Dixwell Race Is On

While the rest of the city is selecting new Democratic ward co-chairs without election contests, five women are vying for the Dixwell community’s two Ward 22 positions up for grabs this coming Tuesday.

In all other 29 wards, two co-chair candidates filed papers without opponents, so no elections will be held.

Incumbent Ward 22 Co-Chair Cordelia Thorpe has joined forces with Dixwell community activist Angela Watley, who ran for mayor in 2009, as a ticket in Tuesday’s election.

Ward committees’ and committee chairs’ primary function is to endorse candidates for municipal and state office. In some neighborhoods, co-chairs seek to organize other events or discussions through the ward committees. In 2012 co-chair races were contested across the city as a slate backed by Yale’s unions assumed majority control of the Democratic Town Committee, and therefore the local Democratic Party. Most years, though, contested races emerge in only selected wards, sparked by ward-level personalities or issues.

Ward 22 has evolved from a primarily Dixwell-based district to one split with two of Yale’s residential colleges. Yale students have come to provide much of the organizing energy in some local elections in the ward.

Thorpe, who also serves as president of the Dixwell Management Team, said she’s running ​“for democracy and to bring balance to the Democratic Town Committee for the citizens of Ward 22.” She ran for Dixwell alder in 2013. Attempts to reach Watley, who serves as the management team treasurer, for comment were unsuccessful.

Thorpe, a lifelong resident of the neighborhood, said that she wants to ​“continue the excellent service to the good citizens of Ward 22 and to keep Ward 22 a premier ward.” If re-elected, she said, she also wants ​“Yale University’s president to personally meet with us and talk with us so that we can be one happy town and gown family.”

The women, particularly Thorpe, are facing a familiar opponent: Victoria Dancy. In the ward race two years ago, Dancy, and her then running mate, Yale student Maxwell Ulin, didn’t make the ballot after a snafu with their petitions. Thorpe ended up winning one of the co-chair positions by default, while Ulin was ultimately appointed to the other co-chair position.

This time around Dancy is running with Yale student Gabrielle Diaz, and all their paperwork is in order. They also have the endorsement of Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison and Ulin.

Dancy, a project manager and part-time adjunct at Gateway Community College, said the pair have been canvassing the community for about a month with Morrison’s help on the doors.

Running mate Diaz is a sophomore at Yale majoring in history. She has been active with the Democratic Town Committee since she moved to the community, canvassing for Gov. Dannell P. Malloy and other politicians. Running for co-chair is an extension of her interests in local politics, particularly in the Dixwell community.

She said a divide between Yale and New Haven is amplified in the minds of students, who often see their connection to the community as temporary through the lens of their volunteerism. She said engaging in local politics is a way to interact with and be part of the community beyond the connection to the university.

“Without this level of involvement, we are relegated to different worlds,” she said. ​“I think that’s something that harms Yale and New Haven.”

Both women are big supporters of Alder Morrison and said if elected, they look forward to doing their best to not only help grow support for the Dixwell alder, but to support initiatives she’s championed like the rebuilding of the Q House.

Morrison said she supports the two women because of their commitment to helping her bridge the divide between New Haven and Yale. ​“The co-chairs don’t get as much credit as they should,” she said. Morrison said Dancy and Diaz ​“are the team that most represents the community.”
A fifth candidate, former Deputy Registrar of Voters Helen Powell, has lived in the Dixwell neighborhood since 1962. She said she’s ​“done a lot more than any other person running,” and even claims that she helped groom one of the current co-chairs.

“And nothing against Yale,” she said, ​“but most of the students vote in their hometown. They don’t know who we are and what we contribute to Dixwell.”

Powell, who worked at the former Whalley Avenue Shaw’s for 10 years, and is now going on five years as a cashier at the Stop and Shop that replaced it, said often times the neighborhood doesn’t see Yale students until ​“petition time.” In addition to running for ward co-chair, Powell, also has run for the Dixwell alder position in the past. She has filed paperwork to run for Democratic registrar this year too.

Ward 22 residents can cast their votes Tuesday at Wexler Grant School, 55 Foote St. from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.