Alder Alex Andes Guzhnay at WNHH FM.
Alex Andes Guzhnay knows firsthand what a neighborhood library can mean to a kid. He now also knows how his neighborhood library came to be.
He knows what it’s like growing up in a neighborhood and a city with an affordable-housing crunch. He now knows the details of how government tries to address the problem — and had a hand in crafting the response.
He knows what it’s like to grow up in a household run by newcomers to this country — and now knows how to help newer newcomers do the same.
He knows all that. And he’s only 19.
Guzhany grew up in Fair Haven, the son of an electrician’s assistant and a seamstress who migrated here from Ecuador. While attending Amistad high school, he got involved in the community. He volunteered to help refugees families new to town through Integrated Immigration and Refugee Services (IRIS). He started following politics.
A New Haven Promise participant, he got into Yale, where a full scholarship gives him the freedom to explore his city as a lawmaker: He’s the newly elected alder from Ward 1. In that role, he participated in a debate over how to define truly affordable housing in an “inclusionary zoning” law that, after it was tweaked, he voted for. He saw how a summer city-funded Youth@Work job with New Haven Farms in Fair Haven made a difference in his own life; he hopes as an alder to advocate for more such opportunities for the next generation.
While focusing on the nitty-gritty of city issues as an alder, he’s also exploring the broader picture as a political science major at Yale. He learned a lot about the city’s political history in an Urban Renewal course taught by Elihu Rubin; his project for the course focused on the history of the Fair Haven Branch Library.
“I would always, always, always go there as a kid,” while his mom helped him pick bilingual books, Guzhany recalled in an interview on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.” He learned how a century ago, Fair Haven neighbors spearheaded the effort to create the library, first in a school basement, then in the stand-alone building created with Carnegie philanthropic dollars.
He looks forward to incorporating the dreams of today’s community into his role helping to make municipal decisions as a city alder, including in upcoming debates over how to spend $100 million in federal pandemic relief dollars. He expressed skepticism about the Elicker administration’s prioritizing surveillance cameras as a main response to public safety concerns, but he’s open to hearing more. (The city is proposing spending $3.8 million on cameras; the video conversation cites an incorrect figure.)
Guzhany was one of five new alders elected this past November, dubbed the “Jackson 5.” He said that in his first weeks on the job, he has enjoyed learning from longer-serving members of the board. “We’re working together as a team,” he said.
In practice and in study, Guzhany is just starting on learning how to get things done. His home city is poised to be the beneficiary.
Click on the video above to watch the full interview with Alder Alex Andes Guzhany on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.” Read a previous story about him here.
I had the pleasure of talking with Alex several times over the past year. Among other things, he is very good at listening, a real skill for a public official.