Elicker transition team draws crowd for 1st public input meeting

NEW HAVEN — If the turnout for Saturday’s first of two public meetings organized by Mayorelect Justin Elicker and his transition team to get the community involved in planning for the city’s future is any indication, there’s plenty of enthusiasm for what’s to come.

More than 150 people came out for the public input meeting at High School in the Community, which began shortly after 9 a.m. The facilitated meeting broke down into small groups to discuss nitty gritty concerns that later were expressed to the larger group.

Elicker, a Democrat, defeated threeterm incumbent Mayor Toni Harp, also a Democrat, by a 58.3 percent to 41.71 percent margin in a Sept. 10 primary — and again, with Harp running on the Working Families Party, by a 70 percent to 28 percent margin in the Nov. 5 election.

“We didn’t anticipate this many people,” Elicker told the crowd at the start of the meeting. “I think it’s a real indicator that people want more of a voice. We will work together as a community to address so many of these issues.”

While Saturday’s event, which was all about public input, was organized by the transition team led by cochairs Kica Matos, Sarah Miller and state Rep. Robyn Porter, DNew Haven, “it should always be this way,” Elicker said.

“The spirit is inclusion,” he said. “The spirit is giving people a voice in the way the city is run.”

Rod Bowen, a relatively new city resident who owns a home in the Beaver Hills neighborhood and commutes every day to work in the New York City school system, said education was his primary concern.

Bowen, who has a son at Worthington Hooker School — and said he voted for Elicker — said he’s “concerned about how our resources are allocated.”

As Elicker prepares to take over as mayor on Jan. 1, “I’m optimistic,” Bowen said.

A second public input meeting will take place, also at High School in the Community, 175 Water St., at 2 p.m. on Dec. 8.