Yale and New Haven: strange bedfellows?

COURTESY PIERSON COLLEGE Asit Gosar, PC '00, defeated Esther Armmand in a narrow Ward Seven primary. However, Gosar's victory is now being seriously questioned.

Just a week before the Ward Seven Democratic Aldermanic primary, student candidate Asit Gosar, PC '00, said that this election would test "whether Yalies will go out and vote in New Haven." But Gosar's narrow 298-269 vote victory over four-term incumbent Esther Armmand on Tues., Sept. 14, has ignited a firestorm of controversy over his campaigning tactics, sparking a scandal that has left a bitter taste in the mouths of students and residents alike.

The dispute concerns the legality of over 30 votes cast by students who do not currently reside in Ward Seven. Most are Pierson and Davenport freshmen, who live in Lanman-Wright and Vanderbilt Halls, both of which lie in Ward One according to the city's Registrar of Voters 1998 Guide Book. Several freshman have reported that Gosar and his staffers directed them to register as voters from Ward Seven.

One such frosh is Peter van Agtmael, PC '03. "The editor of the Yale Daily News [Isaiah Wilner, PC '00] came to our room and asked us if we wanted to register to vote," he said. According to van Agtmael, Wilner waited while he and his roommates then filled out the registration forms; when answering the "Address Where You Live" box, van Agtmael and his roomates were instructed to "put down Pierson—Yale." Moreover, van Agtmael said Gosar's staffers told him and his roommates that Gosar was "running against an incumbent, some terrible lady."

Wilner declined to comment for this story. Gosar, who did not return phone calls, said in his only published remarks on the scandal that he believed his actions to be legal. "I believe that freshmen [from Pierson and Davenport] have every right to vote in the seventh ward," he told the Yale Daily News on Wed., Sept. 15. "It is completely within the spirit of the law."

But Thayer Baldwin, Jr., the city's corporation counsel and a lawyer for over 30 years who is familiar with election law, disagreed. "It is my certain opinion that the bounds of propriety were crossed," he said. "The law's not open to interpretation. If somebody spends every night of their school year in Wright Hall and they don't spend it in Pierson College, then they don't reside in Pierson College."

Josh Kagan, SM '00, former president of the Yale College Democrats (YCD), was equally blunt. "Asit committed election fraud by knowingly registering people who did not live in his ward to vote for him," he said. "Asit's actions are blatantly illegal and immoral."

The revelation of the voting irregularities puts the ball in Armmand's court. To contest the actual election, she must file an appeal with a New Haven Superior Court judge by Tues., Sept. 28. According to Baldwin, the judge would hold a hearing to determine the legality of the election during which the voters in question would be asked "where they sleep, where their clothes are hung and where they're not."

Armmand can also file a written complaint with the state's Election Enforcement Commission (EEC), which would then launch its own investigation into the alleged violations. While it has no jurisdiction over the outcome of the election, the EEC can levy up to $2,000 in fines to violators of election law and refer the case to the chief state attorney's office for criminal prosecution.

According to Domenick Galluzzo, the executive assistant state's attorney in Hartford, the state would confer with the EEC and determine whether anyone "knowingly and willfully" violated election law. Galluzzo, who was unfamiliar with the Ward Seven scandal, said that election law violators can face a maximum of $5,000 in fines and five years in prison. That said, Baldwin said he thought there was no chance that Gosar or members of his staff would be incarcerated.

Armmand could not be reached for comment Thursday, though she did say on Wednesday that she was still mulling over her options. At press time, Gregory Zepka, the EEC's director of disclosure, said that the agency had not yet received a complaint from Armmand.

As Armmand charts her course of action, Yale students and city residents are left to ponder an election which has changed perceptions on the part of both students and residents towards student involvement in local politics and concern for the community.

"Legal or not, this really looks awful," Joey Fishkin, BR '00, an active participant in city politics, said. "It looks as though we don't take New Haven politics seriously at all."

It is this perception that troubles those who are committed to improving the tension between city and students. "Residents are telling me that they perceive this action, if it was intentional, displayed arrogance on the part of Yale students," Ward One Alder Julio Gonzalez, CC '99, said. "What is really unfortunate is that many people will take this incident and generalize it to the entire student community."

This bitterness was echoed by Ward Ten Alder Robert Schmalz, who expressed frustration over the lengths to which Gosar went to get elected. "An insurgent candidate was very aggressive but seems to have gone over the line in deciding who was eligible to vote," he said. "I think it is interesting that he is an Ethics [Politics and Economics] major. Maybe he should go to class." Similar sentiments were expressed in a Thurs., Sept. 16, New Haven Register editorial that quipped, "The sense of privilege imbibed from four years at Yale seems to have gone to one senior's head."

The irony is that Gosar's aggressive campaigning and commitment to the election—he began organizing his campaign back in January—won him the respect of town and gown alike. "He was obviously committed to getting himself elected, and worked hard over a year; he managed to get over 200 legitimate votes, which is impressive," Schmalz said. "Asit put a lot of energy into his campaign. In many ways, his energy was good for the process—he knocked on every door in the ward and talked to tons of people. That's real democracy," Kagan added.

Ultimately, according to Ward Nine Alder Gerald Garcia, ES '94, SOM '00, it was this energy that simply overwhelmed Armmand. "What few people understand or appreciate is that Esther has a full-time job as well as serving as an alderman," he said. "She had a position on two major committees, and she has a son. When you add a campaign to that, it's a major time challenge." Armmand is the chair of the Board's Aldermanic Affairs Committee and Black and Hispanic Caucus.

To hold on to these titles, Armmand will have to take the next step and take the case to court. Regardless of her decision, participants in the election say that the scars left by the voting scandal won't heal anytime soon.

"I thought I liked what he had to say about getting more involved in town-gown relations. I guess now I sort of feel used," Melissa Merritt, PC '03, said. "I'm really disappointed," Vivek Gorg, PC '03, added. "I have a bad taste for politics now."

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