Outsider Ex-Alderman Willie Greene (pictured) gained control, by a hair, over one of Newhallville’s Democratic ward committees in a primary Tuesday. He barely beat two other candidates — who tied. Read on for more on that unusual race and for the winners from the eight wards that had primaries.
Voters in each ward selected two ward co-chairs. In Ward 21, Greene collected 78 votes. His running mate, another ex-alderman, Ron Gattison, got 76 votes — as did one of their opponents, Jesse Phillips. Katrina Jones (who’s also the ward’s current alderwoman) came in last, barely with 75 votes.
There will be a recount Friday to see who wins the second seat.
Here are the two winners in each of the wards:
Ward 12 (Bishop Woods): Tina Jendrzewski, Lynda D. McMillen.
Ward 14 (Fair Haven): Joan A. Forte, Rafael R. Ramos.
Ward 15 (Fair Haven): Maria Reyes Rivera, Patrice L. Sanders.
Ward 22 (Dixwell and part of Yale): Sheneane Ragin, Cordelia V. Thorpe.
Ward 24 (Edgewood): Henry C. Campbell, Eliezer S. Greer.
Ward 28 (Beaver Hills): Constance Perkins, Donald E. Walker.
Ward 29 (Beaver Hills): Gaylord Bourne, Audrey D. Tyson.
As candidates and politicos awaited results in the Hall of Records basement, Greene, dressed in a dapper suit, announced his victory and headed off to the Elks Club before the official tallies came in.
Democratic Registrar of Voters Sharon Ferrucci said after the count that she didn’t know yet how the tie would be settled. But close votes in Wards 21 and 22 will be recounted on Friday, officials said. Ward 22 wasn’t quite as close; the winners got 126 and 124 votes; the third place finisher, Mena Cammett, received 118 votes.
The Newhallville vote in Ward 21, at the old Martin Luther King School on Dixwell Avenue, pitted outsiders against insiders.
Candidate Jesse Phillips stood outside of his former elementary school Tuesday afernoon, passing out leaflets with some high school friends. He’s gotten used to the political campaign — at 19, he was one of the youngest Democratic co-chairs of the ward. An aspiring politician, he has worked on Mayor DeStefano’s mayoral campaigns and landed a job as a staffer in the mayor’s office.
“I’m the only one from Newhallville working in the mayor’s office,” said Phillips (pictured) with pride. He’s 23 years old now, and wants to see more people from his generation, who have “lost faith in government,” get involved.
He and his running mate, Katrina Jones admit the neighborhood is hurting for people who want to get involved in the political process. When Jones calls ward committee meetings, she said, “only a handful” of residents show. The ward has one of the poorest voter turnouts, with recent elections drawing around 30 percent.
Her opponents, former Aldermen Willie Greene and Ronald Gattison, see that lack of involvement as a problem with leadership.
“There’s no communication in the neighborhood anymore,” said Gattison, a tall, graying man who rallied Greene out of retirement to revive neighborhood politics. Both said in their time — collectively they served about 15 years, starting in 1987 — ward meetings would fill rooms with concerned neighbors.
“I really think the current representatives aren’t doing what they’re supposed to,” he said, saying he’d blitz the streets with flyers, knock on doors, and get people out again to revive the meetings. Both paint themselves as City Hall outsiders who are more in touch with neighborhood concerns.
“They’re keeping the rest of the neighborhood detached,” said Greene of the current leadership. He said they are too close to City Hall to be able to stand up against the mayor’s proposed 9 percent tax hike, or against the city’s vision of how to develop the Dixwell corridor.
“I’ve always left myself open and available for discussions,” said Jones (at right in photo, next to her mother Gwen, a former alderwoman herself). “I want to sit down and talk with [Greene and Gattison],” she said. Greene says she’s just not in the position to fight for neighborhood needs.
“How are you going to bite the hand that feeds you?” Greene asked, referring to Jones’ job as a city adult education teacher, as well as Phillips’ post at the mayor’s office.
“They’re just upset because they’re on the out,” responded Phillips, who sees his familiarity with City Hall as an asset. It’s not about insiders and outsiders, he said. “It’s about who gets the job done.”
As a native New Havener and former Newhallville resident, I am terribly sadden by the recent ward chair results. When will the people of Newhallville acknowledge all of the flaws of Wille Greene and Ron Gattison. They are not going to represent you in anyway. Both of those individuals will continue doing what they have been doing for the last 10+ years, being poverty pimps. Yes, they will provide you with entertainment and passion but they will provide you with inadequate information about issues that concern the neighborhood. Most importantly, they will cause confusion and dismay. Instead of overwhelming voting for individuals such as Jesse Phillips and Katrina Jones that will address the needed issues and concerns of your neighborhood, you will fall victim to the continual cycle of electing ignorant poverty pimps. So when you say my community is not changing face enough or the issues/concerns are not being addressed once again, don't blame the people you voted for-blame yourself!