New Haven Independent

Elicker Swears Off Mayor’s Money

by Melissa Bailey | July 27, 2009 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)

elicker%203.png In an effort to establish independence from City Hall, East Rock aldermanic candidate Justin Elicker made a pledge: “I am not accepting campaign contributions from the mayor’s administration.”

Elicker (pictured), a Democrat, is running for Ward 10 alderman in a heated race against incumbent Allan Brison of the Green Party.

He first announced the pledge at the end of a Democratic ward committee meeting on July 16. At the meeting, held to endorse candidates, a remarkable thing happened: 10 Democrats backed a Green Party candidate for alderman instead of a Democrat. Elicker won the Democratic ward committee’s endorsement by a vote of 19 to 10 — even though he has no Democratic opponent.

The vote came in the wake of concerns voiced in the neighborhood about whether he would be independent enough from Mayor John DeStefano, Jr.’s administration if elected. Ward 10 is one of only two in the city to be represented by someone other than a Democrat.

Elicker, a Yale graduate student who’s lived in East Rock for two years, got a taste of that perception at his first appearance before the ward committee in June. Elicker was told that the neighborhood doesn’t need “another puppet” for the mayor, according to those present.

Brison won his own campaign in 2007 with a message of independence. His upset victory over incumbent Ed Mattison was seen as a sign that anti-DeStefano feelings were running high in East Rock.

From the start, Elicker has sought to define himself as someone who’ll be independent of, not controlled by, the mayor’s administration.

In an interview at a downtown coffee shop Friday, Elicker laid out guidelines for how he intends for that independence to play out in his campaign. It turned out to be a tricky route to navigate.

Drawing The Line

Elicker elaborated on the terms of his pledge not to accept campaign contributions from the mayor’s administration.

By “mayor’s administration,” he said, he means “the mayor’s appointed staff.”

“Appointed staff” includes department heads, top city coordinators, and everyone in the mayor’s office.

People in that group routinely take off from work on Election Day to stand at polls, make phone calls, and pull votes for the mayor and aldermanic candidates who are deemed to be pro-City Hall. Employees in the mayor’s office, many of whom landed their jobs after working on DeStefano’s gubernatorial campaign or previous mayoral runs, also use personal time to coordinate campaigns in wards with hotly contested elections.

City staff also open personal pocketbooks to cut campaign checks. For example, top mayoral appointees were among at least 38 city government employees, lobbyists or contractors who gave money to City Hall-backed candidate Charles Blango for his unsuccessful run for state representative last year.

Elicker said he won’t accept money, canvassing help, or campaign literature from the mayor’s appointed staff or from the mayor’s campaign.

He’s drawing the line at appointed staff. He won’t turn away other city employees, he said, because many city workers live in the city and care deeply about it. “I think it’s fair to involve them in the political process.”

What if the mayor’s campaign is knocking on doors in support of the mayor — would he allow them to pass out Elicker campaign literature? “I would not approve of that,” the candidate replied.

He said he laid out his terms on Thursday to DeStefano’s campaign manager, Keya Jayaram.

The point of the pledge, he said, is to establish his independence by not taking money from people who are later going to try to influence his vote on the board. A good alderman needs to both advocate for the neighborhood and provide a “check and balance” to the mayor, he said.

Elicker said his campaign team, comprised of close friends and neighbors, has developed all his campaign literature and raised all the money to run the campaign. He reckoned the campaign will cost only about $5,000, so it will be easy to screen each contribution.

“We will vet every contribution we receive, and make sure it won’t affect the integrity of the campaign,” he said.

DTC Exception

Elicker said he won’t turn down help from people who live outside the neighborhood, or from vote-pullers from the local Democratic Party — as long as they’re not mayoral appointees who work for the city.

“Saying I won’t accept any help from the Democratic Party is absurd,” he said.

