NEW HAVEN, Conn. — New Haven's mayor is vying for a third term in office, while a Republican and a petitioning candidate are on the ballot to challenge the incumbent in the 2023 mayoral election.
Democrat incumbent Justin Elicker is seeking a third term in office.
"We've got a lot more work to do but we've made incredible progress over these last four years,” Elicker told FOX61 the night before Primary Day.
Elicker said in his two terms, he's added 900 affordable housing units, with over 900 more in progress. He also said he cut down on the number of shootings in the city and expanded multiple alternative policing programs. Elicker also said he increased the education budget by $8 million to increase teacher pay and expand resources for students.
Moving forward, Elicker said he wants to improve the way they do housing inspections to hold landlords accountable and continue to focus on schoolchildren.
“What's high priority right now is ensuring that kids are in their seats, that we address the absentee challenges that we've seen. and that we're focusing on literacy,” Elicker said before Primary Day.
Republican challenger Tom Goldenberg says "We must do better" regarding the issues he takes priority in addressing. He initially registered to be a Democrat candidate. He was later cross-endorsed by the GOP, according to a report from the New Haven Register.
Goldenberg hopes to be "hands-on" with the school system to prevent chronic absenteeism and engage parent involvement. He also said enacting "smart and proven policies" will help recruit teachers and keep students engaged.
Goldenberg believes strengthening efforts to get illegal guns off the streets and investing in "preventative measures" to break the violence cycle will be solutions to reducing crime in the Elm City.
Goldenberg says if elected mayor, he will freeze property taxes. That's to stabilize rent since he claims that property taxes have increased by 40% in the Newhallville, Fair Haven, and the Hill neighborhoods.
Goldenberg wants to create more business and employment opportunities by establishing a "community-based development initiative" by working with commercial corridors and providing support to minority entrepreneurs to ultimately boost Black business ownership.
Multiple reports call petitioning candidate Wendy Hamilton a retired nurse and a philanthropic activist. She said if elected, she would "fire the Board of Education, along with Zoning and City Plan [departments]," according to a July report from the CT Examiner. She would also "immediately kick the state into action [to help fund the city]," by filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which would also enable Hamilton to pay all New Haven teachers $100,000 annually, the Examiner reported.
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