Alder Hopeful Eyes A Different Election

Brittiany Mabery-Niblack met with a group of Newhall Gardens tenants to talk about an election — but not the one she’s running in.

Mabery-Niblack, who is running to represent Newhallville’s Ward 20 on the Board of Alders, attended the elderly housing complex’s regular tenant meeting on Thursday to encourage the seniors to nominate and elect five tenant officers amongst themselves: a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and sergeant.

“It’s important that we get those positions filled,” she said. The tenants would be able to nominate officers at any time by filling out a form; they didn’t take any votes at the meeting on Thursday.

Having a formal leadership structure would help tenants at the 26-unit Daisy Street apartment complex better advocate for themselves, Mabery-Niblack argued — and would ensure that they have access to the complex’s community room, the site of Thursday’s meeting, which both tenants and a housing authority staffer said is often locked. Elm City Communities’ 360 Management, the nonprofit affiliate of the housing authority and the property management company for Newhall Gardens, is able to provide the community room key to the tenants’ president.

“The vision we have is for this community room to be filled every time there is a meeting,” Mabery-Niblack said — for the tenants to be able to host ​“potlucks” and ​“movie nights” in the space, even when a property manager isn’t available to unlock the communal space.

A Yale union-affiliated medical administrative assistant, Mabery-Niblack is seeking to become the next alder representing Ward 20, a Newhallville district including the Elm City Communities-owned elderly housing complex Newhall Gardens. As the party-endorsed candidate, she’s running against fellow Democrat Addie Kimbrough to replace current alder Devin Avshalom-Smith. 

She’s running with the endorsement of former Ward 20 Alder Delphine Clyburn, who regularly met with Newhall Gardens tenants and put pressure on Elm City Communities to address residents’ concerns faster.

For about three months since hitting the campaign trail, Mabery-Niblack has gotten involved with the senior housing community herself by working alongside Carlota Clark, who spearheads the Newhallville Community Management Team’s senior committee.

Though Mabery-Niblack offered to help seniors vote in municipal elections at Thursday afternoon’s tenant meeting, and Democratic Town Committee Ward 20 Co-Chair Barbara Vereen stopped by with some absentee ballots, the conversation barely touched on Mabery-Niblack’s bid for office.

Over the course of the meeting, Housing Authority Resident Services Coordinator Agne Covill went over the tenant leadership nomination forms and explained new paperwork that the residents would have to fill out in order to continue receiving ​“senior boxes” of food.

Doretha Mitchell raised her hand. She said that she’s having trouble getting in touch with the building’s property manager — ​“You can never reach him by phone.” Mitchell said that a handful of street lights have been broken for about three weeks.

Clark asked Covill if the tenants are provided with a contact list for everyone they can call at 360 Management.

When Covill replied that the property managers give out their contact information to tenants, Clark pressed her for a longer list of possible people to reach.

Mabery-Niblack pressed Covill on the contact list that Clark asked for. ​“She’s gonna develop a list of who to call,” she told the seniors after conferring with Covill. She and Clark promised to help distribute that list to the tenants.

“If there’s no lights outside, that’s a safety issue,” she added. ​“These are seniors. At night, they need lights. If there is a fire, that’s an issue.”

Later, fellow tenant Gracie Brown said that her shower’s been broken since early July: when she turns the water on, ​“just a little comes out.” She said she reported the issue. ​“Ain’t nobody show up yet.”

Covill said she hadn’t heard of these issues before, but promised to note them to her supervisors. ​“I can tell that maintenance is kind of an issue across the board,” she said.

Mabery-Niblack emphasized that she hopes to collaborate with Covill. ​“We want to help you. We want to work with you, not against you.”

After the meeting, Mabery-Niblack requested a photo with Mitchell. She said she met Mitchell while canvassing with New Haven Rising activists. 

“She signed our petition. We started talking. I was able to get a sense of her heart,” Mabery-Niblack said. ​“She’s a tough cookie. I saw that fire in her and I knew we would work well together.”