Elicker dodged a question as to what he sees as the connection between John DeStefano, Jr. and the Democratic Party: “I am not a ward chair and therefore not a member of the [Democratic] Town Committee. As such, I don’t believe I am the best person to ask about the connection between DeStefano and the committee, as my comments would be speculation.”

Former Alderman Willie Greene shed light on that connection.

“People need to be honest. John is the Democratic Town Committee,” said Greene. “There is no difference.”

In this one-party Democratic town, Greene said, the Democratic Party is used as a proxy for the mayor to support candidates who fit his agenda — and go after those who do not. He said a candidate can’t be independent from the mayor without being independent from the DTC. Over the decades, Greene has run as both a pro-City Hall candidate for office, with the help of the town committee; and as an anti-City Hall candidate, with the town committee working against him.

“John runs everything,” said Greene. “Anyone who says that John doesn’t, I’d like to know what country they’re from.”

Removing The Big D

Jonathan Knisely, of Everit Street, said Ward 10 voters are wary of a style of Democratic politics where candidates are hand-picked to carry out the mayor’s agenda. Former Ward 10 Alderman Ed Mattison was “City Hall’s guy,” he opined.

He said he understood why Elicker made his pledge, though he wasn’t certain of the impact it would have.

“I think [Elicker] correctly perceives that [there are] many people in the city who are leery of the top-down political style of the Democratic Party, and that part of Allan Brison’s attractiveness is that he is apart from that by being a Green Party candidate,” said Knisely.

Knisely made an unusual motion at the ward committee meeting to nominate a Green, Brison, for the Democratic Party endorsement.

“The reality of the city is that the Democratic candidate will win almost anywhere,” he said. His goal in nominating Brison “was to remove the endorsement of the Democratic ward committee and have it be a little ‘d’ democratic process.”

Knisely’s motion to nominate Brison failed. Brison supporters instead voiced their support by voting to endorse no aldermanic candidate. That effort garnered nearly a third of the ward committee vote: 19 voted to endorse Elicker, and 10 to make no endorsement. Elicker declared his independence pledge in a short speech after the vote.

Knisely said he thinks Elicker is a strong candidate. He wasn’t sure what impact the pledge would have in distancing Elicker from the influence of the mayor, given his ties to the Democratic Party. Knisely that would depend on how much on-the-ground assistance Elicker might need from the Democratic Party to win a heated race.

“I haven’t been given any reason to suspect that he would sell the 10th ward out,” he said, “but what help he will need to win an election, I’m uncertain.”

Anna Festa, a lifelong East Rocker and ward committee member, welcomed Elicker’s vow.

“It shows a certain amount of integrity,” she said: if Elicker gets elected, he won’t “owe them.”

She said at first, she was concerned that Elicker “would become one of the mayor’s guys,” because of his close relationship with City Hall ally Alderman Roland Lemar, who represents East Rock’s Ward 9. She said Elicker assured her that he would vote with his own mind, based on what’s best for Ward 10. Festa said that she ended up, after much deliberation, voting to endorse Elicker.

Brison refused to be interviewed for this story unless all questions were submitted in advance through email. His campaign spokeswoman said he was too busy to talk.

Shut Out?

Besides the money factor, there’s a more subtle way that insider candidates can be given an advantage when they’re supported by City Hall: They get empowered to act as virtual incumbents months before the election, based on access and resources given through allies in City Hall.

City Hall connections can help candidates prove themselves to voters by swiftly addressing issues that fall in the domain of an alderman, like securing a new trash bin, getting a pothole fixed or tackling long-standing quality of life complaints. On the flipside, candidates who are out of favor with City Hall complain they’re blocked out from such access during campaign season.

Brison (pictured) hit on this theme in a March 10 letter to City Hall.

“I am more than disappointed to realize I have been excluded from several important meetings that have been scheduled with administration officials addressing issues of significant interest in my district,” read Brison’s letter. The note was addressed to city parks director Bob Levine, economic development deputy chief Chrissy Bonanno and youth services chief Che Dawson. It was cc-ed to the mayor and news media.

