Ward 10 met at the Little Hooker school on Canner street to endorse
candidates for Alderman, City Clerk, and Mayor.
The meeting was held outside, partially because the night was so nice,
but also because the school had forgotten the confirmed meeting and no
one came to unlock the doors for our Committee.
State Senator Martin Looney and State Representative Roland Lemar
opened the event by thanking neighbors for participating in democracy
and notifying us of new initiatives at the State level.
We heard from Claudia Herrera-Martinez and Ron Smith, both running for
City Clerk.
Next the Mayoral candidates presented their vision for New Haven.
First the challengers--Robert Lee, Jeffrey Kerekes, Clifton Graves,
and Tony Dawson--spoke, followed by Karen DuBois-Walton, Director of
the Housing Authority, on behalf of incumbent Mayor John DeStefano Jr.
Finally, our alderman, Justin Elicker, recapped his first term in
office, thanked us for our work, and then joined the other candidates
in leaving so we could hold a secret ballot vote for each candidate.
The eighteen Ward Committee members voted to endorse Elicker with a
full 18 votes. Incumbent City Clerk Ron Smith was endorsed next, by 14
votes, with 4 votes going for Claudia Herrera Martinez.
Lastly, the ward committee voted to endorse challenger Jeffrey
Kerekes, with 14 votes. Challenger Tony Dawson and incumbent Mayor
John DeStefano earned 2 votes each.
I want to thank my neighbors for coming out and supporting democracy,
and my co-chair, Richard Lyons, for doing the lion's share of
organizing and noticing our ward committee. Dick and I will attend the
convention and vote per our committee, endorsing Jefferey Kerekes and
Ron Smith.
