Pubdate: Sun, 21 Oct 2001 Source: New Haven Register (CT) Copyright: 2001, New Haven Register Contact: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1281 Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/292 Author: Angela Carter 10TH WARD CANDIDATE TAKING ANOTHER TACK ON ADVOCACY NEW HAVEN - Thomas Fagan, along with three other plaintiffs, was unsuccessful in suing the city for moving several bus stops away from the Green when the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale opened at Chapel and Temple streets. So the Libertarian-leaning Republican has decided to fight his battle from within the system. He's running for Board of Aldermen in the 10th Ward. "If we can't do it legally, we'll do it politically. Moving those stops was wrong," said Fagan, a self-employed researcher and online magazine editor. Fagan, with two failed General Assembly campaigns in his recent past, is vying for a seat also coveted by first-time office seekers Democrat Edward Mattison, 60, and Green Party contender Allan Brison, 63. Mattison, a former deputy corporation counsel in the late Mayor Biagio DiLieto's administration, was appointed to finish the term of Robert Schmalz who moved to Boston last month. "I'm for individual responsibility and individual liberty," said Fagan, 51, who plans to push for lower taxes and a citywide referendum to gauge support for the medicinal use of marijuana, if elected. "Whether it's tobacco, alcohol or any other drug, if you're a rational, competent adult, you have the right to do what you want to your body." He also pledges to get rid of downtown parking meters. "We're using the fact that people have cars as direct access to their purse. This fascist attitude is just crazy," said Fagan, who ditched his car because of insurance rates, two thefts and towings. "I give up," he said. He wants to make up the lost meter revenue by trimming staff in the city Traffic and Parking Department. "We'll get more people coming into the city spending money with less municipal employees." Fagan's platform is far afield from that of Mattison, founder of the nonprofit South Central Behavioral Health Network. The agency helps those grappling with mental health disorders and substance abuse. Mattison said he interacted with the Board of Aldermen under DiLieto on social welfare issues, as the city's attorney for the welfare and police departments. The aldermen finalize the city budget each year and have to approve transfers or budget amendments. Mattison wants to play a role in the next term in "maintaining services to poor people in a fiscally difficult environment." As other lawmakers help him tackle the legislative learning curve, an issue that he dealt with in the late 1980s is still on the table. The board is considering an ordinance amendment that would reserve construction-related contracts under $100,000 for small and minority- owned firms and waive bonding requirements on work less than $50,000. "Small businesses don't have bonds. It's a significant cost," he said. When Mattison was deputy corporation counsel, a legal challenge was mounting against a former set aside ordinance, which the court ultimately declared unconstitutional. "I'd like to see us figure out a way to make it clearer," he said of the ordinance language now under review. Mattison said that he would focus on unifying three distinct segments of the ward, if he can hold on to the seat Nov. 6. An isolated pocket known as Cedar Hill is cut off from the rest of the ward by Interstate 91. "Economic development is needed in the Cedar Hill area. I think we're all in this together and we've got to make every part of the ward work," Mattison said. Meanwhile, an easy-going Brison who sports a signature ponytail, hopes to capitalize on what he describes as "an increased public awareness to machine politics and political corruption." Ralph Nader's unsuccessful yet historic bid for the presidency and Alderman John Halle's victory in a 9th Ward special election have given local Greens like Brison a supply of momentum. "I think our organization cuts across class lines. We do have an uphill battle," he said, considering there are about six registered Greens in the ward, compared to 137 Republicans and 1,270 Democrats. The stay-at-home dad left his computer programmer-analyst career to home school his two daughters. "It makes being a parent more real. It's taught me patience, for sure." The New Jersey native is active with People Against Injustice, a criminal justice advocacy group that monitors the courts and campaigns for a moratorium on the death penalty. A former Democrat, Brison jumped to the Green Party nearly a year ago feeling that the major parties weren't representing the interests of residents. To drive his point home, he cites the demise of manufacturing companies, a failed Long Wharf mall plan, the proposed re-opening of the English Station power plant in Fair Haven and touting New Haven a destination retail center. "The Malley Co. building was torn down, now it's an empty lot. That's what these projects leave us with," he said. As a legislator, Brison said he would oppose pending utility projects that would install natural gas and electrical power lines through New Haven Harbor and the Sound to Long Island. But he would support an ordinance amendment introduced by Alderman Matt Naclerio, D-17, that would mandate a fee for laying power cables in public spaces. Brison also said he would back extending the Farmington Canal Greenway into the city. Both Brison and Fagan favor elected boards of education. All three candidates agree that the neighborhood must strike a consensus over the controversial expansion of Worthington Hooker School. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom