Author Archives: Marcel Przymusinski

In the wake of the Ward 1 Democratic Committee’s aldermanic endorsement, Democratic leaders in the ward are split on the question of whether or not a primary challenge would be beneficial to the party. Dan Weeks ’06, who lost the committee’s endorsement to Rebecca Livengood ’07, has not yet decided if he will challenge Livengood »

Rebecca Livengood ’07 secured the Ward 1 Democratic Committee’s aldermanic endorsement last night, winning a majority of the 41-member committee’s votes to top opponent Dan Weeks ’06. The vote count of the closed-doors secret ballot will not be released even to committee members, though Ward 1 Democratic Committee co-chair Amia Srinivasan ’07 said the tally »

Although both Ward 1 aldermanic candidates acknowledge that their platforms are similar, Rebecca Livengood ’07 says her leadership role in activism across campus sets her apart from rival Dan Weeks ’06. During her time at Yale, Livengood has worked on an array of issues including the environment, financial aid, Yale-New Haven relations and homelessness. She »

In his time at Yale, Ward 1 democratic aldermanic candidate Dan Weeks ’06 has focused primarily on one issue, campaign finance reform. But Weeks maintains that he is committed to a wide array of liberal issues and has experience beyond the clean elections campaign. Weeks presents a four-part platform of progressive ideas and brings three »

In the wake of the Board of Aldermen’s decision to go ahead with Mayor John DeStefano Jr.’s downtown development plan, some have raised questions about the privately-funded hotel and conference center slotted to replace the Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum. While city officials claim there is a definite demand and investment interest in a new hotel and »

As the Ward 1 Democratic Committee’s March 23 aldermanic endorsement vote approaches, some observers and committee members have raised concern that the committee’s composition may have an undue impact on the outcome of the vote. The committee’s organizers made it their goal for the current aldermanic endorsement process to avoid the type of controversy that »

For months, New Haven leaders have cautioned that a large property-tax hike will be necessary to close the city’s budget gap. This weekend Mayor John DeStefano Jr. put a precise figure on the increase. DeStefano announced that his budget proposal, to be submitted tomorrow, will include a 3.5-mill property tax hike. Each mill represents a »

The Ward 1 Democratic Committee’s final vote to endorse an aldermanic candidate is still a month away, but with students leaving campus soon for spring break, the candidates are already working on putting their platforms forward. Rebecca Livengood ’07 and Dan Weeks ’06, currently the only declared candidates for the endorsement, both said they have »

Months of contentious sparring in public hearings over the downtown-development project proved to be of no avail last night, as the Board of Aldermen voted overwhelmingly to approve and fund Mayor John DeStefano Jr.’s plan to bring Gateway Community College to downtown New Haven and to tear down the Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum. The plan will »

Mayor John DeStefano Jr. has loudly voiced his opinion that Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s state budget proposal would have a negative economic impact on New Haven, and some of the city’s business leaders agree. Rell’s proposal would cut funding for the arts statewide and would end a program that provides millions of dollars in »

Expressing concern about the city’s reliance on one-time revenue sources, two bond-rating agencies recently called into question the state of New Haven’s finances, though they cited Yale as a stabilizing economic presence. The two firms, Moody’s Investors Services, Inc. and Fitch Ratings, downgraded New Haven’s bond-ratings outlook from “stable” to “negative,” signalling that the city’s »

As potential candidates to replace Ward 1 Alderman Ben Healey ’04 begin to emerge, significant power in determining the ward’s next representative rests in the hands of the 50-member Ward 1 Democratic Committee. According to Associate Vice President of New Haven and State Affairs Michael Morand ’87, who served as Ward 1 alderman from 1990 »