DeStefano opens his doors to New Haven

The mayor wants to get to know you.

Every month, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Jr., conducts three open forums for citizens to address their questions, complaints, and comments to him and to other city officials.

Two of the three programs--"Mayor's Night In" and "Late Night at City Hall"--involve inviting New Haven civil servants to City Hall to field questions from city residents. According to the mayor's spokesperson, Michael Kuczkowski, sometimes as many as 300 people show up in City Hall on the first Tuesday of the month, when Mayor's Night In is held.

Such an overwhelming number of people can be better addressed in DeStefano's third format. About once a month, the mayor holds "Mayor's Night Out," a community meeting for two of New Haven's 30 wards at a time. Mayor's Night Out brings the elements of Mayor's Night In and Late Night together and to the doorsteps of local citizens. The most recent of these was held Wed., Jan. 20, at Dwight Elementary School.

"I think [Mayor's Night Out] gives the community a chance to go in and ask questions of several different people and get answers," said Betty Cardoza, chair of Dwight Central Management Team, a grassroots organization in the Dwight neighborhood.

Kuzckowski noted that DeStefano also has something to gain from his monthly ventures into New Haven's many diverse communities. "Mayor's Night Out is probably one of the mayor's most successful programs," Kuzckowski said. "He likes it a lot because it takes him into the neighborhoods. It's also very productive, because a number of different community leaders and officers are all there."

Any issue is fair game in the open forums. Cardoza enumerated a number of general community concerns that were raised at the last meeting, which took place on Wed., Jan. 20. These included safety, street lighting, police presence, and, most importantly, schools.

Another issue discussed at length in Wednesday's meeting was the current effort being made to renovate abandoned buildings in the Dwight area and re-sell them as part of a multi-million-dollar development program. "The issues discussed range from complicated and rather large issues, like the Dwight rehabilitation, to the mundane," Kuczkowski noted.

Nevertheless the talks seem to be, in Cardoza's words, "a wonderful opportunity for openness between City Hall and the community."

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