New Haven Independent

Posted by: cedarhillresident | July 11, 2007 4:03 PM

OMG!!!!!!!!!! you are joking!!!!!!!!!!! This guys is so shady! And Shame on Yale for helping him! I (who is still mad at Johnny)think John went way out of his way for Yale. What a flick of the thumb! Shame Shame. John is not on the top of our lists right now but man if this man gets in office his present actions have not been a good sign of what he will do for this city!

What's with the bundling?? Hmmmmmm

Posted by: Bruce | July 11, 2007 4:14 PM

Why would you donate to two opposing campaigns? Wouldn't you have the same impact if you donated nothing?

Posted by: pinkbicycle | July 11, 2007 4:35 PM

It would be great if a "REAL CANDIDATE" could run on their own merits and not "I hate John" . Sure you can find a million things wrong with New Haven, and of course you can blame John--if you want to close your eyes to what is happening in America. But at the end of the day my friends, you got to give John his props for being strong. New Haven ain't Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Kansas City, Detroit, Hartford or Bridgeport. He has positioned New Haven to be a City where folks want to live in and be a part of. Vote for Jim Newton if you want too and you will be sorry. Sorrier than you ever thought you could be. Think New Haven mid-to late 1980's. These are the good ole' days my friends.

Posted by: True New Havener | July 11, 2007 4:47 PM

Cedar Hill,

:) Now I am really not sure. I used to think Johnny was running Newton's campaign but now I think it's Paul Bass. First Newton opposes the Democracy fund and public financing and now once the NHI bashes him, he changes his mind. I guess we can feel good that Newton is willing to admit when he is wrong -- wait did he do that?

Maybe the campaign spent some of that Yale New Haven hospital money on a calculator and figured out he was better off using public financing. Wait -- do those hospital administrators live in New Haven? I thought you had to be a city resident for your money to count toward the Democracy fund -- hey where's the minus button on the new calculator.

I can't wait to get my New Haven ID, I am kind of figuring that by then (just 2 weeks away) Newton will have changed his mind again and be greeting people at the door or maybe volunteering to take people's photos for the ID.

And no doubt we are just weeks away from Newton holding a press conference to oppose unconstitutional "stop and frisk" actions by the NHPD. We all remember the good old days when Jimmy wanted police to "stop and frisk" young people of color but that was 2 weeks ago.

Whooppeee! Newton keeps us guessing. And how about that Willie Green -- he seems so darn rational. Wonder how long that can last. This election may end up being more fun than it originally seemed.

Posted by: Darnell | July 11, 2007 5:05 PM

CedarHill Resident,

I have not decided whom I am going to vote for as Mayor yet, so don't take this as a defense of anyone, but I would like to know where or how you make a decision that someopne is "shady". Is it because he is African American?

Posted by: no truth | July 11, 2007 5:58 PM

Whether or not Newon is the best option is confunded by the fact that nothing is pubish on Mr. Greene that allows comments. His remat=rks to the BOA are very clear. He could have a great view on how to stem the problems, but nobidy can solve them. :ook at West Haven. A popular Mayor get defeated and the new adminisatration finds years of cover-up and questionable uses of programs and funds. That is why we need to get a new mayor. Mr. Greene is very aware and gas been very active in New Haven. NHI seems to fail in serving the readers by simply posting an interview with him. Paul I will do it, and send the story since you don't appear motivated to do so. Will you take me up on it. I also challange NHI to call for a debate between candidates. Please stop showing the mayor at every event he shows his face at, as if he cared. If you decide to keeo it up why not mention the hundreds of events he did not attend while running his gov crusade. I ask again how did certqain people get a leqave of absence, i.e Smuts and Slapp, to work on the campaign, but not h ave to lose any sick or vacation time? Easy question for any reporter to ask and verify. Also is the Deputy director of Economic Development a posted postion and subject to federal law? This is not an appointed position. Let's see some real reporting.

Posted by: Greene is real | July 11, 2007 6:03 PM

Mr. Greene has not been givewn one article in NHI only snipits to his letters to the BOA, which are rigt on target. I ask and have asked for NHI to post one interview with Mr. Greene. Many people may find he is very attuned to New Haven, and for those that want to use the Q-house, ask why now when we need youth programs, the city didn't support the Q-House over the past years. In fact, call tehj Boys and Girls Club or YMCA and see what kind of help the administartion offered in the past three years. I worked on both boards. We got nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: True New Havener | July 11, 2007 6:21 PM

Darnell,

Come on. That's such a low shot that Cedar Hill should not even have to respond to it -- so I will. If you follow this site you know Newton says one thing and then does another -- actually this article is about that.