The letter came after Brison found out that Levine had sat down with Elicker and activist Betty Thompson to talk about plans to renovate a dilapidated playground in Cedar Hill.

Without naming specifics, Brison contended he was left out of meetings about “issues for which I have advocated and been working on.”

“I’m sure you will all agree that it is your responsibility to give me sufficient, advance notice of all relevant meetings so that I can carry out my responsibilities to my constituents,” Brison wrote. “Failure to give me notice is unacceptable.”

Elicker dismissed the complaint as a red herring.

He said neighbors in Cedar Hill had been asking for years for someone to fix up the playground, which lies in a neglected corner of East Rock. The playground was decrepit, and poor lighting was attracting illicit activity at night. Neighbors “felt they lacked an advocate” for the issue, he said. They approached Elicker and Thompson, co-leaders of the Friends of East Rock Park, who in turn reached out to Levine. The three sat down in February and talked about how to make progress on the issue.

The parks department has now begun work on the site: It has replaced polluted sand with wood chips, put out to bid a contract to increase lighting, and drafted designs for a new playground, according to Elicker.

He said he got involved with the project not through favoritism by City Hall, but by being proactive.

“An alderman’s role is to be loud, persistent and to get things done for the neighborhood,” said Elicker. “We need someone who pushes to meet with people — and pushes to be in the room when decisions are made.”

Elicker was on the inside loop in early meetings about the Whitney Avenue redo. When the school board announced Hooker School construction delays, staff gave him the early scoop at the same time as the neighborhood aldermen — allowing him to send out the info to neighbors on his campaign email list before it was publicly known. Both allowed him to position himself in the role of virtual alderman, community organizing and informing neighbors about the ward. He denied he was being given any special treatment.

“I’m not receiving favorable assistance from city employees,” Elicker said. He said he has access to city staff because he attends public meetings relevant to Ward 10, then follows up. “I’m learning about the issues aggressively.”

He added that as an incumbent, Brison enjoys the advantages of name recognition and free mailings to constituents.

City Hall Swings Back

Brison’s complaint about being excluded from meetings spurred a furious rebuke from the mayor’s top political operative, Chief of Staff Sean Matteson.

In a reply dated March 19, Matteson wrote that city staff could not recall excluding Brison from “a meeting of any importance.” He swung back at Brison for failing to be proactive on issues in his ward. The letter, obtained by the Independent, sheds light on the alderman’s relationship with, and treatment by, City Hall.

“What is it that you would have City staff do — ignore our constituents? Put on hold the residents of the City unless you are present at all times no matter what the level of the problem, the question or the issue?” Matteson wrote.

“I would kindly remind you that these are the mayor’s constituents as well,” wrote Matteson, “and that you have consistently demonstrated little interest in working together to solve problems in East Rock or any other part of town for that matter.”

“I cannot control the fact [that] the residents choose to reach out to City staff as opposed to you. Perhaps your constituents feel as though City staff is more responsive to their needs. Perhaps they might even feel that you do not have their interest in mind,” Matteson continued.

“In fact, the only time I can remember you calling me on an issue was when you called me and asked me if you could get an extra copy of the program from your swearing-in to the Board at the 2008 Inauguration. You have but once or twice reached out to this Office about any specific issue in your Ward and have never brought forward a concern raised by one of your constituents.”

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Comments

Posted by: Streever | July 27, 2009 11:23 AM

I can't help but get Matteson's back on the Brison issue--I've been working with Justin for years & have seen little to no support or proactivity from Brison. (and this is from someone who regularly disagrees with City Hall--at least recently)

I genuinely like & respect Brison and his contributions to the ward, but know from personal experience that he has not supported Justin's work in Ward 10.

Justin is energetic, proactive, &--crucial--used his OWN time & energy to schedule the meetings that Brison complains about.

Justin is the one meeting with Levine & the others because he's the one who contacted them. He is the one who went to Cedar Hill & asked them what they want.

