DEI, Democracy Embraced At Inauguration

by Mona Mahadevan The New Haven independent

Alders Elias Theodore, Frank Douglass, Angel Hubbard, Evelyn Rodriguez, and Kampton Singh sing and dance along to Jordan Watson’s renditions of “You’re All I Need To Get By” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours).

The High School in the Community Jazz Ensemble.

“Diversity, inclusion, and equity are embedded in our Constitution. It’s called e pluribus unum. Out of many, one.”

Those words were delivered by Board of Education Secretary Ed Joyner on Thursday, after he was sworn in alongside Mayor Justin Elicker, City Clerk Michael Smart, and 27 members of the Board of Alders to a new term in office.

Like Joyner, city and state officials spent Thursday’s ceremony declaring their support for democracy and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), as well as criticizing the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle both.

The two-hour inauguration ceremony took place at the Fair Haven School, where over 100 people gathered to celebrate the city’s recently elected officials and mark the formal start to their two-year terms. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, State Treasurer Erick Russell, and members of New Haven’s state delegation sat on stage and delivered remarks praising city officials for their leadership on housing, immigration, and equity.

Every local elected official who was sworn into office on Thursday is a Democrat. While there are 30 members of the Board of Alders, one alder — Ward 7’s Eli Sabin — announced his resignation less than an hour before the ceremony. The empty seat will need to be filled by a special election within the next 45 days.

Upper Westville Alder Amy Marx of Ward 26 and Bella Vista Alder Henry Murphy of Ward 11, both of whom missed Thursday’s ceremony, will take the oath of office at a later date.

Just before Elicker was sworn into his fourth two-year term, a group of activists from Unhoused Activist Community Team (U-ACT) waved signs and sang a protest song urging the city to do more to support unhoused people. After walking around the auditorium, they exited the building.

Following his oath of office, Elicker — who promised to speak for only “six, seven minutes” — focused his speech on describing “who we are in New Haven.”

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, said Elicker, “the question for our generation may very well be” whether “our democracy” will “endure for another 250 years.” He then cited Roger Sherman — New Haven’s first mayor and a signatory to all four of America’s key founding documents — as saying that “tolerance and respect for diversity are essential for a prosperous and peaceful society” and “the true measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.”

“Isn’t that remarkable?” said Elicker. “That our mayor of almost 250 years ago so accurately reflects our values” of “tolerance, respect for diversity, and compassion for our most vulnerable?”

Though the federal government has failed to uphold those values, argued Elicker, they remain the “defining and enduring” principles of New Haven. He lauded the city for helping get Wilbur Cross student Esdrás Zabaleta-Ramirez released from ICE detention, securing an injunction that stopped the Trump administration from withholding funds from sanctuary cities, launching a community effort to provide food assistance after SNAP benefits were cut off, promoting safety and healthcare access for LGBTQ+ residents, and providing more funding than any other city in Connecticut for people without stable housing.

At the same time, he acknowledged, the city is “not perfect” and has “stumbled at times.”

“Do we push each other to be better? Yes, you saw that today,” said Elicker, likely referencing the U-ACT protest.

Blumenthal, who described Elicker as “one of the best mayors in” America, praised his leadership against “cruel and illegal immigration policies,” “SNAP benefit cuts,” “attacks on the rule of law,” and “climate change denial.”

He thanked New Haven for its “courage” in fighting for democracy, and then threw his support behind DEI.

“DEI — we ought to say it out loud,” said Blumenthal. “That’s what New Haven is about. That’s what America is about.”

Before swearing in Elicker, Lubbie Harper, Jr., a retired justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, praised the mayor’s leadership as “instrumental in making New Haven a safer, more equitable, and prosperous community.” In particular, he commended Elicker for managing to “improve the quality of life for New Haven residents” without allowing economic and population growth to push out long-time New Haveners.

Echoing Harper’s praise, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz called the city “a leader in our state on housing,” “labor rights,” “immigration rights,” and “so much more.”

“We believe in your leadership,” said Bysiewicz, “and that’s why, with the help of your amazing legislative delegation led by Sen. [Martin] Looney, we’ve invested tens of millions of dollars” into New Haven.

Mayor Justin Elicker stands alongside his wife and two daughters as he takes the oath of office.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal: Justin Elicker is “one of the best mayors in the United States of America.”