Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the show. The editor of the new Haven Independent,
Tom Breen. You know, Tom, I didn't get a chance
to mention to you on Friday when we spoke briefly.
Haven't been reading your stuff for years?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hey, I appreciate it, Benny.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Yeah, I've been using your stuff on air quite often.
You know, my first ever writing gig, Paul Bass probably does,
he does, probably doesn't want me to get this around,
but my first ever writing gig, first time I was
ever published. Well that's technically not true. The Register was first,
but my first steady gig was New Haven Independent print
(00:33):
edition nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Very nice. You made it into the I believe the
Independent was in print for one year, maybe a little
bit longer.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
So you made it in no kidding, Is that all
it was?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
It was a brief prince tenures that Paul ran the Independent,
but the Independent online has been any people of brief
twenty years for celebrating twenty years this year. So you know,
Paul's been a reporter in new Haven since the late
nineteen seven He said about his story to a reporter,
as they come in, Yeah, get a coff from every
(01:06):
day and we're from them. But I'll let him know
that you still.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Oh, I tell people all the time, if he wants to,
you know, throw a cease and desist my way, he
could feel free.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I would.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I would always respect that from Paul. He's the real deal,
you know. I remember when he announced that he was
reviving the New Haven Independent and it would be online.
He was one of the first, because I remember my
thought process was, yeah, good look, people are going to
read the paper oddline. This is kind of sad, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
But he was one of the first.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
And you know, not only was he one of the first,
I believe he was the second. I think that it
was the second nonprofit local news site in the country
in two thousand and five. Yeah, I think the first one.
They've been in Colorado. But yet, you know, he's kept it.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Going, and it's going, you know, and the same can
be said, and you sound like a guy who knows
him before we get into the needy, greedy of tonight.
And I'm so honored to be a part of it.
Glad to be a part of it. You know. I
love New Haven, born and raised lifer. You know, I
did move out of there when I was about forty four,
forty five years old but born and raised in Morris Cove,
(02:15):
Cold Rules. I love my downtown New Haven. You seem
like the kind of guy who will know these numbers too,
Like Inner City News. I remember snapping up the print
edition of that. You remember the old I don't know
where you're from, Tom or how long you've been around,
but New Haven I missed the days when like all
lined up along side each other, you pull open the
(02:36):
door and grab a New Haven Advocate.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Inner City News I remember grabbing. I think Lavo's too.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I used to, of course, yet and you know Inner
City and Levos, so you know, as you maybe just
did to lay the groundwork for our listeners a little bit.
She got four panelists on the debate today asking questions.
They're justin Ellicker and Republican challenger Steve Arrosco honored to
have yourself a look with the panelist, Benny, I'm gonna
be ask got Norma Rodriguezreez, who's the publisher of Lepos
(03:05):
and the Babs Roll's Ivy who's the editor of the
Inner City News and Inner City and Levos. They're still
in print, still around, but the day of print newspapers
everywhere is definitely not today.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
You just you wouldn't think the editor of a publication
called Inner City News would have the name Babs.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
I know, you just I think an abbreviations. You bart Ray.
I believe that his first name is Barbarus, but sure,
sure do.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
You remember Babs?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Remember another publication that we used to be able to
grab from the bins in New Haven? And I miss
it was that arts the Arts Council publication. I don't
know if you recall that one.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
And yeah, you know, actually, my my wife Lucy Gelman
is the editor of the arts paper. They are also
all online now yeah, still going strong and I love
a lot, but that is no longer an Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And there there was a Babs and a Mimsy. They
were who ran Yeah, Babs and Mimsy. I mean yeah,
I love yeah, yeah, yeah, wonderful.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Woman you know, for you know, I love you know,
I've only I can't say that I've I've been Behaven
as long as you've. I moved here fifteen years ago.
