The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
LEADING THE WAY
17 city departments are led by people of color
NEW HAVEN» Police Chief Anthony Campbell hopes that young men and women of color follow in his footsteps if they choose to: He joined the police academy, rose through the ranks and now leads the department.
He doesn’t view himself as a inspiration, but more of a roadmap for other African-American youth.
Campbell, 44, isn’t alone at the top in New Haven. The city has 17 departments that are led by people of color. In top leadership in the city this also includes Mayor Toni N. Harp; interim Superintendent of Schools Reginald Mayo, who served the district for 46 years in varying capacities, including as superintendent for 21 years before he retired in 2013; and Fire Chief John Alston. Yale Police Chief Ronnell A. Higgins also is black.
“Each of us in our own way have overcome some type to adversity and having to overcome the reality that there aren’t many of you in your field,” said Campbell, who was sworn in as chief in June.
Decades of political science research illustrate that having public officials who mirror the demographics of the cities they serve makes a positive impact in areas such as community relations, youth empowerment, and citizen access, according to Quinnipiac University Associate Professor of Political Science Khalilah Brown-Dean.
However, Brown-Dean said, “It’s important to resist the notion that everyone who looks alike, thinks alike.”
She said there is tremendous diversity within black communities in New Haven and across the country.
“A shared racial identity is meaningless if it doesn’t translate into substantive policy options that empower all segments of the city,” said BrownDean.
“No public official whether elected or appointed, can only serve the interests of the racial groups to which they belong,” she said.
The road to expanding leadership
And despite the city having strong black leadership, Campbell notes it’s very difficult to recruit blacks or other minorities from within the New Haven community.
“There has been a long history between minorities and police, which has been hard to overcome — decades of institutionalized slavery enforced in many parts by law enforcement,” Campbell said. “It has changed, but it’s hard to get that message to say come be a part of us.”
One barrier, according to Campbell, is that some youth get caught in the criminal justice system at an early age.
“We have to reach them real early to help them understand to be careful of their actions now, because it will affect them in the future,” said Campbell. “We have to start talking about recruitment when young people are in middle and high school. We have to expand our public safety interest to even hit all of the high schools.”
About 2.3 million, or 34 percent, of the total 6.8 million correctional population in this country is African American, according to www.naacp.org. African-Americans are incarcerated at more than more than 5 times the rate of whites, the website noted.
Aware of the setbacks seen in the criminal justice system, Campbell, like other blacks who are leading city departments, embody a message.
“It gives the message that not only can you be part of us, but you can come and be a leader,” said Campbell.
“You can overcome whatever adversity you may encounter - band together with other people who are like-minded and do the right thing and it pays off in the long run,” he said. “A leader and a role model is someone who doesn’t give way in the eyes of pressure; we have to move forward doing the right thing even when no one is looking.”
According to data by www.ctdatahaven.org, the city has a total population of 130,612 residents, of which 42,428 are black, 40,866 are white and 36,715 classify as Hispanic.
Yet, while the majority of the city’s population is minority and top leaders are black , other departments, including the fire service and the school district, also are challenged with finding and recruiting talent that’s reflective of the community.
“Far too many people shy away from education,” said Mayo, 72,.
“You can walk into a classroom and ask kids how many of them wish to be teachers when they grew up; in most case no one raises their hands,” he said. “We need to develop more avenues for kids to get their hands into teaching.”
Mayo said when he was a kid he never thought about teaching.
“Once I started, I loved it and it was fun,” he said. “It’s important that we have excellent people at the head of the classroom. If you’ve got good people you have a shot at getting kids interested, but, if you don’t have good people it becomes a little more difficult.”
In 2013, to honor Mayo, the Helene Grant School was renamed as the Dr. Reginald Mayo Early Childhood School.
While across the state, New Haven is the only city with this broad type of black political power, Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut NAACP, said the political power has to translate into economic power.
“We’ve seen the symbolic part of blacks in leadership, this is not the first time for this in New Haven,” said Esdaile.
Former Mayor John Daniels, who became the city’s first black mayor in 1990, had a career that spanned decades in politics and education, and was seen as a trailblazer. Daniels died in 2015 at 78. “John Daniels will always be a historic political figure in this city,” Michael Jefferson, a New Haven attorney and activist, said at the time.
Now, “the substance is economic power for our community and to show that we’re the best leaders in delivering jobs for the less fortunate,” Esdaile said.
According to the state labor department, the city’s unemployment rate is 7.1 percent.
