Thomas Breen photos
Westville Alder Adam Marchand and challenger Dennis Serfilippi.
Are the Yale’s unions a force for political engagement or obfuscation? Economic uplift or conflicts of interest?
Does the social media app NextDoor promote civic debate and neighborly communication? Or racism and paranoid fear-mongering?
The two candidates for the the Ward 25 Board of Alders seat in Westville offered different takes on those questions at a campaign debate Tuesday night.
Around 30 people, mostly Westville neighbors, made the trek down to the Elm Street branch of the public library to watch the remarkably civil and substantive hour-plus debate, which pitted incumbent Adam Marchand against independent challenger Dennis Serfilippi.
Marchand is a staff organizer and healthcare coordinator for Yale’s clerical and technical workers union, UNITE HERE Local 34, and a leading aldermanic voice on the Finance Committee, the Legislation Committee, and the City Plan Commission. He is running for a fifth two-year term on the Board of Alders. Political newcomer Serfilippi, a certified public accountant, budget watchdog, and lifelong New Haven resident, petitioned his way onto the Nov. 5 general election.
The crowd at Tuesday night’s debate.
The conversation, moderated by New Haven Independent Editor Paul Bass, leaped and bounded across a range of issues.
Many were specific to Lower Westville, including: How to respond to the recent uptick in property crime. Which streets are in most need of traffic calming. Who supports concerts taking place at the former tennis stadium. (Hint: They both do.)
Others focused on such citywide issues as the state of the public schools, sanctuary city policies, economic development, affordable housing, and how to achieve reasonable taxes while preserving high-quality city services.
Two of the starker divisions between the candidates during the debate, which can be watched in full at the bottom of this article, came during back-and-forths around the role that Yale’s UNITE HERE unions play in local politics and around the function of social media, particularly the NextDoor app, has and should have in facilitating productive conversations between neighbors.
Union Power In Local Politics
Aliyya Swaby file photo
Local 34 members rallying on Cedar Street.
“I’m proud to be a member of my union,” Marchand said when asked about UNITE HERE, which backs a supermajority of the Board of Alders and helped propel Marchand to office in 2011. “It’s been a force for good and economic uplift in this community for a long time.”
The union represents thousands of local workers who earn a decent paycheck and high-quality healthcare and retirement benefit because of the three-decade-plus history of organizing and contract negotiations by Local 34, he said. The union has helped build a middle class in the region, he said. “That’s profoundly important.”
As a staff organizer and health care policy expert for Local 34, he said, he has developed an arsenal of skills that he uses on a daily basis as a local legislator.
“I can organize,” he said. “I can advocate. I can build consensus. I know how to run a meeting. These are things that you learn by being a leader in the union.”
In regards to potential conflicts of interest, he said, “You’ve got to know what hat you’re wearing.” When working in City Hall or out in Ward 25, he said, he focuses on the needs of city residents and his constituents. When working for the union, he said, he prioritizes the needs of the union’s members.
“I think that anybody who is on the Board of Alders has to be clear,” he said. “What hat are they wearing, and are they going to do what’s right for their constituents? That’s what I’ve done, and that’s what I’ll continue to do.”
As for lower-case “d” democratic engagement, he said, no progressive political organizing force has been more effective at the local or national levels than unions.
“Our democracy is better because of unions in this country,” he said. Corporate power, as bolstered by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case, he said, is simply overwhelming in most areas of political life. Unions turn out people to vote and get people to volunteer, he said. “I think the union has invigorated democracy.”
Serfilippi said that he, too, supports many of the goals of UNITE HERE: “Better paying jobs. Better wages. Better working conditions.”
His dad drove a box truck for Hostess Cake that had no air conditioning in the summers and no heating in the winters, he said. His uncle worked in the brass factories of Waterbury and lost his dominant hand doing that work. “I’ve seen what unchecked management in the private sector can do,” he said.
But, he continued, UNITE HERE and labor-aligned alders sometimes “subvert the democratic process insofar as getting certain types of development done.”
He pointed to union-affiliated alders’ and commissioners’ attempts to block the Hotel Duncan redevelopment as a boutique hotel, the Pirelli Building’s hotel site plan, and a second Courtyard Marriott on Whalley Avenue.
“I think we’ve gone too far and it’s hard to tell which hat people are wearing at what time,” he said. “I think we need more transparency in terms of what the union’s agenda really is.”
He called on suburban-residing union leaders like Local 35 President Bob Proto to “not stop with the progressivism at the paycheck.” They should advocate for the construction of affordable housing and drug treatment centers in the suburbs, he said.
