Thomas MacMillan File Photo
Outgoing Dwight Alderwoman Gina Calder is sticking to her plan to wait until July 1 to retire — and in her first extensive comments on the subject, described allowing the mayor to pick her replacement as more democratic than having an election.
She expressed the sentiment as she collected her official name plate from her seat in the aldermanic chamber at City Hall on Monday, at the end of her last meeting as Ward 2 alderwoman.
Calder (pictured above) confirmed she is stepping down July 1 to devote more of her time to a new position at Bridgeport Hospital.
In doing so, she’s defying the request of 100 of her constituents, who asked her to step down at least one day earlier.
By resigning after June 30, according to municipal regulations, Calder ensures that her replacement will be appointed by the mayor rather than by means of a special election, as the 100 signers of a ward petition had requested.
Frank Douglass, a Ward 2 Democratic committee co-chair, confronted Calder with that petition last month at the Board of Aldermen’s special budget meeting. He asked her to resign before July 1.
She promised to speak with him the following day, but never did, according to Douglas, who seeks to become Dwight alderman.
She also did not return calls for comment from the Independent and didn’t speak publicly on the issue until Monday evening. She said she also plans to talk to constituents about the subject at Tuesday night’s Dwight community management team meeting.
Asked Monday how she chose July 1 to resign, Calder said it marks the beginning of a new fiscal year. She said she wanted time to see the budget passed and take part in all of the surrounding debates. (That process has ended.) She said she is also still working for her constituents.
Asked about the criticism that her resignation date deprives voters of a chance to vote, Calder said, “Voters do get to choose. They will choose who starts the term in January” by voting in the regular fall elections for the next term.
The mayor’s appointee will serve out the rest of Calder’s term, which ends at the end of this year. In the meantime, a primary and general election will be held in the fall to determine who will hold the seat starting in January. The candidates could include the eventual mayoral appointee.
Having a mayoral appointment is a way to “make sure there’s an open seat” in Ward 2 during the upcoming election, Calder said. While there will be an incumbent in office, chosen by the mayor, that person will have a “different impact” as an appointee, she said. More people will be more likely to run against an appointee than against someone elected by a special election, Calder said. The seat will feel more open and up for grabs, she said.
As for the petition, Calder said Douglass never actually gave it to her. Other constituents support her choice of resignation date, Calder claimed.
“Other people called, emailed, and stopped by and said ‘You’re doing the right thing.’
MORE democratic?
More autocratic, certainly, and SOMEWHAT representational, but certainly not democratic.
Democracy is a system where ALL citizens have an equal say in issues, ideally even participating in the proposal of ideas and the discussions leading up to the democratic vote.
Representational democracies--what we have in word if not always in deed--are when citizens elect representatives who then carry out their wishes. Representational democracies have branches of government with a system of checks and balances to ensure that no single branch becomes autocratic.
The Mayor appointing his own check & balance is not really representational when you look at the small turn out in his election each year--and considering that the BoA is so neutered under the Charter, it really leads us to a very autocratic system.
While Ms. Calder can't really do anything about it--the rules are the rules--I do hope that she'd avoid calling Mayoral appointment of his own check and balance "democracy". I really wish she'd just be straight forward and accurate.
Ms. Calder, would it kill you to say, "Sorry guys. The rules let the Mayor appoint our force an election, which we have to have again anyway in September for a primary, so it seems silly to force people to go through an election in just 3 months and an election now! I wish that we had a proper representational system of government, where the Ward Committee you elected could appoint my successor for the next 3 months, but we don't. We have an autocratic system where the Mayor holds all the power."
I really wish she could--would--say that.