“We like to see a black mayor or a black police chief, but we have to see blacks developing companies or corporations that are receiving contracts to employ young people,” Esdaile said.
Planning for the future
The idea of economic power for residents is not lost on Mayor Toni N. Harp. She broke the glass ceiling in 2013, by becoming the first female mayor and second black to lead the city, and her biggest challenge is securing jobs for residents, she said.
“I want to make sure that the people in my town are working and that the work we have in our areas are available to our citizens,” said Harp, 70, who’s the first female mayor and second black to lead the city and is seeking a third term.
“We have to make sure our citizens are prepared for the workforce that exists now and that will exist in the future; it’s a huge challenge for urban areas,” she said.
Harp said she doesn’t consider herself a role model - she said she goes about doing what she think is important for the city.
“I’m hoping that if people can understand, if I’m doing it they can do it too,” said Harp. “It’s all of our responsibility to work together to have the kind of community we want to live in, no matter what level in life you’re in.”
Other top positions that are held by blacks in the city are: Michael Carter, chief administrative officer; Daryl Jones, city controller; Martha Okafor, community services administrator, John Rose, corporation counsel; Clifton Graves, director of Fresh Start Project; Byron Kennedy, Health Department director; Velma George, homeless services director; Karen Dubois-Walton, executive director of the Housing Authority Of New Haven/ Elm City Communities; Serena Neal-Sanjurjo, Livable City Initiative director; Patricia Melton, executive director of New Haven Promise; Earl Bloodworth, director of the Warren Kimbro Reentry Project and Jason Bartlett, director of youth services.
Michael Briscoe, the city’s first black department of public safety and communications director, said for him the visibility of certain roles to young people are increasingly important.
“We’re the silent partner in the public safety environment and when young people see the diversity of sharing leadership responsibility they may chose to be a part,” said Briscoe, 45, whose department is responsible for communicating with all residents, businesses, and public agencies in the city that require immediate fire, police, or ambulance responses.
“We’re the quarterbacks now and we share the responsibility, it’s the people’s perception of whether they want to become a part of these organizations,” he said.
But the fear of rejection, according to Briscoe is one reason for the lack of diversity in some departments.
“The thought of not knowing how many minorities in the past have matriculated through the entire process and have filled the ranks, is an issue for us,” he said.
Like Briscoe, Yale’s Higgins is the first black to lead his department.
Higgins, 46, said he started at an entry level position.
“It’s possible for young people to occupy these positions, its not just selling them pie in the sky, you can touch the hat and stars,” he said.
Higgins said the city Police Department and the university have worked to develop and promote within.
“If we don’t grow and plant our own garden and chose from that garden there is no one else that’s going to do it for us,” said Higgins, who has been leading the campus police since 2011.
In addition to sharing the message of accomplishing dreams, the leaders have another thing in common: they’re all committed to continuing to grow and expand their knowledge.
“We’re committed to lifelong learning, none of us have just stopped at high school,” said Higgins. “In order for us to progress, young people need to understand they have to be committed to lifelong learning.”
“That is something we constantly promote when we’re talking to young people around this city,” he said.
Overcoming barriers
After the election of President Barack Obama, there were ideas of a post-racial America, but Mayo said racism still exist in 21st century America.
“It’s alive. I don’t want anyone to think that they can’t be anyone they want to be, but I always believed that you had to work a little harder than someone whose in the majority race,” he said. “Most of us that are minority know that it’s alive and when we see some of the things that are happening in the world are rooted by it.”
Briscoe said hard work can help overcome racial challenges.
“In order for us as a society to get over the residual racism, you have to be willing to preserve and push through the obstacles,” he said.
The question remains, according to Briscoe, “Does policy level the playing field or does it perpetuate racism?”
After the death of 14-year-old Tyriek Keyes who was killed earlier this month in a shooting on Bassett Street, Harp reemphasized that a focus for her is providing young people with a better future.
Tyriek was a student at Fair Haven Middle School and was about to enter ninth grade.
“We’ve worked with the (New Haven) Promise students, but, we had to also focus on the disengaged and the young people who have lost all hope; it was risky, but that’s what I wanted to do,” said Harp. Promise is a scholarship program for New Haven students.
In 2014, Harp launched YouthStat initiative, a data-sharing plan to identify and engage with at-risk youth.
The goals of initiative include developing baseline performance measurements, implementing programs, tracking data and result-based accountability.
“For many people, they thought it shouldn’t have been done by city government,” she said.
“I thought if we were going to have a safe city then young people had to know that we believed they have a future and that we recognize they inherit this city once we leave,” she said.