Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Elicker’s inauguration promises ‘low frills change’

  • Politics
  • by Paul Bass | New Haven Independent
  • January 5, 2020
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Surrounded by his parents, his wife Natalie Elicker, and his daughters, Elicker takes the oath of office administered by U.S. District Court Judge Victor Bolden, a former city corporation counsel.

Justin Elicker has taken the oath of office as New Haven’s 51st mayor with an inauguration — and with symbolic gestures — promising an era of change.

It was left to the participants of last Wednesday’s event to fill in the blanks about what “change” will mean.

Over 500 people filled Hillhouse High School’s auditorium for the noon event to watch Elicker, City/Town Clerk Michael Smart, Board of Education President Darnell Goldson and the 30 members of the Board of Alders get sworn in for two-year terms.

Like previous inaugurations, this one was choreographed to represent New Haven’s diversity. African-American and Latina Christian ministers, a rabbi and an imam all offered prayers. Latino third-and-fourth graders from Fair Haven School sang, as did Varick AME Zion’s African-American choir.

From the start, the event also highlighted the theme the 44-year-old Elicker promoted in his mayoral campaign: generational and governmental change. He promised new faces, new approaches to old problems, a new emphasis on tighter controls over spending.

Along those lines, Elicker has scheduled an informal City Hall open house instead of a formal mayoral ball. And he has done away with paying cops to drive around the mayor.

For Wednesday’s inauguration, Elicker chose members of the next generation — two New Haven Academy students, Natalie Semmel and Sebastian Ward — to serve as the event’s emcees.

“Change can be hard,” but it’s necessary, Judge Robin Wilson  said before swearing in the new Board of Alders.

School Board Pesident Darnell Goldson takes the oath from retired state Supreme Court Justice Lubbie Harper.

In a speech after his own oath of office, school board president Goldson  called for a change in how New Haven addresses public education.

From this day on he will not participate in debates over New Haven’s “failure” to balance a school budget, Goldson declared.

“We must transform the debate,” he said. The schools in New Haven suffer from budget underfunding, not a budget deficit, he argued. He cited three school systems regularly cited for “success”— in wealthy Darien, Weston and New Canaan. He argued that those wealthy communities spend more on education than New Haven can because of a state system that punishes cities that have tax-exempt property, which in New Haven accounts for 56 percent of all property. That means more students in each classroom, fewer AP classes, and inferior supplies and teaching tools. Goldson called for pressing the state to fund urban education better.

Similarly, he argued, New Haven student’s don’t face an “achievement gap.” They have an “opportunity gap.”

In his inaugural address, Elicker noted that New Haven has always undergone change in its history. New people always course in and out. It’s up to the city’s people to work together to ensure that change benefits everyone, he said.

“Newcomers have a place” in working toward that change, he said, noting that both he and his mayoral predecessor moved to New Haven after growing up elsewhere.

Right now New Haven is seeing change in terms of population growth, Elicker said: 3,000 new residents over the past few years; 1,000 new housing units built since 2014, with another 4,000 in the pipeline. “We must lean into this wave and create an environment that encourages growth … that benefits every single person in this community.”

To that end, he promised to work with others in the city to promote more truly affordable and safe housing, while holding “bad landlords” accountable; train and direct New Haveners for new medical, bioscience, digital health, tech, advanced manufacturing, and construction jobs; boost early-childhood education along with after-school and summer youth programs; and tackle violent crime along with “dangerous drivers.”

Elicker’s administration announced other initial steps to send a low-frills, closer-to-the-people message.

It invited the public to a “casual attire” open house at City Hall from 2-5 p.m. today — instead of hosting the customary black-tie mayoral ball. Orchid Cafe and Gateway Community College students will provide refreshments;  High School in the Community’s jazz ensemble will supply the tunes.

“I wanted to set the tone by not having some fancy event, but opening City Hall so people can meet each other and feel welcome,” Elicker said Wednesday.

Similarly, he plans to ride his bike to work Thursday for his first day in the office. He said he has decided not to continue having the city pay cops to drive the mayor. Instead, he plans to drive himself or accompany staff members driving to events. He said he plans to use one of the two electric vehicles in the city fleet.

