Mayor Elicker plans to run for reelection in New Haven

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker announced he will be seeking a fourth term. He made that announcement in an interview on "This Week with Dennis House," which airs Sunday.

In the interview, Elicker spoke about the affordable housing crisis in Elm City. Another politician, Sen. Richard Blumenthal spoke about tenants' rights.

Sen. Blumenthal is backing tenant unions in a piece of legislation he introduced in this past session. It's called the "Tenants' Right to Organize Act" and Senator Richard Blumenthal said it would expand protections for tenants who try to organize, including preventing retaliation.

Sen. Blumenthal introduces plan to help renters unionize

It would also ensure accountability and help fund tenant organizations. New Haven's first tenant union was the Blake Street Tenants Union. One member talked about the help she got when she moved into the Elizabeth Apartments in the middle of winter. "...Without heat and lacking landlord communication. Immediately, the tenant union swelled around me. I had people calling me with solutions if they continued to be unresponsive," a member of Blake Street Tenants Union Sophie Kandul said.

"This bill would provide these protections to all tenants who live in government-supported housing, which is one-quarter of all the housing in the United States because landlords borrow to finance housing," Sen. Richard Blumenthal said. This would also include Section 8 housing, so the law would be very far-reaching according to Blumenthal.

As for Elicker, and his re-election announcement, he said thousands of new units of housing have opened in the past 5 years since he took office. He said thousands more are in the pipeline. 40% of these are affordable housing. You can watch Elicker's full interview coming up this Sunday morning on This Week with Dennis House.