Say what you will about the mayor--you can't deny that Justin is putting time & energy into reaching out to the City & asking them to do more in East Rock. That's just the type of person he is, and why I support him.

Posted by: Interesting Stance | July 27, 2009 11:34 AM

I'm not sure what this does for Elicker, but I'm glad he's at least trying to take a stand.

I'm also not sure what Ms. Festa's concerns are about Roland Lemar and Justin working together - Roland has proven to be tough, incredibly effective and willing to hit back at the Mayor and his administration. Having two young, hard-working alders in East Rock would be great for us! Elicker might be a little too young, but he will grow into the position quite well.

This should be an exciting campaign season in East Rock - 2 contested Aldermanic elections!

Posted by: anon | July 27, 2009 11:40 AM

This article trashes Brison. Fair and balanced?

Posted by: Ka Ching | July 27, 2009 11:50 AM

So THAT'S why we pay Matteson the big bucks: an unparalleled skill in the art of writing catty petty letters to a harmless (and, yes, totally useless) alderman. I can see how that's COMPLETELY worth it.

Posted by: Streever | July 27, 2009 12:36 PM

Anon:
This hardly trashes brison. It airs a complaint of Brison's & covers a stance that Justin took in public. This is the news. If Brison did something exciting I am sure they would (and have!) covered it.

Conspiracy theorists gather round.... :)

Posted by: Riley Rosen | July 27, 2009 12:37 PM

Elicker has helped so much in the neighborhood. His unwavering commitment has improved the lives of all its residents, and I hope his re-election campaign is successful - it needs to be to ensure the future of his ward.

Posted by: anon | July 27, 2009 12:44 PM

Ka Ching, you have a good point. It's time to put the taxpayers of our city first. We need to evaluate the long-term cost of every paid city position and each position's necessity to the survivability of the city.

My guess is we should pay the front-line teachers and police more (and start a generous homebuyer program so they actually choose to live in New Haven), while cutting about half of the administrative positions.

Just to give an example, if the New Haven Tree Lighting Event costs are city $100K/year in direct costs (for the overhead, salaries etc) and another $60/year in long term costs (in the form of retirements, pensions, etc.), it should be cut.

That $160K/year for the next 50 years could be put to much better use, for example, buying homes for teachers, rebuilding blighted parks in the Hill neighborhood, or re-starting the summer enrichment programs for hundreds of city kids which have recently fallen to the Mayor's budget ax.

Posted by: Avon Street | July 27, 2009 1:03 PM

Am I missing something or does anyone really give a hoot about ties to destefano? Candidates win or lose based on their platform and community ties. So I don't know what is funnier: asking for someone's vote by pledging not to have a relationship with the mayor of the city or voting for a guy that guarantees he has no relationship with the mayor of the city. Either way east Rock looses.

Just tell me what you want to do for the neighborhood.

Posted by: Ben | July 27, 2009 1:37 PM

Interesting Stance,

30 is too young?
I see Rodriguez as an excellent Alder in Fair Haven and he's not even 25.

If we don't see 20 something and 30 something alders in New Haven we're in trouble.

Posted by: cat2000 | July 27, 2009 1:44 PM

What's with the posturing from Matteson? What lack of civility and respect for the alderperson, regardless of his motive in writing the letter! totally unprofessional Mayor D....

Posted by: lance | July 27, 2009 1:45 PM

when was the last time that guy ate?

Posted by: John | July 27, 2009 2:21 PM

Interesting Stance,

How is Elicker too young? He's actually older than Alderman Lemar, Alders Calder and Plattus and Alderman Joey Rodriguez.

Posted by: JOSIAHBROWNFORMAYOR | July 27, 2009 2:49 PM

I am confused by both Riley Rosen's comment and this article itself.

Rosen says, "Elicker has helped so much in the neighborhood.... I hope his re-election campaign is successful." Elicker is not seeking re-election; Allan Brison is. Whom do you support?

As to the article (not the first time this has happened) entitled "Elicker Swears Off Mayor's Money," why does it conclude with quotations from one of the mayor's aides lambasting Brison? Not really an effective way to support an argument that Elicker's alleged ties to Downtown are nothing more than the speculative fabrications of his opponent's supporters.

Seems to me that there is more than one story here; one of which may have been better served by the title, "Sour Grapes: Green Alder and City Hall Minion Square Off Over Meetings."

Posted by: City Hall Watch | July 27, 2009 2:50 PM

As I pay nearly $4,000 in property taxes today and with Carl Goldfield's soothing words that this year's budget is "frugal," it is comforting to know my money is being spent on the likes of Sean Matteson. He is the alter ego of Mayor DeStefano and exhibits the same disdain and disgust with both elected officials and taxpayers. I think it must be in the job description that to work for the mayor requires you to be able to write juvenile, insipid and pointless letters; be able to display rhetorical disdain and provide a flourish of wordy denigration that's as classless as it is useless and clueless. This reminds me of DeStefano's own pressers where he trashes New Haven and state taxpayers; development aficionado Kelly Murphy's harangue to YNHH over the cancer center or Matteson's recent spat of half truths with respect to the stealth raises in which he concludes his comments with resounding F-you to alders and taxpayers because the unbudgeted pay-raises were going forward despite the concern and objections. It's great to know that Matteson is "listening" to the mayor's constituents so well and that he truly understands the meaning of "publc servant."

Posted by: Ward10 Oldtimer | July 27, 2009 4:13 PM

Puzzling article.

The Ward 10 Committee election was two weeks ago. The Ward 10 open aldermanic forum from which Bailey quotes Brison was almost two months ago. From the events it refers to, it seems like the out-of-bounds letter from the Mayor's Chief of Staff, Sean Matteson, was months before that.

Why is this news today?

Posted by: Ben Berkowitz | July 27, 2009 4:51 PM

Hey Paul,
You should have a wiki for your article titles and let us alter them...seriously, you'd be the first I bet.

Posted by: Ben | July 27, 2009 4:52 PM

Or just and alternative Article Title
comment section.

Posted by: Facchek | July 27, 2009 8:00 PM

"I am not accepting campaign contributions from the mayor's administration."

Really....
So what brought on this confession of the soul from Elicker? you talk as if the 30 or so senior staffers are standing in line with a fist full of fifties for your campaign..

I just love the way Elicker solves the problem before creating it..
and how about the way Elicker steals a campaign line away from Brison and makes it he's own..

Like on June 3, 2009 at a ward meeting Brison set his campaign tone by saying...

"In a much briefer address than Elicker's, Brison spoke about the role of an alderman as a "check to the power of the executive branch" and as an advocate for constituent services. He mentioned his work on the "Fight the Hike" campaign against increases in utility bills.

Fast forward to this article above..
Elicker now says.."A good alderman needs to both advocate for the neighborhood and provide a "check and balance" to the mayor".

Sound familiar? Elicker now says a good alderman should have the attributes that brison based his campaign on.

Then Elicker has the BRASS to set up a meeting with Levine from the parks department to discuss a fundamental neighborhood issue, which rightfully should first be taken through the alder. Instead, as the article above suggest, Elicker, under cuts Brison and tries to score political points by saying he is simply advocating for the neighborhood, and further that:

"He said he got involved with the project not through favoritism by City Hall, but by being proactive.

"An alderman's role is to be loud, persistent and to get things done for the neighborhood," said Elicker. "We need someone who pushes to meet with people -- and pushes to be in the room when decisions are made."

Next time Elicker follow the procedure and push to go through your alder person.. Stop the back stabbing and self indulgence, that is not the established way to get things done..

Don't say a word Streever...Let Elicker respond, not his echo...
I'm just waiting to unload on you!!