I've been working for the Independent since twenty fifteen. But
one thing that I've always you know, one of the
Benny things that I have loved too much about New
Haven is that for such a small city around one
hundred and thirty five thousand people, we got a lot
of local news. We got a lot of ways for
(04:26):
you to find out what's going on in tent and
you can't say that about everywhere in the country.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, where did you move here from, Tom.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I'm from. I'm from the suburbs of New York City,
a small town called Irvington on the Hudson River what
was the Tappensee Bridge and is now the Mario Cuomo
Bridge that I was in. I went to college in
New York City and then came out here in twenty
ten for a job at Yale Preps, which is the
publisher at Yale, and then fell in love with The
Independent and with Lucy and have been doing local news
ever since.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, you know, I find that this is what I
run into a lot. It's an interesting thing about New Haven,
and uh one of the things that may play a
role tonight at the debate to a certain degree. But
the fact of the matter is there are a lot
of people who have moved here over the last fifteen
twenty twenty five years, and we collide. I've collided before
(05:14):
because they moved here that they saw a city that
they love and they moved here, you know, and the
lifer versus the person who I moved. I don't think
there's any problems here, Like I love it here. Uh
and I'm hung up on a pass that made from
the Kobe.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
You don't think there are any problems any I thought
to live in the cove. You got to complain about something, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Well, New Haven like But sometimes I do struggle Tom
with him. I trying as a lifer, like am I
trying to recapture a new Haven that those those thirty
years ago it's over? Because I butt heads a lot
with people who get down on me when I say, oh,
I feel on sayd, this isn't the new Haven I
grew up, And they're like, oh, let go of the past.
(05:56):
I love it here, and it's like, well, I moved
here from Massachusetts years ago. I'm like, then, you don't
know what I'm missing. That's just been a lot of
the headbutting that I've run into personally.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
You know, I think you're so right, and if I
may hold two conflicting ideas in my head at once.
Another thing that I love about New Haven is that
you know you'll go around to different parts of town.
And if someone hasn't lived in that neighborhood for four generations,
then they're an interloper. They're a newcomer. They're like, get
out a lot of that, you know, stepping on my term.
On the other hand, you're right, we've got you know,
we have so especially in all these downtown apartment buildings
(06:28):
that are popping up on parking office years, we have
a lot of new people. And what you know, even
though I'm so committed to be Haven history to this
city's unique character, I love being in a place to
change is. I think that's part of living in a city.
That's what makes it exciting. And I don't want to
live in a place that is, you know, just a
snapshot in time doesn't change. I won't think it. Sometimes
(06:48):
I like the direction it's going in. Sometimes they don't.
But I kind of think that if you're you're in
a city, be ready for change.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yeah, and again wrong with Tom Breen. He's the editor
New Haven Independent. He's the main moderator tonight. Uh, he's
got the the hard work of breaking it up.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
If you're going over, you're going I've been there before.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
I don't envy that I gotta, I gotta hold your
feet to the fire for just a split second time
before we moved on, though, it because about two minutes
back there, you're like, you're from the cove and you're
actually complaining.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yeah, what what does that mean?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Is the cove say you're from the cove and you're not.
You said that you're half you love you know all
things about the city. It's just every you know, I love.
It's one of the you know, cove is really one
of the most beautiful places I've I've been great time,
gorgeous shoreline community, and I've definitely been to many East
Shore Community Management Team meeting, many of the Tweed annual
(07:41):
meetings that spent a lot of time in the cove.
I was joking that I know that everyone everyone in
the cove, really in every neighborhood, but you've got strong
opinions about stuff in New Haven, and I love, I
love a good strong opinion.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I thought it was especially due to the Tweed uh issue.
There's been a lot of belly aching coming out of
there for that, I think for good reason. And that's
what I wanted to say to you, Tom and get
your your feeling too. And I hope this doesn't upset
you or upset anyone involved. But thus far, you know,
I've put it out there, like, get me your questions.
(08:13):
I want to represent you New Haven business owners, lifers,
those of you who just moved here, good, bad, ugly,
whoever your questions for you've done the same what.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I feel we're getting so far, Tom, I'm kind of
let down, are.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
You like I'm a little.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Let down the questions we've gotten so far?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Well, I think you know it'll be it'll be up
to you me, Babs and normous to figure out what
else you want to ask. Yeah, you know, I'm honestly
I'm grateful whatever anyone takes the time to let me
know what they're thinking. And what if they had a
chance to ask the mayor or they will challend or anything.
