Laura Glesby Photo
The Republican Town Committee at its convention Wednesday night.
The Republican Town Committee endorsed three candidates running to serve on the Board of Alders at a convention held Wednesday night: Chris Marcisz of Yale’s Ward 1, John Carlson of City Point’s Ward 6, and Josh Van Hoesen of Upper Westville’s Ward 26.
The committee, which convened at the Hall of Records on Wednesday, did not endorse any candidates for mayor, Board of Education representative, or town clerk, or the other 27 seats on the Board of Alders.
There are currently no Republican representatives on the Board of Alders. New Haven had 38,852 registered Democratic voters, 2,447 Republicans, 16,288 unaffiliated voters, and 559 registered members of other parties as of July 11, according to the Registrar of Voters office.
RTC Town Chair Jeff Weiss argued that having Republican representatives on the Board of Alders would increase transparency and inspire healthy debate.
He lamented that the Board of Alders’ public hearings are preceded by a private Democratic Caucus in which alders can discuss matters off the record, which he said means that public hearings often become a “quick yes, no, yes, no” rather than a site for discussion.
After the endorsement meeting, the candidates shared differing sets of goals they hope to bring to the Board of Alders.
“Clean The Green”
Chris Marcisz.
Marcisz, who has lived in Ward 1 resident for seven years and does not attend Yale (unlike most of the ward’s voters), said his top goal as alder would be to “clean the Green.”
“The Green has become a homeless and druggie hangout,” he said, reading from a statement he had prepared in advance.
He noted an incident last summer that caught national attention, in which people using K2 collapsed on the Green and were hospitalized more than 100 times over two days.
“I wasn’t very happy about that,” Marcisz said.
Marcisz said he wants to relocate the hub of bus stops on the Green to the Union Station area. Specifically, he wants to build an indoor bus station in a “climate-controlled building — with restrooms.”
“It’s not fair to bus riders to wait 20 or 30 minutes in the hot sun or rain or freezing cold,” he said.
He added that he would work with the mayor to address aggressive panhandlers Downtown. In particular, he claimed that some panhandlers have been pressing the pedestrian walk buttons without intending to cross the street, slowing down traffic.
Marcisz also said he would refrain from raising taxes; prioritize making New Haven safer through community policing as well as police recruitment and retention; and reduce the city’s reliance on magnet schools.
The Ward 1 alder position has historically been occupied by Yale undergraduate students but recent graduates. Marcisz insisted that it should not be reserved for the university. “It’s a conflict of interest to have Yale students or Yale union representatives,” he said. Marcisz works a food service manager; he currently caters for Shabtai, the off-campus Jewish society geared to Yale students and alumni.
Unless other candidates emerge, he will likely run against Eli Sabin, a Yale college student and registered Democrat, in the Nov. 5 general election.
John Carlson.
John Carlson, who first ran for alder in 2017, said his first priority as an alder would be “the people of Ward 6.”
“Ward 6 has been neglected,” Carlson said, pointing out the potholes on Howard Avenue in particular. He proudly mentioned a previous article in the Independent on the 2017 Ward 6 race that called him the “SeeClickFixer” candidate.
Carlson said he’s running for alder because he’s been generally dissatisfied with how the city has been run in recent years. “It doesn’t seem like any good news gets reported from the city,” he said.
Carlson has lived in the same house in Ward 6 for 48 years, almost his entire life. This year will be his 20th year as a public school teacher in Bridgeport. His experience as a teacher would inform his approach to being an alder, he said, adding that teaching entails evaluating students’ strengths and weaknesses, while being an alder involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the city.
Ward 6 incumbent Dolores Colon is not expected to run for reelection. Carmen Rodriguez has filed papers to run as the Democratic candidate.
Josh Van Hoesen with Lee Parker after the convention.
Van Hoesen stressed that as an alder for Ward 26, he would work to streamline the city’s budget and improve communication between branches of government and the public.
“It’s a lot of small gears that need oiling,” he said of what he hopes to fix in the city. “The city is really in a fiscal crisis right now and the current alders don’t have the toolkit to address these issues.”
Van Hoesen is the lead software engineer at Accounting System Integrators in North Haven, an experience that he said would inform his approach to the city’s fiscal budgets. “In my profession, if you’re a fraction of a penny off, that’s a bad mistake.”
Van Hoesen has lived in New Haven for eight years. In 2017, when he lived in Ward 18, he challenged Democratic incumbent Sal DeCola for the aldermanic seat. Now, having moved to Upper Westville, he’s renting out his Morris Cove house to tenants.
Speaking from his own perspective as a landlord, Van Hoesen argued that raising taxes has contributed to the affordable housing scarcity in the city. “It’s difficult when the city raises taxes and that’s the only reason I need to raise rent,” he said. “In the long term, it makes it difficult for people to achieve the American Dream.”
The ward’s current alder is Darryl Brackeen Jr.
Earlier, in his remarks to the group, Weiss expressed confidence in all three candidates.
“I believe that this is winnable,” he said to the committee. “This is where we start: three ward positions.”
Very refreshing. The competition makes everyone work hard. The career politicians and one party system have helped destroy the city.
Dennis Serfilippi