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Hartford mayoral candidates discuss economic justice

Connecticut Public Radio | By Ryan Caron King
Published August 17, 2023 at 7:14 PM EDT
Representatives from workers rights groups like One Fair Wage, union members, and residents from Hartford and surrounding towns packed Semilla Cafe + Studio in Hartford to discuss economic justice issues with mayoral candidates. Several people shared injustices and hardships they’ve experienced in the workplace and pressed candidates to fight for more worker protection, better wages, and public health and housing. The forum was translated into Spanish in real-time by organizers.
1 of 10  — August 16, 2023 - Hartford mayoral workers forum
Representatives from workers rights groups like One Fair Wage, union members, and residents from Hartford and surrounding towns packed Semilla Cafe + Studio in Hartford to discuss economic justice issues with mayoral candidates. Several people shared injustices and hardships they’ve experienced in the workplace and pressed candidates to fight for more worker protection, better wages, and public health and housing. The forum was translated into Spanish in real-time by organizers.
Ryan Caron King / Connecticut Public
Mayoral candidate Arunan Arulampalam told the crowd gathered at Semilla Cafe + Studio that he thinks Hartford is at an inflection point. “We’re sitting here, and right across the block is a beautiful luxury apartment complex. And that’s great, and looks nice,” he said. “But as a city, if we change what we look like, and we change the structures of the city, and never fundamentally impact the human beings that live in the city, like communities like mine, like communities like yours, then we will all have failed collectively.”
2 of 10  — August 16, 2023 - Hartford mayoral workers forum
Mayoral candidate Arunan Arulampalam told the crowd gathered at Semilla Cafe + Studio that he thinks Hartford is at an inflection point. “We’re sitting here, and right across the block is a beautiful luxury apartment complex. And that’s great, and looks nice,” he said. “But as a city, if we change what we look like, and we change the structures of the city, and never fundamentally impact the human beings that live in the city, like communities like mine, like communities like yours, then we will all have failed collectively.”
Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public / Connecticut Public
Dianne Jones, a longtime Hartford resident and community organizer, listens to mayoral candidates address economic issues in the city. She said despite recent increases in the minimum wage, she's concerned about the affordability of housing. “The rents that we pay in Hartford, we don't have the comparable wage to offset paying that type of rent,” she said. “And that's a big concern. The homelessness should not be in this capital city. This is a wealthy state.”
3 of 10  — August 16, 2023 - Hartford mayoral workers forum
Dianne Jones, a longtime Hartford resident and community organizer, listens to mayoral candidates address economic issues in the city. She said despite recent increases in the minimum wage, she's concerned about the affordability of housing. “The rents that we pay in Hartford, we don't have the comparable wage to offset paying that type of rent,” she said. “And that's a big concern. The homelessness should not be in this capital city. This is a wealthy state.”
Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public / Connecticut Public
Estefania Galvis (left) comforts Glenda Benitez (right) as she shares testimony with mayoral candidates about physical and sexual abuse, exploitation, and harassment she’s faced in her workplace — and retaliation from her employer that took place after she reported the abuse to the police. Benitez said she’s had to continue working through those conditions to support her three children — one of them whom she adopted after he was abandoned by his parents. “It is the responsibility of city, state and national institutions to guarantee women the freedom to work with a fair salary and without harassment,” she said through a translator.
4 of 10  — August 16, 2023 - Hartford mayoral workers forum
Estefania Galvis (left) comforts Glenda Benitez (right) as she shares testimony with mayoral candidates about physical and sexual abuse, exploitation, and harassment she’s faced in her workplace — and retaliation from her employer that took place after she reported the abuse to the police. Benitez said she’s had to continue working through those conditions to support her three children — one of them whom she adopted after he was abandoned by his parents. “It is the responsibility of city, state and national institutions to guarantee women the freedom to work with a fair salary and without harassment,” she said through a translator.
Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public / Connecticut Public
Mayoral candidate and Hartford city council member Nick Lebron listens to questions from the audience. Earlier in the forum, he shared his personal experience trying to make it work growing up and living in Hartford, making only $4.27 an hour at his first job while attending school and supporting his family.
5 of 10  — August 16, 2023 - Hartford mayoral workers forum
Mayoral candidate and Hartford city council member Nick Lebron listens to questions from the audience. Earlier in the forum, he shared his personal experience trying to make it work growing up and living in Hartford, making only $4.27 an hour at his first job while attending school and supporting his family.
Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public / Connecticut Public
Mayoral candidate Giselle “Gigi” Jacobs sits next to candidate J. Stan McCauley. Several speakers during the forum touched on minimum wage not keeping up with the increasing cost of living and housing expenses in the Hartford area. Jacobs said she’d push to raise the state’s minimum wage
6 of 10  — August 16, 2023 - Hartford mayoral workers forum
Mayoral candidate Giselle “Gigi” Jacobs sits next to candidate J. Stan McCauley. Several speakers during the forum touched on minimum wage not keeping up with the increasing cost of living and housing expenses in the Hartford area. Jacobs said she’d push to raise the state’s minimum wage
Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public / Connecticut Public
Mayoral candidate and Hartford city council member Nick Lebron said that the city faces problems caused by gentrification and rising rent costs. “What we really have to ask ourselves — is why $15 is not sufficient [as minimum wage].” he said. “That means it’s not affordable to live in this city … because the rents are continuously skyrocketing.”
7 of 10  — August 16, 2023 - Hartford mayoral workers forum
Mayoral candidate and Hartford city council member Nick Lebron said that the city faces problems caused by gentrification and rising rent costs. “What we really have to ask ourselves — is why $15 is not sufficient [as minimum wage].” he said. “That means it’s not affordable to live in this city … because the rents are continuously skyrocketing.”
Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public / Connecticut Public
Mayoral candidate J. Stan McCauley speaks to community activist Bridgitte Prince after the forum. McCauley is a community TV broadcaster and has run for mayor several times in the past. He criticized the gentrification taking place in the city, saying the city was being “colonized.”
8 of 10  — August 16, 2023 - Hartford mayoral workers forum
Mayoral candidate J. Stan McCauley speaks to community activist Bridgitte Prince after the forum. McCauley is a community TV broadcaster and has run for mayor several times in the past. He criticized the gentrification taking place in the city, saying the city was being “colonized.”
Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public / Connecticut Public
Mayoral candidate Eric Coleman responds to a question from a healthcare union worker about funding and supporting more healthcare, social services, and public education in the city of Hartford. “There’s been too much effort to privatize services that are part of a public feature. It’s all been done in the name of cost saving,” he said. He called back to his time as a state senator, saying that he often saw budgets being balanced “on the backs of the working poor.”
9 of 10  — August 16, 2023 - Hartford mayoral workers forum
Mayoral candidate Eric Coleman responds to a question from a healthcare union worker about funding and supporting more healthcare, social services, and public education in the city of Hartford. “There’s been too much effort to privatize services that are part of a public feature. It’s all been done in the name of cost saving,” he said. He called back to his time as a state senator, saying that he often saw budgets being balanced “on the backs of the working poor.”
Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public / Connecticut Public
Mayoral candidate John Fonfara shakes hands with Martha Guzman after speaking with her and her daughter Kleyri after the forum. Fonfara, who’s served in the state legislator for over thirty years, said he decided to run for mayor this year because of the economic decline he’s seen in neighborhoods around Hartford, which he says denies “so many opportunities to young people that so many people in this state enjoy, and most people in this state enjoy and take for granted.”
10 of 10  — August 16, 2023 - Hartford mayoral workers forum
Mayoral candidate John Fonfara shakes hands with Martha Guzman after speaking with her and her daughter Kleyri after the forum. Fonfara, who’s served in the state legislator for over thirty years, said he decided to run for mayor this year because of the economic decline he’s seen in neighborhoods around Hartford, which he says denies “so many opportunities to young people that so many people in this state enjoy, and most people in this state enjoy and take for granted.”
Ryan Caron King/Connecticut Public / Connecticut Public