So I'm down for just the people. You know. The
attention to local news, unfortunately, is a rare commodity in
(08:57):
our political landscape. The national you know, national politic sucks
up so much mental bandwidth for people who care about
politics and the country. So on the one hand, let
me just say, if you're a present in any question
to me, I'm grateful for it.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
But what was your take. Do you feel the same,
like are you looking at them?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Like?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
All right, I'm gonna have to do my way like that.
I don't think, you know, I don't think I got
one on tween yet. And I was very like, we
did you know?
Speaker 2 (09:21):
That's you know? That's well, let me Actually, I came
up with five questions. I wanted to let you and
your listeners know that I'm thinking about when I go
into the bait can I can I take to those quickly?
And you let me know if I came up with
the right one, of course you take all right, but
these aren't the questions. But I'm going to be asking
of the candidates. But there it's gonna be hovered in
the back of my mind, and I wonder if we're
going to get answers to be so over the course
that the sixty to ninety minutes will be at It's
(09:43):
at co Op High School, seven pm, one seventy seven
College Street.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Come out.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
It's gonna be great. You can live stream in the Independent,
YouTube and faced with them all stuff. But okay, so
the first question I'm wondering, I think it's a lot
of a lot of people's minds right now is does
violent crime dominate the discussion. Now, again, we live in
a city there's crime. This is not something new to
New Haven, unfortunately, this is not something new to any
city in America. But unfortunately we've had a lot of
(10:11):
violent crime in a relatively short period of time. In
the past six weeks. We've had six homicides, fourteen homicides
overall this year. But just this weekend, as fifteen year
old career high school student in Kayden Phillips was shot
and killed on Bassett Street and police are still looking
for whoever killed that that young man, that boy ten
years old. So again, you know, we're fortunate enough to
(10:36):
be living big picture at a time when you know,
we're not hear what New Haven crime was like in
the nineteen eighties, the early nineteen nineties, even in the
early twenty ten. It's kind of a different scale. But nevertheless,
it is terrifying and totally of course, totally unacceptable. One
and see, a fifteen year old was killed and not
a one off, you know, and not off, you know,
(10:58):
second fifteen year old to be killed this year, and
so I think that, you know, I'm curious as to
how Mayor Justin Ellicker is able to respond to that.
How I know Steve Rosco has been kind of on
the on the attack on issues of public safety.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
So I think, so if you know to be to
be honest, so have I. And I'm bagging my head
against the wall on that one. And we'll get back
to your other four in a second, because I know
and I see that the efforts to get more police
you can't you can't offer more sign you know, sometimes
it's kind of absurd. We're begging for help it So
(11:34):
I will give you a signing bonus. How does a
four day work week sound? But we're just not getting
the the added staff and that's frustrating because the efforts
are there.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Is and you know under police Chief Carege Jacobson has
been leading the departments for the past three years. He's
a longtime veteran of the department, very well respected, and
I think that I think that people want to want
to work for Chief Jacobson. And I think especially since
the new Police Union Contract Act was was approved about
a year ago or so with some pretty significant pay raises,
(12:05):
the department has been seen a bit. It's an uptaking applications,
but you're right that it is challenging always to recruit
for a police parment. Some people really want to work here.
They actually find it exciting to work in such a
high activity, you know, place like New Haven. They want
to be responding to lots of crime. But it's it's
a chance, you know, it is a challenging job to
be a peu genuary.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
What are other questions?
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Yeah, yeah, please, all right, all right?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
The other question that's going to be at the top
of my mind or back my mind or wherever in
my mind? Does Mayor Elicer think the public schools have
improved under his leadership? So he's been the mayor for
almost six years now. He came his first year with
twenty twenty, which you know, unfortunately we all know as
the start of COVID, when everything when COVID kind of
threw everything off, but especially what a you know, in wretches.
(12:51):
The further we get from that, I think more we
all understand just how terrible the COVID was, and our
you know, leader's response was to the pandemic in regard
to public education, a lot of learning loss, a lot
of his school. Mayor Eliker has been around long enough
now to have appointed the superintendent to appointed all of
the appointed members of the Board of Education. He's like,
(13:11):
he's kind of been He's had a lot to say
over the direction of the school district. And you know,
there are our reading levels are improving from the depths
of COVID. Same with maths, same with APTITEA levels. But
it's it's a challenge in the hidden public schools district.
