 2020 to June 2021 — a period in which alder full board meetings took place online, and which included the most severe stages of the Covid-19 pandemic — a majority of alders exhibited near-perfect attendance.
After moving entirely online at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, alders returned in-person to their second floor meeting space at City Hall in August 2021 for full board meetings. Those full board meetings take place twice a month (except for the lighter one-per-month meeting schedule in the summer), and are when alders undertake final deliberations, debates, and votes on local legislation.
The absence-riddled data arrives as the city’s Charter Revision Commission weighs whether to extend alder terms from two years to four, and whether to increase each representative’s annual compensation from $2,000 to $5,000. This year is also a municipal election year, and the 30 alders’ current two-year terms will draw to a close at the end of 2023.
Alders’ faltering attendance reflects a particularly tough year of personal challenges for many members of the Board of Alders, as neighborhood representatives juggle the broad ramifications of the pandemic not only in their wards, but in their own lives.
“Life happens to some people,” said Board of Alders President and West River Tyisha Walker-Myers (who maintained a perfect attendance record so far in 2022 and 2023.) “I lost plenty of people this year, last year. People get sick. They have to take care of kids.”
“We all strive to get here,” she said — and when a colleague is frequently absent, “as a board, we try to figure out what’s going on.”
Board of Alders Majority Leader and Amity/Westville Alder Richard Furlow agreed. “While most meetings of boards and commissions of the City remain virtual, 80% of the Board of Alders have stellar attendance with in-person meetings post pandemic,” he told the Independent. “The low percentage of Alders that have not been able to attend all of the in person meetings, because of personal illnesses or challenges, remain engaged in their prospective wards and communities working on the behalf of their constituents. The Board of Alders passed over 500 pieces of legislation in 2022, the bulk of that work being done in aldermanic committees. Alders sit on several committees and additionally serve as aldermanic representatives on several boards and commissions. We are proud of our record and work to date and thank all the alders for all the hours they put in at City Hall and in their communities.”
Alders convene as a full board once per month in the summer and twice per month during the rest of the year, in addition to serving on committees that meet at least monthly. They typically put in many additional hours of work outside of these formal meetings — including responding to constituent concerns, attending community management teams, working with developers and city officials, and convening neighborhood residents. One of the most tangible ways that alders can affect change is by proposing, advocating for, and voting on legislation during official proceedings. And that means showing up to cast votes at full Board of Alders meetings.
The wards with lower attendance rates are depicted in blue below.
The four alders with the highest number of absences so far are Bella Vista’s Renee Haywood (who attended one meeting so far this term), Newhallville’s Devin Avshalom-Smith (who attended 50 percent of meetings in 2022 and no meetings so far in 2023), Fair Haven’s José Crespo (who attended half of the meetings in 2022 and one meeting so far in 2023), and Wooster Square/Mill River’s Ellen Cupo (who attended 55 percent of meetings throughout this term).
Haywood, who represents Ward 11 in Fair Haven Heights, wrote in a text message that the past year has been marked by grief and health challenges. “Unfortunately my husband had recently passed” and “my health had also recently been declining,” she wrote. “I recently had my daughter move back from down south to actually assist with my health after being hospitalized for four months suffering from uremia.
“While I understand the importance of attendance and being there in person to make a change and difference,” Haywood wrote, “I’m always engaged with my community and they know my heart and the hard work that I have put in and my desires for the future of this community.”
Avshalom-Smith, who represents Newhallville’s Ward 20 and is serving his first two-year term, said in an email that his absences have been due to “serious health issues.”
He wrote that he’s been staying up to date on the alders’ activities and the needs of his ward: “I am completely up to speed and in regular communication with President Walker-Meyers and my Ward Co-chairs. Although my medical challenges have not allowed me to be physically present, the Board and all of the Legislative staff have done a tremendous job of keeping me in the loop. I will be able to attend in-person meetings within about a month or so.”
Cupo, who represents Ward 8, attributed her absences to a combination of maternity leave and illnesses. She gave birth to her second child in April 2022 and took off four consecutive weeks afterwards “to care for our new family of four and spend irreplaceable bonding time with Hunter, Ada, and Ian,” she wrote in a text. She added that “over the winter, my family has been contending with bouts of sickness.”
Cupo said she’s still been engaged with her ward throughout these personal life developments, and added that being a parent of young kids has shaped her perspective as a local legislator.
“I’ve learned that many families have faced similar challenges to my own. The strain that COVID-19 puts on families has only reaffirmed my commitment to public service,” she said. “I’m personally experiencing the pressures of the housing crisis in New Haven and it is a deep hardship for Ward 8. This is why, I’m excited to continue fighting for affordable housing, good jobs, and youth opportunities for New Haven. My experience as a parent of two young people is also why I have advocated for policies at the state like baby bonds and affordable housing measures, like rent cap bills.”
Cupo said she would resume holding “office hours” for Wooster Square and Mill River constituents beginning on Sunday, April 16.
Crespo, who represents Fair Haven’s Ward 16, wrote in a text message that his absences this term have been related to Covid-19.
“COVID-19 has taken a toll,” he said. “I tested positive in February and [M]arch of this year and have been ill with viral infection lasting at times 3 – 4 weeks (migraines, fevers, chills, vomiting, etc).”
He said the pandemic also prompted his absences in 2022, including through his work as a senior patient advocate at Cornell Scott Hill Health Center: “Last year, similarly being ill or being exposed to folks with COVID-19 as working in healthcare and having direct patient contact would force me to be quarantined.”
Meanwhile, since the start of this two-year term, four alders have resigned in order to avoid conflicts of interest or move from their wards. On Monday, Ward 26 Alder Darryl Brackeen announced his resignation (effective Friday) because of a job that will take him and his family out of state. Last June, Ward 28 Alder Shafiq Abdussabur resigned after citing a conflict between a custodial cleaning contract his company was bidding for with the public school system and his continued services in local elected office. Last August, Ward 9 Alder Charles Decker resigned right before moving out of state. And last December, Ward 21 Alder Steve Winter resigned to become the city’s first-ever executive director of climate and sustainability.
Vinne Mauro, a former Wooster Square alder who has long served as the chair of the city’s Democratic Town Committee, acknowledged the “unfortunate timing” and very real medical reasons that have driven aldermanic absences so far this term.
“There is no tougher job in government than being an alder,” he said. “It’s a time-consuming job, takes time away from your family. The alders, even if they’re absent, do their best to communicate” with their constituents.
In response to the four alder resignations so far this term, Mauro said that each of these alders has had “family issues, job issues” that have led to them stepping down. “It’s a testament to their dedication to their districts” that they have decided to resign early and try to find a replacement when they have realized that they can no longer serve in that role.
Created by the Office of Legislative Services
Alder attendance per meeting in 2022. (Ward 28's Tom Ficklin replaced Shafiq Abdussabur before the August 1 meeting, and Ward 9's Claudia Herrera replaced Charles Decker before the October 17 meeting.)
Alder attendance per meeting in 2023. (Ward 21's Troy Streater replaced former alder Steve Winter from the February 6 meeting onward.)
I don’t like how the photo shows the empty seats of Alder Sal DeCola and Alder Honda Smith when they have attendance records of 96.55% and 89.66% respectively. They are not the problem yet they are the ones shamed in the opening pic.