{news} GREEN SPOTLIGHT: Joyce Chen, Alderwoman, New Haven, CT

[David Bedell]

>From "Greenline," the monthly GP e-newsletter:

GREEN SPOTLIGHT: Joyce Chen, Alderwoman, New Haven, CT

Right Chemistry to Represent

When Joyce Chen was a sophomore at Yale, a friend encouraged her to run for 
Alderman. At that time, Chen was a chemistry major with dreams of going to 
medical school, becoming a doctor and starting a neighborhood clinic. In 
some ways, her dream is coming true, but in a different way than she first 
envisioned. Now in her second term as Alderwoman, Chen has been improving 
the health of her community the old-fashioned way - listening to her 
constituents and finding the right cure for their concerns. Chen is busy 
addressing the real issues that they care about most.

Before winning her first election, and still a student at Yale, Joyce worked 
with the homeless and helped start a community center called "Harmony 
Place." Harmony place, which serves the homeless community, is jointly run 
by students, people who are homeless and other members of the community.

By the time she was a senior, her friend's words reverberated in Chen's 
mind, and she decided to explore the possibility of running for Alderman, a 
city-council type position in which the elected official represents a city 
ward. Chen represents New Haven, Connecticut's Ward 2G, a diverse 
neighborhood that is predominantly African American and Latino, with 
approximately 1500 voters. Acting on the advice of a former Alderman, Chen 
knocked on doors in Dwight neighborhood, speaking with the people and trying 
to gauge the need for her service. Seeing an obvious need, Chen decided to 
run and spent most of her campaign time visiting with people in her ward and 
listening to their concerns. The Democrat incumbent, perhaps feeling a sense 
of entitlement to her post, was no longer in touch with most members of her 
community. Chen, who knew many of her constituents by name, won the election 
with 55% of the vote.

"As a little girl I watched my mother's struggle for survival in Harlem: a 
single woman getting no alimony, an Asian in an unfamiliar culture, working 
late hours to put food on the table. This hardship only fueled my desire to 
serve the most needy, throughout high school and then at Yale University, 
where I embraced the New Haven community as my own. When I decided to run 
for Ward 2 Alderwoman, nobody believed I had any chance of winning: a 
22-year old novice to political campaigns, an Asian-American in a primarily 
African-American Ward, a Green Party candidate in a city dominated by the 
Democratic machine. I did not let these hardships stop me. I went out and 
knocked on a thousand doors. I truly listened to my neighbors and I have not 
stopped fighting for them since."

During the next election two years later, the Democrat machine brought in 
another candidate to run against Chen. Spending approximately $25,000 (as 
though it were an assembly race), the powerful machine and its candidate 
lost the race to Chen, who spent about $1,500 and won 60% of the vote once 
again.

Chen is pleased with many of her achievements as Alderwoman. She has a 
shared experience with many other elected Greens across the nation. "A lot 
of what we do is keep things from happening," she said, referring to fact 
that elected Greens often find themselves fighting against policies that 
have torn apart communities, taken away jobs and further disenfranchised the 
poor. On Howe Street, a former haven for prostitution, small business owners 
had transformed the area into a thriving district with ethnic grocery 
stores, restaurants and cafes filled with students. Then suddenly all this 
effort seemed for naught, when the mayor decided to tear down the Howe 
Street section to build a school. While Chen was not opposed to building a 
school, she felt there were much more suitable places for one. She felt it 
didn't make sense to destroy this thriving section of town. Chen helped 
negotiate with the mayor to find a better location for the school and Howe 
Street was rescued from the wrecking ball.
Now, Chen wants to represent her constituents and the Green Party values in 
the Connecticut General Assembly. Joyce Chen is taking the Green Party 
agenda door-to-door in an unprecedented grass-roots effort.

"As Alderwoman, I fought for environmental justice, championed the cause of 
labor unions, created a commission on slavery reparations, established 
programs to combat street violence, and promoted public and alternative 
forms of transportation. In 2004, I won my re-election bid and rose to my 
position as Minority Leader. Now I want to bring grassroots democracy to the 
state level."

For more information about Joyce Chen's campaign, visit 
www.votejoycechen.com.

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