Two biology teachers arrived at East Rock Market Sunday to advocate for climate-resilient urban design and stormwater taxation on Sunday afternoon. They were not instructing a class of students, but vying for the Democratic Party endorsement for the next alder of Ward 9. After hearing from tw o of the four candidates running in Ward 9’s special election, the Democratic Ward Committee voted to endorse Co-Op science teacher Maria-Threese Serana. The meeting took place with just over three weeks to go before a special election for the alder seat takes place on Sept. 15. Four candidates in all are running to fill former Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith’s seat, after Smith announced that she would be moving out of the ward, which is made up of the Goatville section of East Rock and the northwestern corner of Fair Haven. The winner of the special election will finish out the rest of Smith’s two-year term, which concludes at the end of December 2027. Of those four candidates, only two could make it to Sunday’s ward committee meeting: Serana and biology professor Conor Gilligan. According to Ward 9 co-chair Claudia Herrera, Gavin Arnold was out of town and Blaise Berglund was unable to attend due to work obligations. Addressing the committee, Gilligan and Serana outlined their respective priorities as alder candidates. Serana, a 21-year resident of New Haven and a five-year resident of Ward 9, described a grassroots organizing approach to the role of alder. A Democratic Socialist, Serana said she hopes to empower residents to “gather,” “build strength,” and advocate as a collective. She proposed working with residents to create smaller leadership positions within the ward, such as “the chair for this street or this block,” or “a working committee on your specific concern.” Serana, who has spent a decade as a paraeducator, substitute, and now teacher in New Haven Public Schools, said that one of her top priorities as alder would be advocating for “truly world-class public schools.” The school system needs faster building repairs and more effective teacher retention efforts, she said. “The measure of a community,” she said, “is the success of its children.” Serana also spoke about affordable housing, discussing her own worries as a tenant about rising rent in East Rock. She said she would pay attention to vacant properties in the ward and advocate for community ownership of those properties. Her third campaign priority is “climate resilience.” She proposed increasing the number of pollinator gardens and trees, creating more compost opportunities for residents, and building “more and safer bike lanes across the city.” Gilligan, meanwhile, summed up his campaign vision in a common theme: revenue generation for the city that does not involve a traditional property tax increase. His key proposal: creating a Stormwater Authority that could bill property owners for the city’s management of rain-related floods. Property owners should have to pay a fee proportional to the amount of “impervious surface” on their land, Gilligan said, which includes surfaces like asphalt and concrete that don’t allow water to pass through. “This would fold in nonprofits as well.” Gilligan specifically named Yale University, which under state law is exempt from paying property taxes on academic buildings. “Establishing the stormwater authority will help pull in non-taxpayers” to help fund city services, he said. “People in the past have accused this of being a ‘tax on rain,’ but I think that a proportional bill is fair and just,” he said. New Haven alders have debated the stormwater authority idea before, in 2010 and 2011. Click here to read about that. Gilligan also named “line-item budget transparency” for New Haven Public Schools and ramping up the city’s housing code enforcement system as his other top priorities. He concluding his remarks with a limerick:“A fee on the pavement we’ve laidmeans runoff at last gets repaid.A proportional bill,not a hike in the mill,will free us from reliance on aid.“ At the end of the meeting, two ward committee members voted to endorse Gilligan, while seven voted for Serana. Due to the quick special election timeline, no party endorsement will appear on the ballot. Conor Gilligan pitches a Stormwater Authority in the form of a limerick. Democratic Ward Committee member Anne Watkins asks about the candidates’ approach to representing both Fair Haven and East Rock. Serana committed to working with Fair Haven Alders and continuing Smith’s efforts to turn highway underpasses into parks. Gilligan praised Smith’s attention to both halves of the ward and said that bringing in revenue to the city would help address Fair Haveners’ priorities. Ward 9 Co-Chair Claudia Herrera introduces the two candidates. Credit: Laura Glesby Photo The post Ward 9 Committee Endorses Democratic Socialist For Alder appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less