Ariela Lopez, Contributing Photographer

Sixteen co-chair candidates from the “New Haven Agenda” slate announced Wednesday that they had collected enough signatures to secure a spot on the ballot in March. 

Jason Bartlett, who organized the New Haven agenda slate — which has positioned itself in opposition to Yale’s politically powerful UNITE HERE unions — and is himself a candidate for co-chair in Ward 6, announced the candidates’ petitioning success at a press conference outside the New Haven Registrar of Voters office. The press conference took place on Wednesday at 4 p.m., the exact deadline for Democratic Town Committee co-chair candidates to submit their signatures. At the conference, Bartlett noted that most of the candidates submitted their signatures on Wednesday, and that he was the only candidate as of the time of the conference to hear back that his signatures were certified.

“As somebody who has run for office before and also run people for office,” Bartlett said, addressing the candidates, “You guys are courageous and brave. You’re committed to the city, you’re committed to your community, you’re committed to listening and engaging and you’re committed to a New Haven agenda.”

Democratic Registrar Shannel Evans did not respond to a request to comment, so the News was not able to independently verify if all candidates had their signatures certified.

In Ward 3, the New Haven Agenda is backing Inez Alvarez and Martha Dilone. New Haven educator Earl Ali-Randall and artist Joe Fekieta, who designed New Haven Agenda’s logo, are the slate’s candidates in Ward 4. Bartlett is running with documentary producer Steven Rabin in Ward 6, Dawn Bliesener in Ward 7 and Carlena Lee in Ward 12. In Morris Cove’s Ward 18, which hosted a competitive three-way election for alder in November, Sharon Braz and Zelema Harris both collected more than the required amount of signatures, Braz said. Pastor Taralyn Moore and Ronda Sheffield are running in Ward 20, Dennis Serfliippi in Ward 25, Jerry Barber in Ward 26, Efrat Lieblich in Ward 28 and Perry Flowers in Ward 30. 

Mahogany Brooks in Ward 5 and Solomon Maye in Ward 19 were previously announced as a part of the slate but are no longer seeking the position of co-chair.

At the press conference, each of the candidates present introduced themselves and summarized the issues they are passionate about. Sheffield, Moore, Serfilippi and Rabin were the only candidates who did not attend.

Each of the city’s 30 wards elects two DTC co-chairs. Co-chairs are responsible for endorsing Democratic candidates for office, helping residents register to vote and assisting their alders with general on-the-ground work in the ward.

The candidates’ statements were varied, spanning from Alvarez’s focus on reforming perpetrators of domestic violence to Fekieta’s impassioned condemnation of unsafe car racing down New Haven streets. During her turn, Bliesener said that some of the city’s problems may stem from having too much untaxed property.

“Let’s face it, you can’t throw a rock and not hit a nonprofit, a church or Yale, and that’s just unbelievable,” Bliesener said.

Braz and Harris spoke briefly about the concerns in their ward over the expansion of Tweed-New Haven Airport, policing and the quality of schools. Braz said that these issues were not unique to her neighborhood, but important to the whole city.

Tom Goldenberg, a former Democratic and then Republican candidate for mayor, was in attendance at the press conference. Bartlett and Fekieta were both previously involved in Goldenberg’s mayoral campaign.

Goldenberg told the News that the candidates have asked him to serve as treasurer for their slate.

Bartlett told the News that much of the campaign work will be aimed at educating voters on what the DTC is, and when they need to vote. He said he hopes that because the special election is on Super Tuesday, people might be thinking about voting more than they might on a different special election date.

“This is definitely a victory for democracy, it’s a victory for access to the ballot, it’s a victory for growing the bench,” Bartlett said. “You’re gonna go door to door and engage the voters, and thus the voters are going to win, even if some of us lose or win.”

At the end of the press conference, Bartlett announced his intent to hold a meet-and-greet fundraiser event for the candidates soon.

Democratic Town Chair Vincent Mauro Jr. told the News that he disagrees with Bartlett’s slate’s messaging.

“The argument that New Haven is essentially run by one group is not true,” Mauro said. 

Mauro added that he will assist in a “robust effort” to make sure New Haveners are knowledgeable about the candidates they choose. He declined to give further detail on what the campaign effort will entail.

New Haven will hold elections for DTC co-chairs on Tuesday, March 5.

Correction, Feb. 2: A paragraph in this story has been updated to reflect that the slate is not anti-union but rather that they have spoken against the influence of the UNITE HERE unions on New Haven politics.