Alders-Elect Kiana Flores, Frank Redente, and Caroline Smith at WNHH FM.
Three of New Haven’s alders-elect with Fair Haven connections said they’re pumped to get to work as part of a community “team” that tackles safe streets, affordable housing, and small business growth.
“I built my career around being a team player,” Fair Haven youth anti-violence worker Frank Redente said about his intentions as the new Ward 15 alder come Jan. 1.
Ward 9 Alder-Elect Caroline Smith, whose ward includes sections of East Rock and Fair Haven, and Downtown Ward 1 Alder-Elect Kiana Flores, who grew up in Fair Haven, echoed those sentiments as they and Redente participated in a post-election conversation on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
All three veteran community activists said they believe they can help deliver real change for their neighbors working in conjunction with the 27 other members of the Board of Alders. They also spoke of using their position to help connect people within communities to each other and to government. Flores, a 20-year-old Yale junior majoring in political science who helped lead the youth-driven New Haven Climate Movement in high school, spoke of looking forward to “collaborat[ing] with others to [make] change in the city.”
One area in need of change is making it easier for people to launch small businesses, said Smith, who co-created the small-biz launching pad Collab program and previously chaired the Downtown-Wooster Square Community Management Team.
She spoke of one constituent she got to know on the campaign trail who has spent a year trying to open an Upper State Street business called East Rock Breads. Smith said she’d like to work on helping to streamline licensing and permitting for small business owners, offer entrepreneurs an easily understandable checklist of all the approvals needed to open, and create more opportunities for backyard and outdoor seating at food establishments.
Redente began working with troubled youths in Fair Haven after seeing friends he grew up with in the neighborhood get killed. His current day job with the Connecticut Violence Intervention Project has him defusing tensions in the schools. He said on “Dateline” that he hopes to work on anti-violence solutions in his Fair Haven ward that seek accountability from both people in positions of authority as well as people causing trouble. For instance he declared himself open to supporting a “safe injection site” for drug users in a spot away from the street with social services and emergency life-saving help on hand, but only in conjunction with measures ensuring that both users and site operators follow rules to protect public safety.
Asked about their political role models, Smith cited Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. She called Wu “one of my heroes.” She cited Wu’s commitment to acknowledging and building a strong team while pursuing goals like increased mass transit ridership.
“She was an example of someone who so clear about her values. She has a strong spine,” Smith said of Wu.
“As an Asian-American woman, I remember going to Boston, peeking inside Boston City Hall, which is such an epic building, and seeing her picture. It made me emotional to see this incredibly intelligent, values-aligned woman who’s Asian-American being the mayor of a major city. …
“Representation isn’t everything. But representation allows you to imagine things for yourself. Seeing her as a city council person — that helped me imagine, ‘That’s a role I can be in as well.’”
Flores cited Alders Eli Sabin (for whom she previously campaigned) and Sarah Miller as role models. She also cited ex-Mayor John DeStefano, whose New Haven policy class she took at Yale. She saw how the DeStefano administration’s immigration reforms affected people like her own relatives, who came here from Honduras, and how government can make a difference in people’s lives.
Click on the above video to watch the full discussion with Alders-Elect Kiana Flores, Caroline Smith, and Frank Redente on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program. Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of Dateline New Haven.
Grateful for these alder elects and their many strengths! They listen (to lots of people), they learn (with humility), and they will act. AND represent Fair Haven.