{news} (New Haven Advocate)Joyce Chen has left the Greens for the Dems

[Green Party-CT]

It Ain't Easy Being Green
Joyce Chen has left the Greens for the Dems who are none too thrilled. 

by Ryan Kearney - July 7, 2005 
KATHLEEN CEI PHOTO Joyce Chen Joyce Chen has jumped ship. But no one on deck is throwing her a line, and no one below is swimming over to help. 
The young Ward 2 alderwoman has renounced the Green Party and, barring a change of heart, will officially become a Democrat on July 19, when a mandatory three-month waiting period expires, according to the registrar of voters. The move will leave the 30-member Board of Aldermen without a Green and with just one Republican. 
Why the switch? It's anyone's guess. According to her home answering machine, Chen is in India "doing some community development work" and won't be back until July 13. She did not respond Thursday to an e-mail or to phone messages left at her home and office. 
Her former party is at a loss--though not for words. 
"To me it's evidence of some immaturity, both political and personal," says Charlie Pillsbury, co-chair of the New Haven Green Party. Both he and co-chair Allan Brison say Chen never informed them of her decision. "We've been very disappointed to hear of it second-hand rather than directly," says Pillsbury. 
"It's kind of coming out of the blue, you might say--or out of the green." 
When the switch was still just a rumor, says Pillsbury, he e-mailed Chen in India to ask if it was true. "She didn't confirm or deny," he says. "She just said she'd talk when she got back." 
Chen was the local Greens' rising star, surprising many by upsetting a Democratic incumbent in 2001at the age of 22and then retaining her seat in 2003. 
That year, however, she also rankled party officials by voting against a domestic partnership resolution. Now that she's ditched the Greens without so much as an explanation, it's safe to say they want nothing to do with her. 

Thing is, her soon-to-be peers in the Democratic Party are equally unhappy. 
"I do not see her being embraced by the Democratic Party," says Democratic town chair Susan Voigt, who blasted Chen for not informing the Board of her decision. "It's either a lack of respect for your colleagues or a very cynical view of the political process." 
Chen also angered many donkeys last year by running againstand losing tostate rep Toni Walker, a Democrat. "In challenging one of our newer and more effective assemblypeople, Toni Walker, she certainly burned her bridges before she even tried to come across," Voigt says. 
In fact, the Democratic Party already had a challenger to Chen lined up for the Nov. 8 general election: Gina Calder, a 24-year-old health-care consultant and Yale alum who only recently started campaigning. Now that Chen has switched to the Dems, the two will face off in the Sept. 13 primary instead. Asked about Chen's change of heart, Calder says, "I don't know if it helps or hinders me. All I know is I have a lot less time than I originally thought." 
Did Chen fear Calder, a political novice, enough to switch parties, thereby shortening Calder's window of campaign time? It's unlikely. Voigt says the switch might hint at grander political ambitions. 
"Perhaps she thinks being a Democrat would allow her to make another run and be more successful" than she was against Walker, says Voigt. 
Chen's switch means that lone Republican alder Arlene DePino will have a lot of work cut out for her. The board is required to have minority-party representation on all of its 12 committees, a duty that Chen and DePino have split down the middle (while the board's Dems sit on only three committees each). But come July 19, DePino will be alone on the other side the aisle. 
"It would mean that all of the committees really would need to be represented by Arlene DePino," says Karen Dubois-Walton, the mayor's chief of staff, adding that she can't remember the last time the board had just one minority-party candidate. 
Chen's defection, meanwhile, brings the New Haven Green Party back to square one: looking for a candidateany candidateto represent the party on the board. 
"It's certainly not a step forward," says Brison. But, he adds, "We will continue to be an effective force in the community." 
How? By running more candidates, according to Pillsbury, who says he will contend for the Ward 19 seat if incumbent Alfreda Edwards steps down, as some have speculated she will. Meanwhile, he says he wishes Chen "the best" in the Democratic Party. But those sentiments may change this fall, when the Green Party looks to field its own Ward 2 candidate. "We do have some [candidates] in mind," Brison says. 
Perhaps he should make any candidates sign a loyalty oath first. 
kearney_ryan at yahoo.com 





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      THE GREEN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT is the third largest political party in CT. The Greens are also the third largest political party in the US, with 220 Greens officeholders in 27 states. Over 80 countries in world have Green Parties. Wangari Maathai, the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is Kenya's assistant minister for environment and an elected Green Party member.
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National Committee member from Connecticut: Tim McKee (860) 324-1684

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