NHFT Prez Leslie Blatteau endorses Serana, “my union sister” who is equipped to improve schools, at a campaign kickoff Tuesday. Maria-Threese Serana’s vision for a working-class “movement” emerges from small details of her Avon Street block — from a pollinator garden with both climat e and community benefits to a fire-scarred house ripe for eminent domain. She said she hopes to bring that movement to the rest of the ward, and to City Hall, as the next alder of East Rock and Fair Haven’s Ward 9. Serana is running for the alder seat with the backing of the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT), and the Democratic Party Ward Committee. She is a biology teacher at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School as well as the parent of a recent New Haven Public Schools student. Her son, John Carlos Serana Musser, was a recent student representative on the Board of Education. Blaise Berglund, Conor Gilligan, and Gavin Arnold are also vying to fill the seat left behind by Caroline Tanbee Smith, who recently moved out of the ward. The four candidates will compete in a special election taking place on Sept. 15. If elected, Serana would be the second democratic socialist to serve on the Board of Alders, following former Ward 9 Alder Charles Decker. Over 25 people from across the city, including teachers union President Leslie Blatteau and many wearing DSA T-shirts, gathered outside PM Market on Tuesday afternoon. There, Serana held a campaign kickoff rally before heading to door-knock in the neighborhood. At the rally, George Moore, the chair of New Haven’s DSA chapter, asked the crowd: “Who builds our housing?” He prompted the group to call out: “The working class!” Moore continued the call and response: “Who makes our phones?… Who makes our clothes? … Who teaches our kids?” “The working class!” the attendees responded. “And yet money and power,” said Moore, is in the hands of “yacht-owning, gold-toilet-sitting, Epstein-Island-visiting oligarchs.” Hill resident Crystal Fernandez, second from left, met Serana at DSA meetings and believes her victory would reflect that “change is catalyzing.” After the rally dispersed, Serana took a stack of voter registration forms and campaign literature, and she set off to start knocking on doors. The “Democratic” in Democratic Socialism Serana also met Radko — a budding cyclist not quite old enough to vote — and his dad Ahmad. The family supports “more stores” in the neighborhood. The sky was beginning to darken as Serana turned the corner to Avon Street. She decided to start on her own block, between Orange and Foster. Joined by DSA members Erik Kurkano and Quin DeLaRosa, Serana knocked on several doors, tucking campaign flyers under doormats when no one was home. She stopped several people on the street, most of whom said that while they lived in the neighborhood, they were registered to vote in a different city. One person snapped a photo of Serana’s flyer so she could share it with her roommates. In between doors, Serana reflected that although she studied political science and participated in political campaigns when she was younger, she never expected to become a political candidate herself. She recalled growing up in a political system in the Philippines where elections were compromised in part due to rampant vote-buying. Political campaigns would offer money in exchange for proof that voters cast ballots for the campaign’s candidate. “You would give your vote to the highest bidder,” said Serana. She never ran for office because “I didn’t have the money — and I didn’t think I could stomach it.” She sees an echo of that overt vote-buying in the American campaign finance system. Elections here are still “run by money,” she said, even without a direct financial incentive to vote a certain way. She lamented that some people hear about democratic socialism and think of “communist dictators.” In her view, socialism is fundamentally about democracy. Democracy, she argued, is easily compromised when a small group of people has an outsized amount of economic power over everyone else. To Serana, socialism means investing in “universal healthcare, libraries, public schools.” It means taking on the “billionaires who are exploiting our brain power, our muscle power.” Then she paused, laughing. “Sorry! I went into teacher mode.” Eminent Domain Floated For Xu House 56-58 Avon St., still shuttered after multiple fires. Serana’s vision for large-scale change in America impacts the way she experiences her own Avon Street block. There’s the garden she tends to with her next-door neighbor. Alongside arugula and tomatoes, she has made an effort to nurture a sense of community with nearby residents. She’s made a habit of inviting people over for informal political dialogues and she’s seen the gardening bug spread, house by house. Serana wants to bring more echoes of the garden to public sidewalks — in the form of pollinator gardens that bring life-sustaining insects to city streets. There’s also her apartment itself — where she remains cognizant of the fact that her ability to stay in the city relies on what her landlord charges her for rent. And there’s the boarded-up blue and white house at 56-58 Avon, where she sees a property owned by a neglectful profiteer — and an opportunity to make “housing for the people.” The house has burned down repeatedly under the ownership of Bethany-based landlord Jianchao Xu, who owns many properties across the city yet “doesn’t even live here,” Serana said. She proposed that the city should claim that house and other vacant, dilapidated properties by eminent domain. The city should fix up the homes and ensure that their next residents have an ownership stake in the property. The specifics would have to be worked out. She acknowledged that as an alder, she would have to “work with the system we have.” She is interested in the New Haven Land Bank, in co-ownership systems, and in owner-occupied multi-family housing like the homes built by Neighborhood Housing Services. The city shouldn’t have to follow one model exclusively, she said. “In a Democracy, you have options.” Neighbors Knowing Neighbors A few doors down from Serana’s apartment, Foster Street resident Meredith Tarr stopped to chat. She had not met Serana before, though she had heard about the special election. “How long have you lived here?” she asked Serana. Serana replied that she has lived on Avon Street for five years so far, and she’s lived in New Haven for 21 years. She previously lived in Wooster Square — a neighborhood where Tarr said she also lived, many years ago. “Caroline left some pretty big shoes to fill,” said Tarr. Smith also left “some things in the works,” such as support for the businesses on State Street. “I hope whoever comes in is able to build and continue on the foundation.” “Caroline will continue to be there,” said Serana. “I’m gonna continue on.” Tarr asked Serana if she has an Instagram — lamenting that a tool created by the company Meta is so useful. Serana said she just started an Instagram account. “I really need to catch up on having more of a social media presence,” she said, noting that Smith is “always telling people what’s going on.” It’s nice, said Tarr, that so many people were interested in running in the special election. She said she hopes that everyone running in the race can continue to be involved in the neighborhood, regardless of whether they win. Serana mentioned that she hopes to enlist more neighbors to become block captains and play a role in stewarding their streets. Tarr liked the idea. “People don’t know their neighbors!” she said. “You had the Foster Street block party” recently,” said Serana. “We were thinking of doing that too” on Avon Street. “We should institutionalize it!” “I’m from the Philippines,” she added. “Family is big and community is family.” Tarr mused that a culture of individualism is “what got America into so much trouble.” Serana has also proposed investing in block-by-block community culture by building more raised pollinator gardens on sidewalks throughout the ward. “Like Goatville Salvage!” said Tarr, referring to an existing effort in East Rock to bring more native wildflower beds to the city. “I always try to shout them out,” echoed Serana. Tarr said she’s noticed that even a handful of pollinator gardens have brought fireflies to East Rock in the summer. Serana said that her childhood was filled with fireflies and dragonflies. She’s found delight in seeing the insects start to pop up in East Rock on a more regular basis. “It’s amazing what just two or three yards can do,” Tarr said. The post With DSA, NHFT Backing, Serana Hits The Doors appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less