And I want to see what he has to say
and if he thinks that the schools have improved unders.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
So those are those are my top Yeah, I'm now
out two questions. Those were two of Mike questions.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
You know, any I promise going.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Tonight, clearly you're listening to the show, and that's where
you got those questions. Let me hear the third one
because those really all right.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
This one's a little wonky. This is this is a
little from the lefty hyper obsessed with all urban policy stuff.
So we'll see if we'll see if this one is
in your mind too, But it's does Steve Erosco identify
as a yimbi? Now, for if yimb is not a
term that is familiar to many many listeners, it's because
it's kind of a new one, ascended mostly in Democratic
(14:13):
Party politics, but not just and it stands for yes
in my backyard. It's kind of a playful rebuttal to
the no, you know, the no in my backyard criticism
that no one ever wants, you know, an apartment building
built next to their house because the tel rover it
yimby ism and has been Yeah, it's it's this movement
that says the best way to address the problem of
housing affordability, to make it so that people can actually
(14:35):
live in a home they can afford and not just
sleep on the street for our friend's place, is to
build lots and lots and lots of new housing of
all different types, big apartment buildings, you know, smaller affordable housing,
market rate just kind of build bill builds. And new Haven,
oddly enough, is at the at the center of this
movement right now. Just two weeks ago, new Haven hosted
the national YMBI Town Conference at the Omni Hotel, where
(14:58):
two thousand kind of housing policy experts from all around
the country descended upon new Haven to talk about different
ways to build more places to live. Eliker has been
behind this movement. But it's you know, not not for everyone.
Not everyone thinks that the best answer to our housing
problem is just let you know, build, pull back from
the regulations.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
And go I'm surprised Tom that your question that that's
for Steve and that your question is are you a yimby?
I would think it would be to Steve, are you
a nimby?
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Ah? Well that you know what, maybe I've got to
reformulate my you know one, I just like saying the
word yimby. So I think that's probably why.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, because there's a lot there's a lot of nimby
and across Connecticut. You and I could have a great
conversation about that in general, you know, people who vote
a certain way. Uh. The legalizing marijuana thing, it comes
to mind, is a lot totally yes, legalize it, but nimby.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
I'm not going to.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, I'm not gonna say tweet expanse or no.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah that's good. You've got good stuff. You're coming armed.
Uh And like I said, I don't envy, uh, you know,
keeping the clock. You're going to have to keep the
clock tonight.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
But I let me, do you have time for two
very quick ones? I know I'm taking up a lot
of time right now.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Just rattle the two wall, rattle a quickly.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Okay, One, it is about Yale. You can't have a
New Haven mayor all debate without saying something about Yale.
And that's does either candidate have a plan for a
better pound Gown relationship? Happy to go into detail on that,
but I'll just leave that there for doubt. And the
last one gets that your wonderful Mono and Mono Solentano
rhyme they should have dead is does Steverasco have an
(16:43):
answer to the Republicans political math problem? Now you said
that right. The last time you have a lifted a
Republican mayor was nineteen fifty three. I think that actually
understates the problem Republicans. I mean they're outnumbered by registered
Democrats tend to one in New Haven. They're running thirty
seven thousand Democrats, thirty seven hundred Publicans, nineteen thousand unaffiliated,
all those numbers a couple of weeks ago. But then
(17:04):
also every single local elected office that's contested in New
Haven is held by a Democrat. The last time we
had a Republican alder in any seat was in the
coved twenty eleven in Celvi Cola, Indipinas. So we don't.
I mean, it's not just no Republican mayor in decades.
There's no meaningful Republican presence anywhere in New Haven political life.
(17:26):
And I wonder if if their old currency Roscoe think
that that's a problem. But also what as the stand
reviewer of the party right now for Steve, how is
he going to change that?
Speaker 3 (17:37):
The right question.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Republicans just have no doubt.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
It's a great question. And with all those numbers that
you just dished out there and I appreciate, there's also
the number voter turnout. How many registered voters are there
versus how many will actually turn out and vote came
election day, and that's what this is all about. Tom Breen,
new Haven Independent, I'll see you later on tonight. Make
(17:59):
sure again the debate is live streaming on the Independence
YouTube page and also nine point sixty WLI the Facebook
page
Welcome to the show. The editor of the new Haven Independent,
Tom Breen. You know, Tom, I didn't get a chance
to mention to you on Friday when we spoke briefly.
