On June 29, 20 New Haven firefighters — 19 white, one Hispanic — stood outside the federal courthouse on Church Street. Hours earlier, the Supreme Court had resolved the case Ricci v. DeStefano in their favor.
For years, New Haven’s firefighters waited. Not a single firefighter has been promoted to captain or lieutenant since the city threw out the results of its now-infamous 2003 promotion exam, on which no black firefighters did well enough to be considered for a promotion.
The aim of New Haven’s “Real Options, Overcoming Foreclosure” Program is twofold: first, preventing residents from losing their homes and second, buying back properties that have already foreclosed. So far, the program has not done much of the latter.
Mayor John DeStefano Jr. made a promise to New Haven’s public school students — one he says he will fulfill before the close of the year.
At Mayor John DeStefano Jr.’s State of the City address Monday night, Mike Jones ’11 was in the front row of the pews, flanked by his campaign manager, Matt Ellison ’10, and former Yale College Democrats President Ben Shaffer ’09.
DeStefano began an animated, whirlwind tour through New Haven geography, demographics and politics led and narrated by the mayor. The discussion spanned both policies with which the mayor has been involved in his now-15-year tenure, as well his declared motivations for getting involving in politics in the first place.
Echoing the concerns and priorities he has laid out in previous public forums this year, DeStefano highlighted the need to focus on crime reduction, schools and securing state funding at his fourth and final community budget meeting Thursday evening at Nathan Hale School.
Although they only account for 4.8 percent of all American elected officials, office-holders under the age of 35 showed this week that they are still determined to be effective leaders.
Mayor John DeStefano Jr. joined a panel of speakers — including Sen. John Kerry ’66 — at the Boston State House on Monday in discussing what they described as the negative aftermath of the raids the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement has executed in cities across the Northeast over the last year.
Mayor John DeStefano Jr. will testify before a national immigration misconduct commission in Boston on Monday to speak on his experiences from last summer’s immigration raids in Fair Haven, which provoked an outcry from Latino leaders and supportive community members.
In response to remarks DeStefano made at a press conference Tuesday in which he blamed the state for not doing enough to prevent crime in New Haven, Rell — who beat DeStefano in the 2006 gubernatorial race — sent an angry letter to the mayor Friday.
Public safety was at the top of New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr.’s list of priorities Thursday evening as he presented his proposed 2008 budget to community members.
