Opinion: Why I’m Voting For Randall Furlow

By Marquet Reed

I was born and raised in New Haven. My mom was a single mother raising me and my brother, working double shifts at a bagel factory in West Haven to make ends meet. I grew up on Foote Street, just off Webster Street, a block away from what are now Yale fraternity houses, and I went through the New Haven Public Schools.

After spending five years out of state, I started thinking about moving back home. But New Haven had changed, and I wasn’t sure there was still a place for me here. I saw new businesses, restaurants, and development everywhere, but I didn’t see those opportunities reaching the people I grew up with.

My longtime friend Randall Furlow was one of the people who encouraged me to come back. He’s a New Haven native, too, and he loves this city deeply. He took me to Louis’ Lunch for the first time and showed me places I had never been even though I’d grown up here. To this day, I still learn about the best new restaurants from him. He helped me see the beauty in New Haven, while never losing sight of the people who have always called it home.

Today, we’re neighbors; he lives around the corner on Elm, and I’m on Ellsworth.

Randall has lived through the same changes I have. He knows what it means to grow up here, to struggle here, and to want to build a life here.

Randall understands how difficult it has become for working families to stay in New Haven. His own family’s ability to remain here was made possible by his great-grandfather, who was able to buy a home because he had a good union job at Yale.

Without that foundation, his family might have struggled to find housing in the city where they had put down roots.

But what I admire most about Randall isn’t simply that he understands these struggles. It’s what he’s chosen to do with his life because of them.

Randall experienced his own share of hardship growing up, including having a single working mom like me and challenges in school. Rather than letting those experiences define what was possible for him, he committed himself to being the kind of father, husband, and community leader who could make a difference in other people’s lives.

For years, Randall worked at the Children’s Center of Hamden, supporting children who had experienced severe trauma, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Many of these children had recently been hospitalized and were receiving intensive therapeutic care before returning to their families or entering foster care.

During that time, Randall developed a close relationship with two young boys who needed a home. He made a decision that says more about his character than any campaign promise could: he left his position so that he could become their foster parent.

He continues to be a father figure to both boys today.

That commitment to caring for people has carried through every part of Randall’s life. As the pastor of a progressive, nondenominational church in Waterbury, Randall has made it his responsibility to help people through some of the hardest moments of their lives.

He has helped families put food on the table and pay their rent. He has counseled people through marriage difficulties, the loss of loved ones, and personal crises. He has fed people experiencing hunger in downtown New Haven and supported the Bereavement Care Network through his annual prayer tent. He doesn’t see service as something that happens only on Sundays or during an election. It’s what he has dedicated his life to doing.

Randall also believes deeply in education, both for his family and himself. All of his kids have graduated from college (except for the youngest still at Hillhouse), his eldest daughter has an advanced degree, and he is currently working toward his own master’s degree in organizational leadership.

I’ve also seen Randall’s commitment to our community through his political work. As co-chair of our Ward Committee, he’s volunteered knocking on doors, surveying neighbors about the issues that matter to them, and canvassing for local and regional Democratic candidates. He’s gotten me out knocking on doors, too, and encouraged me to show up at rallies supporting workers’ unions and movements. Randall doesn’t just talk about the importance of getting involved. He brings other people into the work.

I see that same commitment reflected in what he wants to accomplish as alder. Randall wants stronger protections for renters, development that actually benefits the people who have lived here for generations, and community centers where our young people can safely play basketball, spend time with friends, and get help with their homework.

These priorities reflect the people he’s spent his life serving and the conversations he’s had with neighbors on their doorsteps.

When I think about what Edgewood and New Haven need from our elected leaders, I think about the families I grew up with and the neighbors who wonder whether they can afford to stay in the city they’ve always called home.

I’ve known Randall as a friend, a neighbor, a father, a pastor, and an organizer. I’ve seen him show up for people when they need him, whether that means opening his home to children who need a family, helping someone pay their rent, or bringing neighbors together to fight for change. His commitment to New Haven didn’t begin with this election and I know it won’t end there.

Simply put, that’s the kind of leader I want representing our neighborhood.

Marquet Reed grew up in New Haven, works as an account manager for Polar Beverages, and lives in Ward 24. He is supporting Randall Furlow in Tuesday’s special election for Ward 24 alder.