Haven't been reading your stuff for years?
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hey, I appreciate it, Benny.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Yeah, I've been using your stuff on air quite often.
You know, my first ever writing gig, Paul Bass probably does,
he does, probably doesn't want me to get this around,
but my first ever writing gig, first time I was
ever published. Well that's technically not true. The Register was first,
but my first steady gig was New Haven Independent print
(00:33):
edition nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Very nice. You made it into the I believe the
Independent was in print for one year, maybe a little
bit longer.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
So you made it in no kidding, Is that all
it was?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
It was a brief prince tenures that Paul ran the Independent,
but the Independent online has been any people of brief
twenty years for celebrating twenty years this year. So you know,
Paul's been a reporter in new Haven since the late
nineteen seven He said about his story to a reporter,
as they come in, Yeah, get a coff from every
(01:06):
day and we're from them. But I'll let him know
that you still.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Oh, I tell people all the time, if he wants to,
you know, throw a cease and desist my way, he
could feel free.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
I would.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I would always respect that from Paul. He's the real deal,
you know. I remember when he announced that he was
reviving the New Haven Independent and it would be online.
He was one of the first, because I remember my
thought process was, yeah, good look, people are going to
read the paper oddline. This is kind of sad, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
But he was one of the first.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
And you know, not only was he one of the first,
I believe he was the second. I think that it
was the second nonprofit local news site in the country
in two thousand and five. Yeah, I think the first one.
They've been in Colorado. But yet, you know, he's kept it.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Going, and it's going, you know, and the same can
be said, and you sound like a guy who knows
him before we get into the needy, greedy of tonight.
And I'm so honored to be a part of it.
Glad to be a part of it. You know. I
love New Haven, born and raised lifer. You know, I
did move out of there when I was about forty four,
forty five years old but born and raised in Morris Cove,
(02:15):
Cold Rules. I love my downtown New Haven. You seem
like the kind of guy who will know these numbers too,
Like Inner City News. I remember snapping up the print
edition of that. You remember the old I don't know
where you're from, Tom or how long you've been around,
but New Haven I missed the days when like all
lined up along side each other, you pull open the
(02:36):
door and grab a New Haven Advocate.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Inner City News I remember grabbing. I think Lavo's too.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I used to, of course, yet and you know Inner
City and Levos, so you know, as you maybe just
did to lay the groundwork for our listeners a little bit.
She got four panelists on the debate today asking questions.
They're justin Ellicker and Republican challenger Steve Arrosco honored to
have yourself a look with the panelist, Benny, I'm gonna
be ask got Norma Rodriguezreez, who's the publisher of Lepos
(03:05):
and the Babs Roll's Ivy who's the editor of the
Inner City News and Inner City and Levos. They're still
in print, still around, but the day of print newspapers
everywhere is definitely not today.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
You just you wouldn't think the editor of a publication
called Inner City News would have the name Babs.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
I know, you just I think an abbreviations. You bart Ray.
I believe that his first name is Barbarus, but sure,
sure do.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
You remember Babs?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Remember another publication that we used to be able to
grab from the bins in New Haven? And I miss
it was that arts the Arts Council publication. I don't
know if you recall that one.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
And yeah, you know, actually, my my wife Lucy Gelman
is the editor of the arts paper. They are also
all online now yeah, still going strong and I love
a lot, but that is no longer an Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
And there there was a Babs and a Mimsy. They
were who ran Yeah, Babs and Mimsy. I mean yeah,
I love yeah, yeah, yeah, wonderful.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Woman you know, for you know, I love you know,
I've only I can't say that I've I've been Behaven
as long as you've. I moved here fifteen years ago.
