Challenger Defeats 4‑Term Union Prez

A challenge slate of public employees calling for more democratic, transparent union leadership came into power on Friday night after a municipal union election saw an end to the current president’s eight-year tenure.

That was the result of AFSCME Local 3144 elections, held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday at the New Haven Central Labor Council at 267 Chapel St. in Fair Haven.

Malinda Figueroa, an executive assistant in the Engineering Department who has worked for the city for 18 years, defeated current union President Cherlyn Poindexter by 10 votes to become the next leader of Local 3144.

Poindexter, an administrative aide to the fire chief who has worked for the city for over 20 years, was vying for a fifth two-year term as union president.

Including the union presidency, Figueroa’s challenge slate won nine out of 12 contested positions on Friday’s ballot, though Poindexter’s current vice president, Harold Brooks, handily won another term as Local 3144’s second-in-command. The challenge slate called for more internal democracy in the union and an end to what it called an unnecessarily antagonist approach to dealing with management; Poindexter and her supporters argued that she fought hard to protect the union from attempts to bust it. The union has been without a contract for two years. (Click here for a story detailing both sides’ arguments.)

Local 3144 represents around 370 management and professional employees of city government, ranging from LCI neighborhood specialists to Building Department administrative assistants to parking enforcement supervisors.

A little over 300 employees showed up to cast their votes in the union elections held on Friday, when members voted for new leadership for positions ranging from president to treasurer to recording secretary.

Camped out for hours on end on opposite sides of the Labor Council’s back parking lot, Figueroa, Poindexter, and their respective supporters spent most of the day greeting new voters and most of the night waiting for the results to be announced.

Although the polls closed at 6 p.m., the results were not announced until midnight, when the election committee finally finished double and triple checking their tallies for all 12 positions.

Soon before the polls closed, Figueroa, who had been at the voting location since 8:15 a.m., said that she was feeling confident because voter turnout looked like it was going to be high.

“We had a lot of members show up today,” she said while standing alongside the rest of her slate, all set up in lawn chairs at the end of the parking lot closer to Saltonstall Avenue. ​“We really want to give every member a voice.”

At the other end of the parking lot, closer to the Labor Council’s back entrance, Poindexter and around 20 of her supporters had their own tent pitched, where they sat in lawn chairs, talked shop, and held signs that read “Vote for Cherlyn.”

After the polls closed and the sun set, Poindexter’s group settled in for the night, sharing coffee and donuts and wrapping themselves in blankets and coats as a cool breeze came in from the Long Island Sound.

Ed Joyner, Edward Jefferson, and two other Poindexter supporters entertained the group with barbershop quartet renditions of pop and R&B hits, harmonizing over songs by The Whispers, The Four Seasons, Hall & Oates, and Luther Vandross.

Former Assistant Fire Chief Pat Egan and Edward Jefferson chatted about the history of Contois Tavern in East Rock, fluctuations in homeownership in Newhallville, and Democratic favorites in next year’s state gubernatorial contest.

Throughout the evening, Poindexter’s supporters and fellow candidates spoke about how passionate, knowledgeable, and loyal to her members she had been during her tenure as head of the union. They spoke about how hard she fought to keep members from being fired by the city, and was very often successful in those pursuits.

Poindexter, Brooks, and Poindexter’s supporters declined to give quotations for this story or have their pictures taken, and the rest of her slate and supporters followed suit. They expressed frustration over what they called biased and racially derogative representations of Poindexter that unjustly fomented a negative stereotype of the “angry black woman” in its coverage of her leadership and candidacy.

After six hours of patient and exhausted waiting, the remaining members of the two groups filed into the Labor Council’s conference room at midnight to hear the results.

New Haven government homelessness coordinator Velma George stood at the front of the room, and, with a drumroll of her fingers on the plastic tabletop, welcomed the candidates and read off the tallies.

“Thank you everyone for coming out and participating in the election,” she said. ​“It’s been a long haul. We all can agree on that? OK, so I know you can’t wait to hear the results. So here they are.” (See the bottom of this article for a complete list of positions, candidates, and final vote tallies from Friday night.)

After George announced that Figueora had won the presidency by a vote of 159 to 149, the challenge slate and their supports let out a loud cheer, with one man shouting: ​“New slate, new day. Now we can go home.”

Figueora gave a hug of relief and excitement to supporter Sally Brown before heading back to the parking lot and heading home after the long night.

“I’m good,” she said. ​“We’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m looking forward to representing my people, to representing our people. Our people.”

Final Results for the AFSCME Local 3144 Election

President

Malinda Figueroa: 159 votes
Cherlyn Poindexter: 149 votes

Vice President

Harold Brooks: 172 votes
Sean Garris: 133 votes

Treasurer

Billie Jo Wilson: 151 votes
Dean Criscio: 149 votes

Recording secretary

Carmen Mendez: 153 votes
Carmen Goycoechea: 148 votes

Corresponding secretary

Dennice Pair: 161 votes
Velisha Cloud: 131 votes

Trustee for the three-year term

Mark DeCola: 119 votes
Robin Ladson: 95 votes
Marquis Reshar: 55 votes
Patricia Solomon: 24 votes

Trustee for the two-year term

Margaret Targrove: 179 votes
Marianne Carolla: 119 votes

Trustee for the one-year term

Mike Fumiatti: 153 votes
Rafael Ramos: 103 votes
Derek Powell: 40 votes

District 1 Representative

Evan Trachten: 150 votes
Linda Davis: 136 votes

District 2 Representative

Sally Brown (unopposed)

District 3 Representative

Tom Verderame: 202 votes
Tom Costa: 81 votes

District 4 Representative

Linda Hannans: 159
Ramona Davis: 129

District 5 Representative

Gwendolyn Busch Williams: 145 votes
Georgiann Dogolo: 102 votes
Terry Cooper: 37 votes