New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
City health chief weighs bid for secretary of the state
Maritza Bond announces she is forming exploratory committee
NEW HAVEN — Health Director Maritza Bond’s father, Edwin Polanco, didn’t have to travel too far to attend her announcement at Criscuolo Park that she has formed an exploratory committee for a possible run for secretary of the state.
He arrived — still wearing his Alderman-Dow Iron & Metal Co. work togs — on his lunch break from his longtime job at the Fair Haven scrap yard, located less than a third of a mile away from the park, which offered a backdrop of the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge in the distance.
It was no mistake that Bond chose Criscuolo Park to make the announcement Wednesday. She’s a child of Fair Haven, and the small crowd was full of people with whom Bond grew up, along with a few she works or has worked with — and a couple of young men she raised.
“I chose this particular location because it’s been instrumental to me, this specific neighborhood in the career path and the pursuit of public service,” said Bond, a Democrat, who has gotten high marks for her work leading New Haven through the COVID-19 pandemic over the past months.
“My career has been about fighting for people of all races, ethnicities and economic backgrounds, to help them thrive and help them live their most productive and happiest lives,” Bond said.
“The pandemic has shown how public health and voting intersect, and how race, ethnic and economic disparities can have a great impact on both,” she said. “Public policy matters and voting matters. Like public health, when left unprotected, voting rights suffer most in communities of color and economic disparities.”
Bond previously worked for four years as the health and social services director for Bridgeport, the state’s largest city, and before that in the lower Naugatuck Valley.
She later said she thought for a long time before deciding to form an exploratory committee, has set clear boundaries and was confident that she could take that step without it affecting her very important city job in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the pandemic began, “we had not had a pandemic for over 100 years,” Bond said. “We did not have an infrastructure in place. Now, what we have is an infrastructure in place.”
Bond’s family is solidly behind her.
“I’m proud of my daughter because she fights hard — and she gets what she wants. She’s tough,” said Polanco, who came to the mainland from Puerto Rico at age 14 and has worked at Alderman-Dow for 20 years.
“My mom is one of the most hardworking people that I’ve ever known — and I’m proud to be her son,” said Bond’s older son, Mehkai Bond, as his brother Markel Bond stood nearby.
Mehkai Bond followed
Fair Haven Community Management Team CoChairman Lee Cruz, who said he first met Maritza Bond when she was a sophomore at Wilbur Cross High School involved in New Haven-Leon Sister City activities.
Cruz said Bond’s proven administrative skills would serve her well in state office. Beyond that, “Maritza Bond comes from Fair Haven, from New Haven Public Schools and is an inspiration to women,” he said.
At least two other New Haven Democrats are planning or considering runs to replace outgoing Secretary of the State Denise Merrill: former Democratic chairwoman and city official Jackie James, who has said she definitely is in, and Alder Darryl Brackeen, who has filed papers to form an exploratory committee and made an announcement in August.
Mayor Justin Elicker has said Bond told him about her plans and “she emphasized her commitment to keep her work with the city separate from any activity related to her exploratory committee. Maritza is an important asset to our team and I think very highly of her,” he said.
James has said she’s planning a run and expects to form a full-blown campaign committee, not just an exploratory committee. She said she expects to announce it the first week in October.
Other Democrats who are considering runs include Hamden state Rep. Joshua Elliott, Middletown state
Sen. Matt Lesser and Meriden state Rep. Hilda Santiago, Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Mauro has said.