I've been working for the Independent since twenty fifteen. But
one thing that I've always you know, one of the
Benny things that I have loved too much about New
Haven is that for such a small city around one
hundred and thirty five thousand people, we got a lot
of local news. We got a lot of ways for
(04:26):
you to find out what's going on in tent and
you can't say that about everywhere in the country.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Yeah, where did you move here from, Tom.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
I'm from. I'm from the suburbs of New York City,
a small town called Irvington on the Hudson River what
was the Tappensee Bridge and is now the Mario Cuomo
Bridge that I was in. I went to college in
New York City and then came out here in twenty
ten for a job at Yale Preps, which is the
publisher at Yale, and then fell in love with The
Independent and with Lucy and have been doing local news
ever since.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, you know, I find that this is what I
run into a lot. It's an interesting thing about New Haven,
and uh one of the things that may play a
role tonight at the debate to a certain degree. But
the fact of the matter is there are a lot
of people who have moved here over the last fifteen
twenty twenty five years, and we collide. I've collided before
(05:14):
because they moved here that they saw a city that
they love and they moved here, you know, and the
lifer versus the person who I moved. I don't think
there's any problems here, Like I love it here. Uh
and I'm hung up on a pass that made from
the Kobe.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
You don't think there are any problems any I thought
to live in the cove. You got to complain about something, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Well, New Haven like But sometimes I do struggle Tom
with him. I trying as a lifer, like am I
trying to recapture a new Haven that those those thirty
years ago it's over? Because I butt heads a lot
with people who get down on me when I say, oh,
I feel on sayd, this isn't the new Haven I
grew up, And they're like, oh, let go of the past.
(05:56):
I love it here, and it's like, well, I moved
here from Massachusetts years ago. I'm like, then, you don't
know what I'm missing. That's just been a lot of
the headbutting that I've run into personally.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
You know, I think you're so right, and if I
may hold two conflicting ideas in my head at once.
Another thing that I love about New Haven is that
you know you'll go around to different parts of town.
And if someone hasn't lived in that neighborhood for four generations,
then they're an interloper. They're a newcomer. They're like, get
out a lot of that, you know, stepping on my term.
On the other hand, you're right, we've got you know,
we have so especially in all these downtown apartment buildings
(06:28):
that are popping up on parking office years, we have
a lot of new people. And what you know, even
though I'm so committed to be Haven history to this
city's unique character, I love being in a place to
change is. I think that's part of living in a city.
That's what makes it exciting. And I don't want to
live in a place that is, you know, just a
snapshot in time doesn't change. I won't think it. Sometimes
(06:48):
I like the direction it's going in. Sometimes they don't.
But I kind of think that if you're you're in
a city, be ready for change.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yeah, and again wrong with Tom Breen. He's the editor
New Haven Independent. He's the main moderator tonight. Uh, he's
got the the hard work of breaking it up.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
If you're going over, you're going I've been there before.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
I don't envy that I gotta, I gotta hold your
feet to the fire for just a split second time
before we moved on, though, it because about two minutes
back there, you're like, you're from the cove and you're
actually complaining.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yeah, what what does that mean?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Is the cove say you're from the cove and you're not.
You said that you're half you love you know all
things about the city. It's just every you know, I love.
It's one of the you know, cove is really one
of the most beautiful places I've I've been great time,
gorgeous shoreline community, and I've definitely been to many East
Shore Community Management Team meeting, many of the Tweed annual
(07:41):
meetings that spent a lot of time in the cove.
I was joking that I know that everyone everyone in
the cove, really in every neighborhood, but you've got strong
opinions about stuff in New Haven, and I love, I
love a good strong opinion.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I thought it was especially due to the Tweed uh issue.
There's been a lot of belly aching coming out of
there for that, I think for good reason. And that's
what I wanted to say to you, Tom and get
your your feeling too. And I hope this doesn't upset
you or upset anyone involved. But thus far, you know,
I've put it out there, like, get me your questions.
(08:13):
I want to represent you New Haven business owners, lifers,
those of you who just moved here, good, bad, ugly,
whoever your questions for you've done the same what.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I feel we're getting so far, Tom, I'm kind of
let down, are.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
You like I'm a little.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Let down the questions we've gotten so far?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Well, I think you know it'll be it'll be up
to you me, Babs and normous to figure out what
else you want to ask. Yeah, you know, I'm honestly
I'm grateful whatever anyone takes the time to let me
know what they're thinking. And what if they had a
chance to ask the mayor or they will challend or anything.