Candidates for mayor of Hartford gathered Wednesday at a forum to discuss economic justice.

Workers from the service, healthcare and social work industries packed Semilla Cafe + Studio in the city’s North End to press the candidates on issues around worker pay, wage theft, housing and economic opportunites.

One service worker shared her experience with what she characterized as abuse and retaliation by her employer. Dianne Jones, a community organizer and longtime Hartford resident, said her concerns about the affordability of housing brought her to the event.

“The rents that we pay in Hartford, we don’t have the comparable wage to offset paying that type of rent,” Jones said. “And that’s a big concern. The homelessness should not be in this capital city. This is a wealthy state. We should be able to carve out jobs for everybody.”

The candidates present were nonprofit CEO Arunan Arulampalam, who has won the city's Democratic endorsement, state Sen. John Fonfara, and former state Sen. Eric Coleman.

Hartford City Council Member Nick LeBron, entrepreneur and activist Giselle “Gigi” Jacobs and activist and local TV broadcaster J. Stan McCauley also participated.

Hartford's primary is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 12.
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Ryan Caron King
Ryan Caron King joined Connecticut Public in 2015 as a reporter and video journalist. He was also one of eight reporters on the New England News Collaborative’s launch team, covering regional issues such as immigration, the environment, transportation, and the opioid epidemic.
See stories by Ryan Caron King

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