Then he directly solicits money from YNHH, specifically from their spokesman hired to help bust the union -- Vin Petrini -- who is so shady himself that he says he gave to Newton and DeStefano. Now you might think the hospital is right in its fight with labor but lots of decent people think it's not.

And to run as the outsider but solicit money from Petrini could make lots of people think Newton's just as shady as those same decent people think the hospital has been. Other decent people might disagree.

Besides Cedar Hill spanks DeStefano weekly. For a little colloquialism: That Dog Don't Hunt. So leave it be. If you want to defend Newton or question DeStefano's tactics just do so -- you'll find that there is a lot of support here for that.

Calling someone shady given some of the racist nonsense that occurred recently on this site is more than honorable language even if you disagree with her position on Newton. And there is no need to buttress your comments by saying you have not chosen who to support yet.

Posted by: AJ | July 11, 2007 6:23 PM

I want to know how many of Jim Newtons contributions are over the $300 Democracy Fund Limit. I would have to guess a good amount. Does he have enough money (cash on hand) to refund it?

Also, what has he been doing the last 8 years since he ran for mayor? I think I heard he was a consultant - what was he consulting for? Has he done anything that comes close to managing a $500 million budget? Does he pay his taxes? These are some of the things I want to know about a candidate.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | July 11, 2007 7:38 PM

True New Havener
You always bring a smile. I may take the day off to get my card! Hmmm I may get to shake the hand of Newton because you know his original campaign opening was he wanted to help the Latino's of New Haven. Which is it?? Dam I am feeling confused. Flip flop.

Darnell
Please don't turn this into a race thing. We in New Haven, at least the people I know just want the most qualified person in office. Newton's little bundle stunt to bypass the rules is what I was referring to as shady.
His standing up for Newt's bar ( which a family member owns) is not a good thing in my eyes considering it is a hot spot for crime and a the top five list in New Haven.(ohh correction top 4 now that Taurus is closed)
His stand against the ID Cards, is a losing stand for me at least.
The whole "stop and frisk" thing is a bit scary and unconstitutional. Grant it be my area needs help but at what price?? The harassment of black youth??
He seems to be running mostly in his community I have yet to hear him really talk about the city as a whole. I want someone that can be a mayor of the whole city.

And as stated by True New Havener Newton opposed the Democracy fund, because back in 1999 when he ran against johnny he only raised 65,000 for his campaign and said that is why he lost. So he forwent the fund; thinking he would raise more than 65,000 without it. But so far all he has is 35,000. My guess and yes this is just my guess, is that he thought the whole city would back him because we are pissed about the taxes and Billy White. And we are. But... we also learn from our mistakes and to put someone that is not qualified in office to get rid of the present mayor is not a reason to vote for someone.
As pinkbicycle stated he is running on the "I hate John" card. He is not a candidate that I have got any confidence from. I would rather vote for the evil I know.
As pinkbicycle said you can not blame Johnny for it all.I also think that changes need to be made on all levels in town hall not just the mayor but the Alderman on the Finance committee that made mistakes and did not question things they should of. The list in that department goes on and on.

Posted by: Gary Doyens | July 11, 2007 9:13 PM

It is not clear to me what city Cedar Hill, PinkBicycle and others live in -- comparing little New Haven, population 123,000 with less than 50,000 households to Baltimore, Philly, Detroit??? Surely you jest...if not, you really should get out more.

"Give Johnny his props????" Why? DeStefano has spent his entire life on the public payroll -- more than a decade in the chief excecutive's chair at City Hall. What problems has he solved? Are taxes lower; city government affordable? Is teen violence lower? Poverty down? Homeownership up? Is job creation robust? Is there strong private enterprise? Is the city's relationship with Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital - its largest employers - strong, cordial and respectful?

Do tell me what benchmark to use to judge John DeStefano as an executive, a leader, a solver of problems, a uniter of the citizens for our common good. Do we and have we really smart people running our major departments like Corporation Council, Development and the Police? Is the mayor known for thinking outside of the box or just a tax and spender -- if we can dream it, they'll have to pay for it kind of mayor?

And finally....I'm glad Newton went to call on the hospital executives, shared his vision with them of a better day and for his effort, was rewarded. That is far more honest than DeStefano holding the jobs of city employees and city contractors over a barrel to get his campaign money. It may be legal, but it's hardly honorable and certainly nothing to brag about.

