West Hills Dems Back DuBois-Walton

West Rock and West Hills Democrats voted Sunday to endorse mayoral candidate Karen DuBois-Walton, Alder Honda Smith, and Town Clerk Michael Smart for the approaching municipal primary elections after a spirited conversation with the candidates about the future of the ward’s parks and the city budget.

The vote came at the end of an outdoor afternoon meeting of the Ward 30 Democratic Committee, which encompasses the West Hills and West Rock neighborhoods. The meeting, held in the backyard of a Rock Creek Road home, featured a question-and-answer session with the candidates.

The mayoral candidates included Democratic challenger DuBois-Walton, incumbent first-term Mayor Justin Elicker, and Hill resident Macye Torres, who has filed paperwork to run for mayor. Ward 30 Alder Honda Smith and Town Clerk Michael Smart are uncontested candidates running for reelection.

The committee voted 19 – 1‑0 in favor of Du-Bois Walton and unanimously for both Smith and Smart.

Torres pitched her candidacy with a focus on making the streets safer in the city. She said in the Hill she sees violence, bullets with no names, prostitution, and drugs daily.

Elicker pitched his campaign with a focus on continuing the city’s trend of leading the state in equity as it did during the pandemic. ​“Now is the time to vision how we can move forward,” he said.

DuBois-Walton said her parents instilled in her to dream big and to fight for justice. Her pitch focused on being the right leader for the city’s pandemic reopening. ​“What we needed in 2019 is different than what we need now,” she said.

Alder Smith recalled her promise she made while working for the city to ​“bring the community together.” She told the committee Sunday that she is running for reelection to continue working to improve the community with the community. ​“We live on a Gilligan’s Island,” she said. ​“The only way you can come from being shipwrecked, you got to band together.”

Uncontested candidate Smart, running for his fifth term as town clerk, promised to continue to work on making the office accessible to all.

Park Equity?

One resident asked the candidates about their goals to rebuild Ward 30’s parks, which some suggested receive less attention than others in town.

DuBois-Walton said she believes in investing in parks equitably for the benefit of all communities. If elected, she said, she would plan to increase programming in parks.

“The more we use our parks the more we’ll distract people from wanting to come there and do other uses,” she said.

She accused the mayor of giving some parks ​“more importance than other parks” this past year.

She compared two pandemic-based decisions: East Rock park was ​“closed off [to cars] and made very safe for people to move around in.” Her neighborhood park in Fair Haven, Criscuolo, was ​“walled off with jersey barriers and chain link fences to keep people from even accessing the park.”

Elicker responded with a clarification that the city closed off James Street during the pandemic then reopened it earlier this year when Covid protocols eased.

Since then, ​“the community came to us and said, ​‘Can you close it again”’” he added. ​“It’s just not accurate that we treat our parks differently.”

Click here, here and here to read more about the East Rock and Criscuolo decisions.

Punting?

In response to a question about the importance of the Board of Alders, DuBois-Walton criticized Elicker for a lack of leadership and decision making for the city’s budget. She specifically mentioned Elicker’s decisions to present two different proposed budgets to the alders, rather than one, to review and approve.

“From my point of view the Mayor didn’t take the budgeting process seriously this year and punted it over to the Board of Alders,” she said.

In response Elicker said, ​“the budget is the most important thing because it pays for the very services that we care about deeply in this city.” Elicker argued that his leadership has helped the city to hold Yale accountable in aiding the city financially and securing additional federal and state funds.

Board of Education member and former Ward 30 Alder Darnell Goldson pressed Elicker for a commitment to more Board of Education funding. Elicker responded that his proposed city budget would increase the Board of Ed funding by $3 million.

Torres said education should be the city’s main priority. ​“We are a city. We’re not a corporation, and you’re not the CEO,” she told the mayor.

A committee member asked Elicker how he would keep youth and faculty safe when schools reopen full-time.

Elicker said the city has invested in school infrastructures like upgrading heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. A proposal for additional improvements in schools with the federal pandemic-relief American Rescue Plan funds is also being worked on, he said.

He invited the committee members to an in-person gathering at Hillhouse High School Tuesday at 6 p.m. to get input on uses for Rescue Plan dollars. This will be the first of many conversations hosted in-person and virtually, he said.

Committee member Simone Darby, a nurse, asked Elicker if youth will return to school full-time in the fall. She said her grandchild and colleagues who are struggling to get child care. Elicker said the city plans to open schools full-time in the fall.

Committee member and mother Wileese Moore followed up with a question about the schools’ cleaning policies this fall. She said her 8‑year-old son with ADHD and a weak respiratory system was infected with the virus while Mauro-Sheridan Interdistrict Magnet School had 13 cases.

“I don’t feel secure sending my son to school,” she said.

Elicker said school will continue to be deep cleaned weekly in the fall. He added that as the fall school year approaches, the city will determine if remote options will continue to be offered.

Elicker said the proposed $6.3 million in youth programming and infrastructure improvements will prioritize youth and community engagement, education, and safety.