“It’s an unnecessary expense,” he said of having cops drive the mayor. And “it sends the wrong message. It sends the message that I’m special. I don’t need security to go into neighborhoods of New Haven.”

Alders sworn in last Wednesday include (in order of ward number) Eli Sabin (downtown/Yale), Frank Douglass Jr. (Dwight), Ron Hurt (the Hill), Evelyn Rodriguez (the Hill), Kampton Singh (the Hill), Carmen Rodriguez (Hill/City Point), Abigail Roth (downtown/East Rock), Ellen Cupo (Wooster Square), Charles Decker (East Rock), Anna Festa (East Rock, Cedar Hill), Renee Haywood (Bella Vista/Fair Haven Heights), Gerald Antunes (Bishop Woods/Quinnipiac Meadows), Rose Ferraro-Santana (Fair Haven Heights), Paola Acosta (Fair Haven), Ernie Santiago (Fair Haven), Jose Crespo (Fair Haven), Jody Ortiz (Annex), Sal DeCola (Morris Cove), Kimberly Edwards (Newhallville/Prospect Hill), Delphine Clyburn (Newhallville), Steven Winter (Prospect Hill/Newhallville/Dixwell), Jeanette Morrison (Dixwell), Tyisha Walker-Myers (West River), Evette Hamilton (Edgewood), Adam Marchand (Westville), Darryl Brackeen Jr. (upper Westville/Beverly Hills/Amity), Richard Furlow (Beaver Hills, Westville), Jill Marks (Beaver Hills), Brian Wingate (Beaver Hills), Honda Smith (West Rock/West Hills).

This story was first published Jan. 1, 2020, by the New Haven Independent.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Bass | New Haven Independent

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Connecticut House joins national civil rights campaign over Black hair styles
by Mark Pazniokas

The Connecticut House voted for a bill intended to protect Black women from discrimination over their hair.

CT legislature poised to make early budget pledge to help cities and towns
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state House is expected to approve more than $100 million in new, annual PILOT grants to municipalities.

Connecticut GOP picks Susan Hatfield as state chair
by Mark Pazniokas

Susan Hatfield, vice chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, will complete the term of the former chair, J.R. Romano.

Senator alleges voter fraud, but no complaint was filed
by Mark Pazniokas

Rob Sampson said a voter in his district was told an absentee ballot already had been cast in her name.

Boston Fed chief predicts strong economic recovery begins in 2nd half of 2021 if vaccine reaches enough people
by Keith M. Phaneuf

A strong economic rebound also depends on states helping those hit hardest by COVID-19, a federal reserve official said.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Gas pipeline will threaten water quality, wildlife and wetlands
by Susan Eastwood

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted tentative approval of the 401 water quality certification for the Pomfret to Killingly natural gas pipeline. I urge DEEP to deny the 401 certification, as the proposed pipeline would violate the Connecticut’s water quality standards, and the conditions in the draft certification fail to protect our streams, wetlands, and wildlife.

Opinion Connecticut and the other Connecticut. Which will endure?
by Ezra Kaprov

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Connecticut’? Possibly, you think of a 43-year-old Puerto Rican man who arrived here with his family following Hurricane Maria. He works full-time as a machinist at the Sikorsky plant, and he coaches a prizefighter on the side.

Opinion COVID-19 increases urgency for legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying law
by Dr. Gary Blick

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the profound tragedy of loved ones dying alone, in a hospital or nursing home, without the care and comfort of loved ones surrounding them. This pandemic also demonstrates the fragility of life, the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our healthcare system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

Opinion Three fallacies and the truth about vaccines
by Kerri M. Raissian, Ph.D. and Dr. Jody Terranova

Connecticut’s Public Health Committee recently heard public testimony regarding HB6423 and SB568 --  bills that would remove the religious exemption (the medical exemption would rightfully remain in place) from vaccination in order to attend school.  The religious exemption allows parents to effectively opt their children out of vaccines. In doing so, these families can still send their children to Connecticut’s schools, daycares, colleges, and camps.  This places other children at risk of contracting vaccine-preventable illnesses, and it is imperative the Connecticut legislature remove this exception.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO