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My mother has served on the New Haven CT. board of Aldermen for 22 years. After 11 consecutive wins, she has finally been beaten.

She is a Democrat in an overwhelmingly Democratic ward, usually the Republicans don't run against her and her only competition is in the Democratic primary. This year was no exception. She ran against a young black man who based his campaign on the idea that we finally got a black president, it's time for a black alderman. Her ward is about 70% black, so maybe the Obama argument worked. Also, the Mayor sided with the incumbent because my mother was not a rubber stamp to the Mayors agenda (they have been at odds for years - at one point many New Haven Democrats wanted my mother to run for Mayor). The incumbent got enough voters to side with him and won 270-218.

In a way, I'm glad she finally lost. She is 69 and doesn't need the head aches. She's talked about stepping down for years, but was always talked into running again. Her husband, my stepfather, passed away 4 years ago. He worked tirelessly for her during every election, I think she really missed his hard work this time.

Thank you mother for her 22 years of service to her community... and send her on a nice vacation to Florida :p

UNHWildCats wrote:Thank you mother for her 22 years of service to her community... and send her on a nice vacation to Florida :p

Thanks, I think she will be vacationing here in SE Pennsylvania in a few weeks.

Alderman? That's nothing like "community organizer" is it?

AZGrizFan wrote:Alderman? That's nothing like "community organizer" is it?

Nah, it's the city council. To use a lame analogy, the city council is to the Mayor as the Senate/Congress is to the President.

BlueHen86 wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote:Alderman? That's nothing like "community organizer" is it?

Nah, it's the city council. To use a lame analogy, the city council is to the Mayor as the Senate/Congress is to the President.

5 sitting NYC Councilors either lost or finished second and have to go to runoffs in the NYC primaries today.... I wonder if voters are ticked off by their power grab.

God I hope Bloomberg loses in November.

So, 86, does your mom have any good Yale-New Haven "town/gown" stories?

UNHWildCats wrote:Thank you mother for her 22 years of service to her community... and send her on a nice vacation to Florida :p

Agreed.

Congrats to your mom!

Ivytalk wrote:So, 86, does your mom have any good Yale-New Haven "town/gown" stories?

My favorite story has nothing to do with Yale. The day that authorities raided the residence where Elian Gonzalez was staying and took custody of him from his relatives; my mother received a phone call from one of her constituents asker her what she was going to do about it.

Yes, congrats are in order. Feels like shit to lose in any election, no matter what so I bet she is a little down at the moment.

She'll get over it, and enjoy life more without the hassles.

BlueHen86 wrote:My mother has served on the New Haven CT. board of Aldermen for 22 years. After 11 consecutive wins, she has finally been beaten.

It's because she's finally been exposed: She HATES America

BlueHen86 wrote:

Ivytalk wrote:So, 86, does your mom have any good Yale-New Haven "town/gown" stories?

My favorite story has nothing to do with Yale. The day that authorities raided the residence where Elian Gonzalez was staying and took custody of him from his relatives; my mother received a phone call from one of her constituents asker her what she was going to do about it.

Her response was??

dbackjon wrote:

BlueHen86 wrote:
My favorite story has nothing to do with Yale. The day that authorities raided the residence where Elian Gonzalez was staying and took custody of him from his relatives; my mother received a phone call from one of her constituents asker her what she was going to do about it.

Her response was??

Nothing too exciting. Along the lines of "I'll look into it and get back to you". My mom was always nice to her constituents, no matter how kooky they were. They often called her instead of the police or the people they really needed.

Common complaints:
"My neighbors music to too loud"
"My trash wasn't picked up" - it was a holiday
"My power is out" - during a short power outage in the neighborhood
"Somebody is in my parking space" - there were no assigned parking spaces, it was a public street.

My mom knew all of her constituents by name and was always nice to them. I think that is why she won 11 elections in a row.

Your poor mom is probably still gonna get those calls BH.

I wish her well and tell her she did a great job for her community and she also did a fine job for this community/board as well.

it's a shame that racisim cost your mom her seat.

BlueHen86 wrote:

dbackjon wrote:


Her response was??

Nothing too exciting. Along the lines of "I'll look into it and get back to you". My mom was always nice to her constituents, no matter how kooky they were. They often called her instead of the police or the people they really needed.

Common complaints:
"My neighbors music to too loud"
"My trash wasn't picked up" - it was a holiday
"My power is out" - during a short power outage in the neighborhood
"Somebody is in my parking space" - there were no assigned parking spaces, it was a public street.

My mom knew all of her constituents by name and was always nice to them. I think that is why she won 11 elections in a row.

I've worked for half a dozen campaigns over the years - almost never for the incumbent - we get, as challengers, hundreds of constituent service requests... many of them having nothing to do with the federal-level office we were seeking... my favorite was the "the power company is grounding lines on my land to kill my cattle - wadda ya gonna do about it"

btw - thanks to your mom for her service - sorry to hear about how she lost - that's kind of sad

double post

citdog wrote:it's a shame that racisim cost your mom her seat.

To be fair, there was a guy who used to run against her every year. His campaign was based on the fact that the ward is mostly black and should have a black alderman instead of "an old white lady". My mom crushed him in every race, so even most of the black residents weren't buying that crap.

The guy that ran against her this time didn't stoop quite that low, but it seems the Obama link worked.

It is interesting how much the neighbor has changed over the years. In 1980 there were no minority families, now the ward is about 70% minority. It's still a pretty nice neighborhood, but very different from when I lived there.

BlueHen86 wrote:

citdog wrote:it's a shame that racisim cost your mom her seat.

To be fair, there was a guy who used to run against her every year. His campaign was based on the fact that the ward is mostly black and should have a black alderman instead of "an old white lady". My mom crushed him in every race, so even most of the black residents weren't buying that crap.

The guy that ran against her this time didn't stoop quite that low, but it seems the Obama link worked.

It is interesting how much the neighbor has changed over the years. In 1980 there were no minority families, now the ward is about 70% minority. It's still a pretty nice neighborhood, but very different from when I lived there.

sounds like what happened was it was maybe part identity politics and part "change" and part age...

TwinTownBisonFan wrote:

BlueHen86 wrote:
To be fair, there was a guy who used to run against her every year. His campaign was based on the fact that the ward is mostly black and should have a black alderman instead of "an old white lady". My mom crushed him in every race, so even most of the black residents weren't buying that crap.

The guy that ran against her this time didn't stoop quite that low, but it seems the Obama link worked.

It is interesting how much the neighbor has changed over the years. In 1980 there were no minority families, now the ward is about 70% minority. It's still a pretty nice neighborhood, but very different from when I lived there.

sounds like what happened was it was maybe part identity politics and part "change" and part age...

Possibly, although I hope the age wasn't a factor. My mother is 69 - but her mother lived to be 102. My mother does not look or act like she's about to turn 70. I agree regarding politics and "change".

Also, the Mayor backed the challenger, the local state reps backed my mother, so the party was divided. As I said, not having my stepfather their to help really hurt. He was tireless in the work he did in previous elections.

Any predictions on what shape her district will be in a few years from now?

Replace 'election' with 'erection' throught this whole thread and this thing is HI-LAR-I-OUS!!!!!

bandl wrote:Replace 'election' with 'erection' throught this whole thread and this thing is HI-LAR-I-OUS!!!!!

one of my favorite jokes from 2000-2001ish... "you slept with Katherine Harris??? why? " "well, I may not like her politics, but she sure knows how to rig an erection"

I think I need to get my eyes examined... I thought the title of this thread contained the word "erection"


... now I get it.



EDIT... of course Bandl notices the funny first... but seriously, I thought it said erection