Posted by: ana | July 11, 2007 9:31 PM

"Limit use of personal funds to no more than $15,000" that is what the democracy fund rules state. I heard that Mr. Newton put in $20,000 of his "own" money into his campaign. That means that the campaign would have to reimburse $5,000 to Newton. What does he do that he has $20,000 in disposible income? I don't even know what his current job is can the Independent do a story on Mr. Newton's past job experience not just what he says it is? Also, every contributor that gives over $300 he is going to give them their money back. I don't know it sounds like he is going to end up giving more money back than he is raising.
I feel that Mr. Newton is just an empty suit. He lacks good ideas and actually real ideas in general. He says he's for law and order but he comes out in favor of these problem bars. He says he is the candidate of the people but he gets cozy with Hospital adminstration who are out to break the backs of working families. He talks about forming a grand African-American Latino alliance but comes out against ID cards and in favor of the unconstitutional stop-and-frisk method.
This is my long ramble to ask two questions....
who really is jim newton and what does he stand for?

Posted by: Darnell | July 11, 2007 9:42 PM

True and Cedar,

Not trying to make it racial, just wondering why someone you may not agree with is ruduced to a "shady" characterization. You did not state why he was shady, but eluded to the fact that he received donations from two or three hospital administrators, the same thing the mayor and other candidates do every year. If you want to reduce the debate to name calling (i.e. shady), without evidence to back up the characterization, then don't be surprised that people may ask questions, or question your motives.

As a black man who has been unfairly called "shady", I am insulted by the name calling.

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | July 11, 2007 10:29 PM

Cedarhill Resident
Do Like Me I Am Voting For The TeleTubs Do To The Fact That Both Parties Are Crooked One Is A Wolf
And One Is A Fox And Both Wolf And Fox Are From The Canine Species.

Posted by: CCedna | July 11, 2007 11:32 PM

YALE NEW HAVEN HOSPITAL Execs better watch what they are doing, because if they think they can screw around in the polictics of this city, play games with us, then they have not seen anything yet.

Yeah, DeStefano is on the outs with some people. He cant get enough will power to fire Chief Ortiz, but this guy Newton, whew, he is really scarey.

It would be good to get a candidate that would be capable and worthy of being mayor. Mr. Newton is just out to lunch on too many things to be trusted to run the city of New Haven.

Yale New Haven Hospital needs another trip to the woodshed, those bunch of union busting self agrandizing rats. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be anyone with enough power to do that right now. The lousey organizing of Connecticut Center for a New Economy and its off shoot CORD failed miserably the union rank and file and the citizens of New Haven.

Posted by: nhrr | July 12, 2007 12:31 AM

Hey NHI...
Where is the list of DeStefano financial supporters? Your link is to a pdf file that shows expenses, but no detail on each individual donor. It also shows some expense detail of his kick-off fundraiser at Lightouse Point where apparently no contribtions were received (although the NHI article written at the time mentioned that checks were being written and received...and even included a photo). Also, in the expense list there is no indication that the city was ever reimbursed for use of the park faciities and city employee time.

How many city residents would like to have a party at a city park, use the facilities after hours and not pay for it?

Posted by: Taxed To Death | July 12, 2007 4:42 AM

AJ -- First, the city budget is not $500 million -- that's pretty close to how much we're spending on the schools alone. The real budget number is nearly $750 million. As for managing it, there are finance people who do that. Mayor DeStefano doesn't "manage" the budget -- he grows it. Managing a budget means controlling it, living within it and having it be reflective of reality. With tax bills that have grown by more than 20% across the last four years alone -- with another four years minimum of tax increases already planned and in the implementation phase -- I would hardly call that managing. It's just tax and spend and any half wit can do that with somebody else's money.

As for paying taxes -- I have no idea what Newton's situation is, but you may want to check out what state senators and local alders are behind on their property taxes. Here's some more trivia: Name the alders who are not dependent on DeStefano and city tax dollars for their direct family income. (Hint: You can almost fit them on one hand.)

Posted by: cedarhillresident | July 12, 2007 9:05 AM

THREEFIFTHS
I am with you! Go TeleTubs 2008.

Darnell I am sorry if I insluted you.

Posted by: True New Havener | July 12, 2007 11:11 AM

Darnell,

As an African-American man, I did not find the use of the word shady as descriptive of anything other than the shadiness of the behavior cited in this article. Look the word up.

Otherwise, I agree with Cedar Hill -- no intention to be insulting. So if you truly took insult since you believe you have been called shady unfairly and with boas in the past, please be certain that I am not calling your comments here shady. And don't for a moment thing that I believe that Newton should be judged on anything but his ideas and track record. Just like DeStefano or Green or the other guy for better or for worse.

