Less than an hour before he was set to be sworn in for a fourth term as a downtown alder, Eli Sabin announced on Thursday that he’s moving to Westville and will be stepping down from the board. “Dear Neighbors and Friends, Happy New Year!” Sabin wrote in his latest Ward 7 newsletter, sent out at 11:20 a.m. “I’m writing this morning with some bittersweet news: I won’t be taking office for the new Board of Alders term that starts today. “After a lot of thought, I’ve decided to move, as I look toward graduating from law school in the spring. I’ll be moving out of our district (to Willard St in Westville), so I sadly won’t be able to continue to serve as Ward 7 Alder. I’ll still be in town and I plan to stay involved, including through my roles as the Legislative Coordinator at Connecticut Voices for Children and on the the board of New Haven Legal Assistance. Though I’m sad to leave the Board of Alders, it feels like the right time to move and start a new chapter of life after I graduate.” Sabin, 25, grew up in East Rock and currently attends Yale Law School. He has served on the Board of Alders for the past six years — spending his first two-year term representing Yale/downtown’s Ward 1, and the past two representing downtown/East Rock’s Ward 7. Sabin ran uncontested for another two-year term as Ward 7 alder in the Nov. 4 general election. Most recently, he and a handful of downtown-area colleagues shepherded across the finish line a “Downtown for All” upzoning designed to make it easier to build build build more housing in the city’s center. In a Thursday phone interview with the Independent, Sabin said that his new lease in Westville starts today. (Sabin most recently lived on State Street near Clark Street.) He said he’s been thinking about leaving the Board of Alders “for a little bit,” and decided over the winter holidays after spending time talking with family and “trying to figure out where I want to be living in the city longer term, after school. I feel like Westville [is] the right place to have a new start after I graduate.” Why announce on inauguration day that he’s stepping down? Sabin said he wants the person who comes after him as Ward 7 alder to be able to serve as much of a full term as possible. Per the city charter, there will have to be a special election for a new Ward 7 alder within the next 45 days. (That’s because Sabin resigned within the first 18 months of his current two-year term. If he had resigned after serving at least 18 months, the mayor could appoint a successor to finish out his term.) “I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve this city, my hometown, for the past six years,” Sabin wrote in his formal resignation letter submitted to the Board of Alders. (His resignation is effective as of noon on Thursday.) “This job taught me so much about how special our city’s people are, about how to build coalitions and relationships to make progress on key issues, and about the kind of public service work I hope to do throughout my career.” See below to read Sabin’s resignation letter in full. In addition to lifting up the recently passed “Downtown for All” legislation in Thursday’s email to Ward 7 constituents, Sabin also pointed to his efforts to pass a new state law that increases fines for housing code violations, his support for the city’s inclusionary zoning ordinance, his drawing attention to the city’s literacy crisis during his time chairing the alders’ Education Committee, and his votes to strengthen the Civilian Review Board and create a new Department of Community Resilience as some of the accomplishments he’s most proud of during his aldermanic tenure. All 29 other city alders, along with the mayor and city clerk and a Board of Ed elected representative, are slated to be sworn in to new two-year terms at Fair Haven School at noon. Click here to watch the ceremony online. The post Sabin Steps Down As Ward 7 Alder appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less