Dems Split In Fernandez’s Ward

In a squeaker election, Alderman Santiago Berrios-Bones — who has represented his ward for less than half a year — won the endorsement on his ward committee Friday evening.

Berrios-Bones is running for reelection as alderman from Fair Haven’s Ward 14. He has a challenger, Thomas Burwell. They each spoke to the Democratic Ward Committee at a ward convention at Fair Haven Middle School. In the end, the committee split almost evenly: It voted 7 – 6 to back Berrios-Bones, who will now probably face Burwell in a primary election Sept. 10.

The ward committee did not vote on whom to endorse for city/town clerk or mayor — even though on of the five Democratic mayoral candidates, Henry Fernandez, lives in the ward. Instead, the two ward co-chairs agreed to split their votes between Fernandez and mayoral candidate Toni Harp at a citywide Democratic Town Committee convention Tuesday night.

Berrios-Bones, who won a special election in February to become one of Fair Haven’s aldermen, cited his efforts to build a nearby dog park with fellow alderman Doug Hausladen and his support for a new art school in the abandoned Strong School as reasons to support his candidacy. He also pointed out that he had been to every Board of Aldermen meeting since he had been elected — an important point to many on the ward committee, since Gabriel Santiago, ward 14’s last alderman, disappeared, leaving the ward without proper representation in city government.

Burwell, meanwhile, pointed to his strong roots in the neighborhood, telling the ward committee that he has lived in Fair Haven his entire life and is currently a single father to his 5‑year-old son. He talked about his desire to start block watches across the ward, bringing up his experience with organizing Exchange Street as proof that he had been successful in the past.

One ward committee member asked Burwell how the committee would know that he would stick around, given how Santiago fled after only six months in office. Burwell said he had attended aldermanic meetings of his own accord, and swore to carry out the full two-year term if elected.

“I’m not Gabriel Santiago. I keep my promises,” he said.

Committee member Fran Goekler-Marneau (pictured talking to Fernandez) asked the candidates about the recent $3 million city sale of portions of High and Wall streets to Yale, which she described as ​“throwing away the crib along with the baby.” Berrios-Bones, who said he supported the final deal, instead characterized the street selling as necessary to preserve city services.

“You either go without services, or try to continue services and do something to try to preserve those services,” he said. Burwell, meanwhile, said that he would have preferred to see a much more specific contract.

While the ward committee voted on an aldermanic endorsement, the group did not discuss whom it supported for mayor or city clerk — a decision that irked committee member Joan Forte (pictured standing). Forte stood up during the start of the meeting to ask the committee to discuss and vote for mayor, as well, seeing as the city has not elected a mayor from Fair Haven since the first half of the 20th century.

Ward co-chair Carmen Reyes said she wanted to eschew discussion about mayor and city clerk to avoid conflict. And Jackie James, chair of the citywide Democratic Town Committee, explained that party bylaws say ward committees only convene to endorse aldermen, with the endorsement votes for mayor and clerk left to the discretion of the two ward co-chairs.

“The process should be much more democratic,” James (pictured) admitted, pointing out that the bylaws haven’t been amended since 1975. She said she is now working on having the town committee update the bylaws.

“We should have endorsed our favorite son in Fair Haven, Henry Fernandez. We need to have a community spirit and endorse a candidate,” Forte said after the meeting. ​“We should be jumping for joy having someone from Fair Haven running for mayor.”

Candidates Toni Harp and Justin Elicker, Forte continued, were ​“probably” endorsed in their wards, and it was ​“pretty shabby” that the committee didn’t consider an endorsement.

After the rest of the ward committee was gone, co-chairs Reyes and Rafael Ramos (pictured) said they would be splitting their votes for both mayor and clerk: Reyes will support Harp and clerk candidate Michael Smart, while Ramos plans to endorse Fernandez and clerk candidate Sergio Rodriguez at Tuesday’s Democratic Town Committee convention.

Asked about the results of the voting — splitting his ward endorsement with rival Harp — Fernandez dismissed the importance of the DTC endorsement process, instead emphasizing his campaign’s voter engagement efforts.

“There is a political establishment in town, and certainly I’ve never been the candidate of the political establishment. I’m very much somebody who wants to have a very direct conversation with voters,” Fernandez said. ​“It’ll actually be nice to be finished with the endorsement process, and the Democratic Town Committee — which have pretty much always been a foregone conclusion — and move to where we really should be which is having a conversation with the voters of the city about New Haven’s future.”