I do find Newton's idea that we should return to "stop and frisk" scary. Hopefully "scary" is an acceptable word to use. Having been stopped by police for no apparent reason when I was young in this city, I found it scary. A politician looking to this haphazard strategy instead of rebuilding community policing, increasing the number of officers, rooting out corruption in the force and using technology is also scary.

Relying on a police force, many of whose members don't live here to guess without probable cause at who to stop and frisk, is not just scary, it would allow some small number of officers to engage in shady (and unconstitutional) behavior.

By the way, I think your comments often have merit. Even here, I think you raised a valid concern which required defending along the lines of what you described. Defense rests.

Posted by: elmcity | July 12, 2007 12:04 PM

Where is Jim Newton's report?

Posted by: Darnell | July 12, 2007 2:23 PM

Cedar and True,

Thanks for the comments. I must say that I absolutely agree with you that the "stop and frisk" proposal by Newton is scary and un-American. His anti-ID stance is counter to the gains our civil rights leaders fought for and won. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the hospital stuff yet.

Hope some candidate appears on the horizon soon.

Posted by: Cut the crap | July 12, 2007 4:03 PM

Taxed to death -

Enough with the baseless accusations about alders or their family being dependent on the City or Destefano for their income- name them if you think itss that many. Looking at the list of alders on the City's website, I count maybe 8 with links to the City - 1)Antunes (works for Parking authority and collects Police pension)
2)Depino(husband collects consulting money rom City) 3) Edwards, Blango, Jones,Shah,Sepulveda (workfor/have family work for BOE) 4) Rodriquez (Housing Authority)

Not great that 8 out of 30 have ties to the city, but its not everyone and it does a disservice to those that work really hard on our behalf for no pay - I love my Alderwoman (Silverman) and I know people in East Rock who love Lemar, people in Fair Haven who think Rhodeen is great and people in the Cove area who really like Paolillo and folks in the Hill who admire the work that Perez does. Its not fair to paint everyone with a single brush.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | July 12, 2007 4:57 PM

"Cut the crap"

Ed Mattison is executive director of the South Central Behavioral Network, which receives grant money from the city. But not sure how much

Posted by: concernedinct | July 12, 2007 6:31 PM

Don't forget

1) Andrea Jackson Brooks, has several relatives working in city gov't (at least 6)
2)Robert Lee, cousin of City Clerk, several relatives work for city
3) Frances Clark, all of her favorite charities get city money

Counts up to 12, almost half the board. This is just off the top of my head without any research

Posted by: cedarhillresident | July 12, 2007 8:43 PM

Darnell thanx :) I think we all just want a better city. So we need to pay attention to what the people running talk about and Newton is just a little off base for a large number of people. The whole Yale and bundling thing just gives me a bad feeling in my gut. I could be wrong but ya know that a womans intuition is always right :)
With that said sometimes from the sidelines it is sadly funny thing to watch.
As New Havener said:
This election may end up being more fun than it originally seemed.

Posted by: Taxed To Death | July 13, 2007 10:29 AM

Cut The Crap:

I'm sure each of the Alders you mentioned as having supporters is true-- they also have their detractors and their growing. They would have even more if they told the people in their ward, the practical impact of their rubber stamp votes. For instance, the senior property tax freeze -- sounds good up front giving a tax break to seniors, but that $2 million just got shifted to working families with young children or kids in college which now costs a minimum of $20K+ a year. Rhodeen, Silverman, Rodriquez and others don't talk about that. It's real. None of the Alders you mentioned as having all this support lift one finger to curb police overtime or to demand a return to community policing. At last count, the police overtime budget had been exceeded by more than $2 million. Many of the Alders you mentioned also sit on the Finance Committee -- supposed to be a check on overspending and fiscal integrity. These same people rubberstamped financial reports showing deficit spending counting on prepayments of the next year's tax recipts to balance this year's uncontrolled spending. These same people could not even cut $4 million - one lousy mil of property tax in a city budget approaching three quarters of a billion dollars. None of the people you mentioned issued one statement, one word about the millions in patronage jobs nor did they say a word about the 16% pay raises conveniently left out of the budget, later approved which will now be in next year's spending plan.

As for them serving with no pay -- they wanted it; they chose it; they like it. The lack of pay is hardly an excuse for sorry oversight and uncontrolled spending. If they don't want the responsibility -- don't run for the job. Your tag ssys it all -- Cut The Crap.