Asit Gosar addresses city residents

Dear New Haveners,

On Tues., Sept. 14, I ran in a Democratic primary for the Ward Seven aldermanic seat. I won the election 298 to 269. However, since the election, it has been alleged that my campaign is responsible for several instances of voter irregularity. I am writing this letter to you to explain my campaign's actions and to outline actions we intend to take...

Running for Alderman was a direct outgrowth of what I had been trying to do with the town-gown relationship. The seventh ward is the only ward with a significant presence of students and residents, and representing the ward symbolizes the kind of citizenship I envisioned students having in a healthy town-gown relationship...

We registered approximately 300 new voters, 250 of whom were students. I spent eight months going door-to-door building a base of residents who wanted to see change in their community...

The recent allegations of voter irregularity, however, have reversed this process of community building. The issue is being used to divide residents from students, and has become a destructive force in the relationship between the City and University...

As I have said previously, I believe the students in question have the right to vote in the Ward Seven election. However, I believe going to court to defend those rights would be counter-productive. In the effort to bring more students into the New Haven community, residents would become alienated from students.

For this reason, I have decided to withdraw my nomination for the Ward Seven Aldermanic seat. To address the issue of student voter rights, however, the Mayor has decided to appoint an ad hoc committee composed of city officials, residents, and students and administrators from Albertus Magnus, Southern [Connecticut State University], and Yale.

I love New Haven. My opponent in the primary, Esther Armmand, is very deserving of respect, and I wish her well in the future. I look forward to continuing to work with her, students, residents, and other city officials to make this an even better place to live and work in the future. Thankfully yours,

Asit Gosar

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