Vic Edgerton for Alderman in New Haven's Ward 9

Greetings and welcome to my web page.

My name is Vic and I'm running for Alderman of Ward 9 in New Haven, CT. On this website, you will find basic information about me and what I stand for. You can access some of the literature pieces I've distributed to Ward 9 residents and get basic voting information. You will also be able to download portions of the East Rock Community News video that will be airing on CTV, the local cable outlet. Please let me know if you have suggestions for this site, for Ward 9, or for the city.

Many of us are excited about continuing to change politics in New Haven the way John Halle and Joyce, our other Green have. We did it because you stepped up with us to collectively take back East Rock and New Haven in a very grassroots fashion. The time has come to defend our seat from the Democrats who are eager to purge the Board of Aldermen of dissenting voices. A survey of lawn signs across the ward already is an indication that we can do it. But we'll need your help. Join us to help keep democracy alive by electing me, Vic Edgerton.

Why an Independent Voice?

Shining Light on Issues the Democrats Ignore

An independent voice can shed light on critical issues that otherwise would not make it on the agenda. When the Democrats were ready to put Fair Haven's old, polluting English Station power plant back online, your Green Alderman, John Halle, joined with citizens groups to expose this threat to our neighborhood’s health.

Standing up for Fair Property Taxes

The most realistic immediate solution to skyrocketing taxes and New Haven's fiscal crisis is to ask the city's largest property owner to pay its fair share of property taxes. The Board of Alderman has already passed a resolution asking Yale to do just that. But in the Mayor's recent letter on property taxes, he told us homeowners and renters would have to dig deeper, and so would state and federal governments—and yet he made no mention of Yale's $11 billion endowment or its tax-exempt status. My opponent's materials are similarly silent on the issue. The Green Party has never been afraid to stand up to special interests.

A Watchdog for the Public

When the Mayor proposed a budget giving himself a pay raise while cutting jobs and services, our Alderman, John Halle, blew the whistle. As a Green, I can keep a critical eye on a city government that has depended for too long on the kind of backroom deals and insider politics that flourish in a one-party town.

Setting the Agenda

For a small party, we have had a huge impact. As the New Haven Advocate has pointed out repeatedly, the Greens have championed a set of issues—from cleaning up our air, to making the city more bike-friendly, to clean elections—that have later been adopted by other politicians. As your Alderman, I will continue to use my independence to set a progressive agenda, seeking out creative solutions to improve the quality of life in our Ward.

Bringing Quality of Life to the Forefront

New stop signs, a cop dedicated to illegal dumping, tree stump removal, traffic mirrors, fighting trash trucks that come at 3:00 AM and much more. John Halle raised the bar on responsiveness to your concerns and ideas in the ward. Quality of life concerns have been the number one priority for Greens, and they will continue to be my top concern.

Why a Green is better than a progressive Dem in the Ninth Ward

The common argument against voting Green is that a Democrat can form coalitions that the Greens can't and therefore get more done.

That is simply not true. If it was, Green Party Alderman John Halle would not have been able to get anything done. But the opposite is true. He got new stop signs, tree trunks pulled, curbs painted, noisy bars to be quiet, he went door-to-door and created a new standard for resident responsiveness. He also spearheaded the Cross Sound Cable resolution, which paved the way for opposition by DeStefano, (State Attorney General) Blumenthal, and eventually Rowland. He introduced the resolution against the war on Iraq, which was at least partially credited with switching Rosa DeLauro's stance on the war. He got a cop dedicated to illegal dumping. And that's just part of it.
If I'm an Alderman, and I'm championing a bill, I don't care if you're a Green, Dem, Republican, Guilty party. I care whether you agree with me and whether you'll support me in my efforts. Party affiliation is meaningless.
If a Dem would be able to get more favors for the ward because DeStefano and the machine will treat the Dem better, again, we would have seen John be ineffective in his position when the opposite was true. More importantly, that kind of reasoning is emblematic of EXACTLY the kind of politics we hope to eliminate: petty patronage politics.

But, the other argument in favor of electing a progressive Dem goes, we must build a more progressive Democratic party.

I agree.

Consider why the Dems are finally running progressive candidates in the first place: Greens ran on progressive issues and won. Only in the last two years has the administration started paying attention to environmental, labor, and clean election issues, all of which we ran on. We made it safe for them to do so. And if they eliminate independent voices on the Board, there is no accountability to keep them in check. If a more progressive Democratic party is your top priority, the logical thing to do is vote Green.

Download Vic's New Flyer.

This downloadable PDF file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, downloadable for free from Adobe.com