Start to pay attention
In the next few days, the two major parties in West Haven will determine which names will head and fill their respective slates for the upcoming November mayoral election. The Democratic and Republican Town Committees will meet and endorse those each 60-member panel wishes to be on those slates for mayor, city council and various under-ticket positions.
Those votes will trigger a series of events that may – or may not – result in September primaries. With names still being discussed in the Democratic Party, that likelihood will advance or diminish, depending on the names presented. At this writing that issue is still fluid. Two are known, former Mayor Edward O’Brien and Eighth District Councilman Victor Borras. Should State Rep. Dorinda Borer enter the race, the calculus in that party will, most likely, change.
The Republicans, meanwhile, have three announced candidates, and the likelihood of a primary is all but certain, given the entrenched positions of those individuals. In order of announcement, Paige Weinstein, a city businesswoman, former Planning & Zoning member Steven R. Mullins, and 2021 GOP standard-bearer Barry Lee Cohen have announced.
Once the endorsed candidates are presented by the town committees, the process of petitioning for placement on the primary ballots commences. Those petitions will be filed by to the city clerk and then certified against voting lists. Those reaching the threshold will be put on the primary ballot. The primary winners will then be those slated for the November election.
Why is this important to the average West Havener? That answer is simple. Who leads the municipal government over the next two years will be important to the future of the city. The exit of Mayor Nancy Rossi from fourth-term consideration has put the entire process in as wide-open a position as voters have seen in many years. The chance to greatly effect change in the city is real.
It is not our position to endorse one party against the other, but we are in hopes the election in November results in something other than a super-majority of one political party. It is no secret the city’s 32-year run as a one-party city has done great harm. Entrenched party rule, with no consistent or effectual opposition, leads to the sloppiness and lack of controls that forced us into state receivership over the last six years. The uphill battle the Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) has had in changing the culture in City Hall is because – at least in part – to one-party rule. A more balanced membership between the executive and legislative branches will provide a check and balance so lacking over the last several decades.
That means city voters must pay attention. The issues facing the city are too great. Continuing as we have is no longer feasible. That means candidates and their positions, rather than their party affiliation must be the prime reason to vote for an individual. This year provides an excellent opportunity to vet candidates based on ideas, not whether a “D” or “R” is beside the name.
West Haven is at a crossroads. It has seen ineffectual leadership at all levels of government for too long. Politics, rather than what is good for the city, has been the driving concern. That can only change if the voters pay attention, listen to the options, and vote accordingly.