What’s Up With NextDoor?
When asked about role of the the social media app NextDoor in Westville public life, Serfilippi, a frequent user of the neighborhood-specific version of the app, said that he has seen NextDoor used as a vehicle for positive, public discourse as well as for “less ideal situations in cases where people don’t believe in the same thing.”
“I think it’s evolving,” he said. “I think it will get better.”
He said the platform would benefit greatly from someone moderating the comments and blocking instances of hate speech.
But that doesn’t mean the site can’t be used for good, Serfilippi added. He got the word out about Tuesday night’s debate being livestreamed on the Independent’s Facebook Live page through NextDoor, he said. The app can be “used as a positive forum for spreading news.”
Marchand was more circumspect about the app, which has been used nationwide to stoke fears that violent crime is on the rise, even when it is not. In Westville it regularly features videos and photos of alleged criminal acts and passionate discussions and calls to action about how to prevent them.
“I do find that there are some folks on NextDoor Westville who seem to feel that they have permission to be rude, disrespectful, to kind of foment fear, fear of the other in particular,” Marchand said. “And so I worry about the way that social media empowers some folks to behave in ways that are just unacceptable and that don’t actually serve the purpose, which is to inform, enlighten, and help people exchange information.”
Apps like NextDoor can be used, and sometimes are used, to get recommendations for neighborhood services like plumbers and roofers and electricians, he said.
“I don’t think we should be launching political campaigns on that platform,” he said. “And I certainly don’t think that we should” be looking to get people scared of other people just because they don’t look like them.
Crime, Schools, & Taxes
The debate, and the WNHH interviews, feature many more perspectives from Marchand and Serfilippi on hot button issues of the day. A few quick takes follow; watch and listen more to get each candidate’s full position.
What is the biggest challenge facing Westville today?
Marchand: “At the end of the day, it’s going to be: Do we hold onto the confidence that we have that Westville is a great place to live and a great place to raise families?” The recent uptick in crime must be addressed, he said, but so too must traffic calming, walkability, and maintaining the character and vibrancy of the neighborhood.
Serfilippi: “The uptick in crime.”
What’s going right with the public school system right now?
Marchand: “We’ve had really good teachers in the New Haven Public Schools and we should really do everything we can to support them.”
Serfilippi: “Based on what I’ve read, not a lot is going right.” Graduation rates may be up, but even those graduates aren’t well prepared to succeed in college, work, or other post-high school pursuits.
How should the public school system and the Board of Education best serve the increasingly high Latino and Spanish-speaking student population?
Marchand: “I think the Board of Education really needs to prioritize the recruitment and development of teachers and leaders who come from the Latino community and who speak Spanish.”
Serfilippi: “Everybody needs to be represented in the New Haven school system. I don’t think they can do it on a quota basis, but people have always wanted” representation.
Will you vote to raise property taxes?
Marchand: “If you’re asking me to promise that I will never vote for a tax increase again, I won’t make that promise.” The city has been cutting down on expenditures related to police and fire overtime, healthcare and pension costs. But, he said, “we have a revenue issue in New Haven.” Over half of the city’s grand list is tax-exempt. “At the end of the day, we need more revenue for our city.”
Serfilippi: “I’m saying that I will not vote in favor of raising taxes in the next two years.”
Click on the Facebook Live videos below to watch the full debate and recent “Dateline New Haven” interviews with the candidates.
The problem with Dennis's answer about NextDoor and other online forums is that he is often using them irresponsibly.
As an alder candidate he spread misinformation about the ice rink to imply that the Parks and Rec department is corrupt, forcing the department head to come online and correct the record.
He mocked students who were protesting Trump's human rights abuses and immigration policies. Later he further maligned these students by implying that they were failing at school. Of course, he had no factual basis to criticize the protesting students.
He generated an anti-homeless petition online, where signatories left racist comments.
He wrote a post based on rumors about kids being involved with robberies. The post was so inaccurate he had to later write a clarifying post that was still problematic. The post was about kids ringing doorbells and asking questions. Given that children of color across our country have been held at gunpoint just for ringing doorbells, these posts were irresponsible and make me feel concerned about the safety of my family in Westville as kids ring doorbells for a variety of reasons. There is no reason a potential alder should spread fear about kids ringing doorbells.
We live in a time when online activity has given rise to tragic violence. I hope that public officials and those running to be public officials would be much more judicious and responsible with their online use.