JOHN YI/YH Asit Gosar, PC '00, and Ward Seven Alder Esther Armmand faced off at the New Haven Candidates Forum on Wed., Sept. 8.

Yalie challenges incumbent for Ward Seven seat

T-shirts everywhere in Davenport and Pierson colleges read, "On September 14, get off your ass and vote." The slogan belongs to the campaign of Asit Gosar, PC '00, who is challenging Ward Seven Alder and political veteran Esther Armmand for her position. While the race has prompted prominent city political figures to debate and campaign, It has also drawn attention to complex town-gown issues, including tepid student enthusiasm and a lack of knowledge of city politics among Yalies.

Ward Seven includes, along with Davenport and Pierson, the Yale Medical School, Yale-New Haven Hospital, and a large portion of off-campus housing, and a mixture of University and New Haven residents. Gosar will clearly need more than Davenport and Pierson votes, however, to win the ward. Esther Armmand, the incumbent, has an established base of support in the area and has served for eight years on the Board of Aldermen.

Gosar's campaign did not begin as an effort to achieve mass student mobilization. "In the beginning, my candidacy was about seeing whether non-Yale residents would ever vote for a student," Gosar said. "Ironically, it's now become about whether Yalies will go out and vote in New Haven."

Unfortunately, on-campus discussion of the two candidates' platforms isn't likely to reach more than a few interested student ears. An event that fostered debate between Gosar and Armmand—the New Haven Candidates Forum on Wed., Sept. 8—was attended mainly by members of the Yale media; the event's sponsors, the New Haven-Yale College Democrats; and by student campaign volunteers. The forum, which considered topics such as downtown parking, the Long Wharf Mall, charter schools, and economic development, had an audience of less than one-eighth of the hundreds of students who registered with Gosar.

Gosar and his campaign organizers have, in fact, done much to get students involved in the elections. Since January, he has been actively encouraging Davenporters and Piersonnites to register to vote in Connecticut. At study breaks over the course of several months and with the help of supporters, he gathered about 350 change-of-residence forms from students registered at their previous homes. He has even persuaded voters intent on casting absentee ballots in their home states to convert their voting status for this election, and re-register in time to participate in the Ward Seven elections.

Armmand's supporters suggest that while student campaign volunteers for Gosar may be enthusiastic, others may be ignorant of city topics. "It's appropriate for students to be involved in New Haven politics, as long as they are aware of the issues and see that they have a choice," Laurie Kennington, BR '01, a leader in the Student Labor Action Coalition and an Armmand advocate, said. She cited the candidates' positions on labor as one reason to support Armmand. "Esther's always stressed worker's rights; she supported Livable City Initiative and the Living Wage Ordinance," she said. "Asit's politics seem more pro-business."

Some students uninvolved in the campaigns also wondered if Yalies should really be involved in New Haven politics. "I don't know if I or any other typical student is informed enough about city issues to make an educated decision," Stephen Osserman, DC '02, said.

Armmand herself expressed some hesitation about student involvement, especially when it comes to students who have changed their voting status for the election. "It raises some questions as to their level of knowledge and commitment to the city," she said. Armmand, however, doesn't dismiss the importance of ties between Yale and New Haven. "We're both here—town-gown relations are important," she said. "But I don't know if the Board of Aldermen is the place where those issues should be addressed."

Gosar, however, emphasizes the energy his candidacy has brought to his ward. "If non-Yale residents are excited about my campaign, and if Yale students go out there and show their interest in New Haven, it all fights against the inertia of the system," he explained. He imagines his campaign will set a precedent. "Nothing like this has ever been done before," he said. "Maybe this will be a wake-up call for students."

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