So I'm down for just the people. You know. The
attention to local news, unfortunately, is a rare commodity in
(08:57):
our political landscape. The national you know, national politic sucks
up so much mental bandwidth for people who care about
politics and the country. So on the one hand, let
me just say, if you're a present in any question
to me, I'm grateful for it.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
But what was your take. Do you feel the same,
like are you looking at them?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Like?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
All right, I'm gonna have to do my way like that.
I don't think, you know, I don't think I got
one on tween yet. And I was very like, we
did you know?
Speaker 2 (09:21):
That's you know? That's well, let me Actually, I came
up with five questions. I wanted to let you and
your listeners know that I'm thinking about when I go
into the bait can I can I take to those quickly?
And you let me know if I came up with
the right one, of course you take all right, but
these aren't the questions. But I'm going to be asking
of the candidates. But there it's gonna be hovered in
the back of my mind, and I wonder if we're
going to get answers to be so over the course
that the sixty to ninety minutes will be at It's
(09:43):
at co Op High School, seven pm, one seventy seven
College Street.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Come out.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
It's gonna be great. You can live stream in the Independent,
YouTube and faced with them all stuff. But okay, so
the first question I'm wondering, I think it's a lot
of a lot of people's minds right now is does
violent crime dominate the discussion. Now, again, we live in
a city there's crime. This is not something new to
New Haven, unfortunately, this is not something new to any
city in America. But unfortunately we've had a lot of
(10:11):
violent crime in a relatively short period of time. In
the past six weeks. We've had six homicides, fourteen homicides
overall this year. But just this weekend, as fifteen year
old career high school student in Kayden Phillips was shot
and killed on Bassett Street and police are still looking
for whoever killed that that young man, that boy ten
years old. So again, you know, we're fortunate enough to
(10:36):
be living big picture at a time when you know,
we're not hear what New Haven crime was like in
the nineteen eighties, the early nineteen nineties, even in the
early twenty ten. It's kind of a different scale. But nevertheless,
it is terrifying and totally of course, totally unacceptable. One
and see, a fifteen year old was killed and not
a one off, you know, and not off, you know,
(10:58):
second fifteen year old to be killed this year, and
so I think that, you know, I'm curious as to
how Mayor Justin Ellicker is able to respond to that.
How I know Steve Rosco has been kind of on
the on the attack on issues of public safety.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
So I think, so if you know to be to
be honest, so have I. And I'm bagging my head
against the wall on that one. And we'll get back
to your other four in a second, because I know
and I see that the efforts to get more police
you can't you can't offer more sign you know, sometimes
it's kind of absurd. We're begging for help it So
(11:34):
I will give you a signing bonus. How does a
four day work week sound? But we're just not getting
the the added staff and that's frustrating because the efforts
are there.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
Is and you know under police Chief Carege Jacobson has
been leading the departments for the past three years. He's
a longtime veteran of the department, very well respected, and
I think that I think that people want to want
to work for Chief Jacobson. And I think especially since
the new Police Union Contract Act was was approved about
a year ago or so with some pretty significant pay raises,
(12:05):
the department has been seen a bit. It's an uptaking applications,
but you're right that it is challenging always to recruit
for a police parment. Some people really want to work here.
They actually find it exciting to work in such a
high activity, you know, place like New Haven. They want
to be responding to lots of crime. But it's it's
a chance, you know, it is a challenging job to
be a peu genuary.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
What are other questions?
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Yeah, yeah, please, all right, all right?
Speaker 2 (12:29):
The other question that's going to be at the top
of my mind or back my mind or wherever in
my mind? Does Mayor Elicer think the public schools have
improved under his leadership? So he's been the mayor for
almost six years now. He came his first year with
twenty twenty, which you know, unfortunately we all know as
the start of COVID, when everything when COVID kind of
threw everything off, but especially what a you know, in wretches.
(12:51):
The further we get from that, I think more we
all understand just how terrible the COVID was, and our
you know, leader's response was to the pandemic in regard
to public education, a lot of learning loss, a lot
of his school. Mayor Eliker has been around long enough
now to have appointed the superintendent to appointed all of
the appointed members of the Board of Education. He's like,
(13:11):
he's kind of been He's had a lot to say
over the direction of the school district. And you know,
there are our reading levels are improving from the depths
of COVID. Same with maths, same with APTITEA levels. But
it's it's a challenge in the hidden public schools district.
