{news} negative editorial in Yale Daily News

[David Bedell]

Today's YDN came down pretty hard against Joyce Chen.  I don't know enough 
about Joyce to refute it; I had thought of the race as a contest between two 
progressives--the kind we'd like to see everywhere.  An accompanying article 
(quoted below) presents Joyce's case for challenging Toni Walker.

David Bedell


http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=27074

TALES OF THE CITY | ALYSSA ROSENBERG

Published Monday, November 1, 2004
Little merit in Joyce Chen's bid for Hartford

Tomorrow on Election Day, going to the polls in New Haven might seem 
anticlimactic. Connecticut will, barring an electoral miracle, go to John 
Kerry and John Edwards, Sen. Chris Dodd will be re-elected easily, and U.S. 
Rep. Rosa DeLauro is facing a nominal challenge from Richter Elser, whom she 
easily dispatched in 2002. But for students registered to vote at their 
off-campus addresses in Ward 2, Election Day offers the opportunity to make 
a real difference in a state election of critical importance: the race 
between incumbent State Rep. Toni Walker, a Democrat, and her challenger, 
Ward 2 Alderwoman Joyce Chen '01, a Green.

In past elections, the New Haven Greens have successfully pushed the 
Democratic Party to the left on issues like the environment and campaign 
finance. New Haven Advocate Associate Editor Paul Bass credited the party 
with "having revolutionized New Haven's political agenda" going into the 
2003 city elections. But in the context of this strategy, it is ludicrous to 
choose Rep. Walker as a target. New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. made 
sense; he is now a considerably more liberal Democrat than he was at the 
beginning of his time in office. But Representative Walker is one of the 
most talented, committed and progressive members of New Haven's delegation 
in Hartford. She is a champion of economic justice and has had the courage 
to challenge some of Yale's more disappointing community policies. She is a 
strong advocate of both gay rights and a woman's right to choose. There is 
simply no good reason for the Green Party to be challenging her -- if the 
issues are what truly matter to the Greens in this election.

But despite Rep. Walker's stances, someone is spending a lot of money to try 
to throw her out of office. Alderwoman Chen's campaign literature is 
glossier, more professional and significantly more expensive than the 
photocopied sheets she distributed last fall in her aldermanic re-election 
campaign. The large posters bearing her image that have appeared in the 
Dwight-Edgewood neighborhood make the blue-and-red lettered signs she used 
in 2003 look homemade by comparison. Clearly, she is not financing this 
campaign by herself. So someone else must be investing heavily in keeping 
this vanity race alive.

It seems odd, though, that the Greens would choose Alderwoman Chen as the 
standard-bearer to carry their progressive banner to Hartford. It is hard to 
deny that she is committed to her constituents. But as a member of a party 
whose 10 key principles include a commitment to "consciously confront -- 
barriers such as racism and class oppression, sexism and heterosexism, 
ageism and disability, which act to deny fair treatment and equal justice 
under the law," Alderwoman Chen has made some curious decisions. The choice 
that has received the most attention was her vote against the Domestic 
Partnership Amendment in 2003, a ballot accompanied by a number of negative 
comments about the gay and lesbian community.

It is deeply troubling that Alderwoman Chen abandoned her own party's 
principles of social justice; it is even more problematic that the party 
continues to support her in the face of this hypocrisy.

On the state level, moreover, her stance against equal rights could do some 
real damage. While Alderwoman Chen's vote against the Domestic Partnership 
Amendment doomed a limited measure, it is difficult to legislate 
discrimination on a local level. Every year, however, the General Assembly 
debates efforts to erase the rights and protections Connecticut's gay and 
lesbian couples already have, and to prevent them from ever achieving legal 
equality. Rep. Walker has consistently and strongly opposed these efforts; 
replacing her would be a real loss in the fight for equality. Sadly, it 
seems that this is a price the New Haven Green Party is willing to pay to 
elect a state representative. For a party truly invested in equality, 
sending another discriminatory vote to Hartford would be an unacceptable 
cost.

More in line with Green Party principles is Alderwoman Chen's dedication to 
community organizing and economic progressivism. But she still does not have 
Representative Walker's record or experience, and in recognition of that, 
every major union in Connecticut has endorsed Representative Walker. Yale's 
unions, who were Alderwoman Chen's most important allies in her 2003 
re-election campaign, have also sided firmly with Rep. Walker, recognizing a 
vision that extends beyond both the city of New Haven and economic issues.

It's unfortunate that Alderwoman Chen's campaign, which has mostly launched 
shallow, vague allegations at Rep. Walker, has taken up time and energy that 
could have been better spent elsewhere this election season. Luckily, the 
choice should be clear for Yale students when they head to the Ward 2 polls 
on Tuesday: Toni Walker's experience, commitment to economic and sexual 
equality, and dedication to her district make her the only viable candidate 
in this race.


Alyssa Rosenberg is a junior in Silliman College. Her column appears on 
alternate Mondays.

---------------------------------------------
Joyce's side is given in an accompanying article by Marcel Przymusinski:

http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=27059

City sees few close elections
Statewide, two House races remain tight, but few upsets are likely in New 
Haven

BY MARCEL PRZYMUSINSKI
Staff reporter

...

In a local election, Ward 2 Alderwoman Joyce Chen '01, a Green, has 
challenged popular incumbent state Rep. Toni Walker, a Democrat.

Chen's critics have questioned her motives for running against Walker, who 
is seen as one of the most liberal members of the state legislature. Chen, 
who upset an incumbent Democrat to win her seat in the Board of Aldermen, 
said that unlike Walker, she is independent of "party bosses." Chen 
criticized Walker's decision not to support some of her constituents against 
DeStefano when he decided to bulldoze 124 affordable housing units in 
Walker's district in order to build a school.

"I think the bottom line is that there are a lot of initiatives she has not 
taken up over the years," Chen said. "And there were a number of cases in 
which she had an opportunity to intervene for the community."

Walker did not respond to calls last week.

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