5 Write-Ins Run For Alder

A high school science teacher in East Rock, a community organizer in Dixwell, a budget watchdog in Westville, and a Tweed critic in Morris Cove are some of the five alder hopefuls this year seeking to convince voters to put pen to ballot to support their write-in candidacies for local legislative office.

Those five write-in alder candidates are Josh Glaab of East Rock/Cedar Hill’s Ward 10, Ira Johnson of Bella Vista’s Ward 11, Susan Campion of Morris Cove’s Ward 18, Fred Christmas of Dixwell/Newhallville/Prospect Hill’s Ward 21, and Dennis Serfilippi of Westville’s Ward 25.

All five are registered Democrats. None of their names will appear on the Nov. 7 general election ballot. But all have properly registered as write-in candidates with the Secretary of the State’s office, meaning that they can receive valid votes on Tuesday if voters in their respective wards write in their full names. (Voters can also cast their votes for registered write-in candidates by writing in an abbreviated version of a candidate’s name, such as their initials. However, the ​“voter’s intent” must be clear to the registrars and the moderator, who must ultimately decipher who the write-in vote has been cast for.)

Also running as a write-in candidate for mayor this year is Roger Uihlein, formerly of Neverending Books, who files a write-in mayoral campaign almost every local election year.)

Campion and Serfilippi both ran and lost in September’s Democratic primary elections in Ward 18 and Ward 25, respectively. 

Campion has thrown her hat in the ring to run again, this time as a write-in, against incumbent Morris Cove Democrat Sal DeCola and Republican challenger Lisa Milone. Click here and here to read about that three-way alder race in Ward 18. 

And Serfilippi is running again, also as a write-in, against incumbent Westville Democrat Adam Marchand. Click here and here to read about that two-way race in Ward 25. 

Johnson, a former substitute teacher who has run for mayor and city clerk and Hill alder in the past, is running for Ward 11 alder in Tuesday’s general as a write-in against Democratic nominee Henry ​“Rodney” Murphy and Republican challenger Gail Roundtree. All three candidates are looking to fill a seat left empty by the late Democratic incumbent Bella Vista Alder Renee Haywood, who died in late October. Click here to read about that three-way alder race in Ward 11.

Speed Bumps & Fixed Fields

Glaab, a 41-year-old science teacher at New Haven Academy, is running for office for the first time, as a write-in candidate against five-term incumbent and Democratic nominee Anna Festa, who has represented East Rock/Cedar Hill’s Ward 10 district since 2014. 

Glaab told the Independent that he decided in September he wanted to run for Ward 10 alder, thus the write-in campaign. He’s lived in New Haven for around eight years, and recently bought a house on Foster Street. ​“I didn’t know if I’d have time to do this,” he said about an alder run. ​“I wasn’t sure of that,” given that he recently bought a home on Foster Street and has spent so much of his non-work time fixing it up. But he got to a place in home repairs, and in his safe street advocacy in the neighborhood, that he decided to go for it.

The top concern motivating his run for Ward 10 alder: traffic safety and transit accessibility of all different kinds in East Rock. ​“The easiest, lowest-impact” intervention that he’d fight for first if elected ​“is speed bumps intended to slow large vehicles down.” 

“Orange Street is number one,” he said when asked where he’d like to see speed bumps put in the neighborhood. Some days, when biking to work, ​“I get to wave to my friends” and feel great while cycling down Orange Street. And some days, because of fast-moving and reckless vehicles, ​“I’m fearful for my life.”

He said he’s working with Metropolitan Business Academy teacher Chris Willem on designing a new class focused on ​“the science of how bikes work,” and hopes to advocate for a neighborhood and a city that is easier and safer to walk, bike, and take the bus in, and not just drive.

Glaab — who grew up in California, spent much of his young life in Saudi Arabia while his parents taught at an English-language school owned by the major Saudi oil company Aramco, lived in Boulder, Colorado, and then moved to New Haven for a job as cross country coach at Quinnipiac — said that updating the city’s zoning laws to allow for more accessory dwelling units to be more easily built is also an interest of his. He said he saw developers take over Boulder, and he doesn’t want to see the same here in New Haven.

In a separate phone interview with the Independent, Festa said she’s running for a sixth two-year term as Ward 10 alder because ​“there’s always unfinished business we’re striving to see to fruition.”

One such project: the next phases of fixing up and rebuilding the Wilbur Cross athletic fields and sports complex.

“I think that’s something that builds school pride. That new field has been something positive for them,” something Cross students advocated for, said Festa, who has three children who have all gone through the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) district. She said the Wilbur Cross field repairs are ​“something I’ve been working on since literally 2016.” The next phases of that project will see improvements to the tennis courts, basketball courts, Rice Field, and Blake Field.

Another top priority: ​“pedestrian safety,” Festa said, including making sure the Whitney Avenue redesign project goes forward as planned.

Festa spoke with pride about how she has distinguished herself on the Board of Alders Finance Committee over the years for asking tough questions and ​“looking out for fiscal responsibility” during budget season, and year round. ​“I may not always get what I want, and I hope I’m being heard. I think I’ve proven to be a voice” on that committee.

"Win Or Lose, I Will Always Help The Community"

In Dixwell/Newhallville/Prospect Hill’s Ward 21 district, write-in candidate Fred Christmas is running in a rematch against incumbent Democratic nominee Maceo ​“Troy” Streater. 

Both candidates ran in a special election for Ward 21 alder just in January, to fill a seat left vacant by Steve Winter when he stepped into the role of city climate czar. Streater won that special election, and is now seeking his first full two-year term in office.

Christmas, a Dixwell native and neighborhood organizer who works for Murdock Asbestos, tried to run in September’s Democratic primary, but was not able to collect enough valid signatures from Ward 21 Democrats to make it onto the ballot. Thus the write-in campaign for November’s general election.

“I am a community person that also helps people get jobs, find apartments,” he said. In addition to volunteering with groups like Women of the Village, he said, he also tries to refer homeless people in the ward to shelters and other services.

Asked what would make his neighborhood a better place to live and work, Christmas said, ​“Ward 21 is already great. We’ve just got to bring down the crime. We’ve got to keep it great, keep streets clean.”

He said he wants his neighbors to know that, ​“win or lose, I will always help the community.”

Streater, who works for the East Street-based homeless services organization the 180 Center, said he too is running ​“to complete some of the things I have started,” including speed bumps on Saint Ronan Street and throughout the ward. 

He said he’s working to get sidewalks repaired and streetlights fixed throughout the district. ​“I just love my community,” he said. ​“I was born and raised in the 21st ward. I’ve lived in the 21st ward my entire life. I just want to do a greater good for my people.”

He said he’s particularly aware of the city’s rising tide of homelessness, given his work at the 180 Center’s East Street warming center. The Varick church warming center on Dixwell Avenue is also in his ward. ​“Every night they’re packed with people. We’re working to combat that,” he said. ​“The city is working diligently” towards addressing rising homelessness, including by buying the Days Inn hotel on Foxon Boulevard and converting it into a non-congregate homeless shelter.

Streater said he’s proud of fighting for issues his constituents care about, big and small, including the renaming of the corner of Thompson and Shelton for Geneva Pollock, who used to teach at the former Jackie Robinson Middle School, where Streater went to school as a child.