And I want to see what he has to say
and if he thinks that the schools have improved unders.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
So those are those are my top Yeah, I'm now
out two questions. Those were two of Mike questions.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
You know, any I promise going.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Tonight, clearly you're listening to the show, and that's where
you got those questions. Let me hear the third one
because those really all right.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
This one's a little wonky. This is this is a
little from the lefty hyper obsessed with all urban policy stuff.
So we'll see if we'll see if this one is
in your mind too, But it's does Steve Erosco identify
as a yimbi? Now, for if yimb is not a
term that is familiar to many many listeners, it's because
it's kind of a new one, ascended mostly in Democratic
(14:13):
Party politics, but not just and it stands for yes
in my backyard. It's kind of a playful rebuttal to
the no, you know, the no in my backyard criticism
that no one ever wants, you know, an apartment building
built next to their house because the tel rover it
yimby ism and has been Yeah, it's it's this movement
that says the best way to address the problem of
housing affordability, to make it so that people can actually
(14:35):
live in a home they can afford and not just
sleep on the street for our friend's place, is to
build lots and lots and lots of new housing of
all different types, big apartment buildings, you know, smaller affordable housing,
market rate just kind of build bill builds. And new Haven,
oddly enough, is at the at the center of this
movement right now. Just two weeks ago, new Haven hosted
the national YMBI Town Conference at the Omni Hotel, where
(14:58):
two thousand kind of housing policy experts from all around
the country descended upon new Haven to talk about different
ways to build more places to live. Eliker has been
behind this movement. But it's you know, not not for everyone.
Not everyone thinks that the best answer to our housing
problem is just let you know, build, pull back from
the regulations.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
And go I'm surprised Tom that your question that that's
for Steve and that your question is are you a yimby?
I would think it would be to Steve, are you
a nimby?
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Ah? Well that you know what, maybe I've got to
reformulate my you know one, I just like saying the
word yimby. So I think that's probably why.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, because there's a lot there's a lot of nimby
and across Connecticut. You and I could have a great
conversation about that in general, you know, people who vote
a certain way. Uh. The legalizing marijuana thing, it comes
to mind, is a lot totally yes, legalize it, but nimby.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
I'm not going to.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, I'm not gonna say tweet expanse or no.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah that's good. You've got good stuff. You're coming armed.
Uh And like I said, I don't envy, uh, you know,
keeping the clock. You're going to have to keep the
clock tonight.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
But I let me, do you have time for two
very quick ones? I know I'm taking up a lot
of time right now.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Just rattle the two wall, rattle a quickly.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Okay, One, it is about Yale. You can't have a
New Haven mayor all debate without saying something about Yale.
And that's does either candidate have a plan for a
better pound Gown relationship? Happy to go into detail on that,
but I'll just leave that there for doubt. And the
last one gets that your wonderful Mono and Mono Solentano
rhyme they should have dead is does Steverasco have an
(16:43):
answer to the Republicans political math problem? Now you said
that right. The last time you have a lifted a
Republican mayor was nineteen fifty three. I think that actually
understates the problem Republicans. I mean they're outnumbered by registered
Democrats tend to one in New Haven. They're running thirty
seven thousand Democrats, thirty seven hundred Publicans, nineteen thousand unaffiliated,
all those numbers a couple of weeks ago. But then
(17:04):
also every single local elected office that's contested in New
Haven is held by a Democrat. The last time we
had a Republican alder in any seat was in the
coved twenty eleven in Celvi Cola, Indipinas. So we don't.
I mean, it's not just no Republican mayor in decades.
There's no meaningful Republican presence anywhere in New Haven political life.
(17:26):
And I wonder if if their old currency Roscoe think
that that's a problem. But also what as the stand
reviewer of the party right now for Steve, how is
he going to change that?
Speaker 3 (17:37):
The right question.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Republicans just have no doubt.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
It's a great question. And with all those numbers that
you just dished out there and I appreciate, there's also
the number voter turnout. How many registered voters are there
versus how many will actually turn out and vote came
election day, and that's what this is all about. Tom Breen,
new Haven Independent, I'll see you later on tonight. Make
(17:59):
sure again the debate is live streaming on the Independence
YouTube page and also nine point sixty WLI the Facebook
page
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