Posted by: Hoboken | July 27, 2009 9:17 PM

Come on folks. Elicker and Paca are DeStefano stooges. Both have been hanging out at city hall for months having meetings with DeStefano's department heads. They get more red carpet treatment than serving alders.

Posted by: Streever | July 28, 2009 8:03 AM

Facchek:
Ahhh, democracy.

I did a 5 minute google search. It's so weird, Allan must be world famous, because people all over the world think the role of an alderman is to provide a check & balance!

I've actually been posting about it for months. Did I steal that idea from Brison?

(really faccheck! I expect better next time)

I'm glad you too admire Elicker's BRASS. When the local alderman wasn't responsive & people in the neighborhood who do things were complaining, he went straight to the City & got it done.

I've always admired people who got stuff done without worrying about the nonsense.

Posted by: Streever | July 28, 2009 11:50 AM

Hoboken: Do you mean that Elicker works harder than a lot of alders?

I'm sorry the aldermen resent the hard work of the challengers. Maybe they should start showing up at the Community Management Team meetings? Elicker attends them all....

Posted by: cedarhillresident | July 28, 2009 2:33 PM

Without naming specifics, Brison contended he was left out of meetings about "issues for which I have advocated and been working on."

Your answer was there is nothing we can do at this time. It is not in the budeget. All the BS lines. SO WE got on the horn with justin and asked him to help where you could not.

Posted by: The Count | July 28, 2009 4:13 PM

So, why won't Elicker say one way or the other how he feels about Tweed-New Haven Airport? If he is the "alternative", I would think he has some new ideas in helping the place be more efficient and self-sufficient, unlike the incumbent who, by his Green Party membership, is already against any attempt the Tweed management does to make the place competitive (property acquisition, improved air service, etc.) Just look at the "hatchet job" Charlie Pillsbury did on Tweed with the "agreement" between New Haven and East Haven.
C'mon, Justin: Say something nice about Tweed!

Posted by: FacChek | July 28, 2009 8:00 PM

To: Streever,
My interest in posting an opinion on the NHI is twofold:

First, as stated in the commenting policy link immediately above, the Independent encourages persons to post anonymously, according to the independents policy:

"We're interested in hosting the most diverse and free-flowing debate possible within civil limits; we want the most ideas possible to be published. That's why we allow anonymous posts. We trust readers to be discerning".
So when you and others call anonymous posters "Cowards" or "afraid to include your real name" is deceitful, you and others are wrong.

You should no longer use the derogatory word coward, that word is definitely against the policy of the NHI.

Secondly, I am interested as others, I'm sure, in simply offering an opinion based on the article as written by the NHI, and not spending my time responding to scant informed opinions of those who do not wish to address the issues raised in the article, but appear, as you do, to simply troll this site at all hours of the day and night, in an attempt to persuade readers to your point of reasoning, which for the most part is more often than not, off-the-point.

Now I will address the issue you raised to me regarding check and balance. But only this one time... ready...

Checks and balances is a U.S. Constitution concept referring to the three branches of government..Executive.. Legislative.. and judicial, providing oversight of one another. This concept works in a democracy.

In New Haven, however, we have a Mayor and Board of Alderman, if you read the charter each branch has a built in check on the other, however, unlike the U.S. government,the BOA abdicates it's responsibility under the charter to the Mayor, and as such, we have a form of government without a check and definitely no balance.

Brison was the first to mention the need to reinstall a check on the Mayors powers during a ward meeting on June 3rd, and was reported by the NHI.. Check the east rock link on the left side bar above.

In your posting You have attempted to impose your opinion in place of Elickers as some sort of proxy..

I'm not having any of that..

Elicker is the candidate not you, and it is he who is now attempting to position himself as the first, candidate to take this position...calling for "checks and balances on the Mayor's powers.
while calling for neighborhood involvement.

His position is a fallacy, and the two articles appearing in the NHI bear this FAC out.

exposing these facs was my reason for responding to this article, and I do not wish to have this educational side-bar with you.

That being said, please review this comment thoroughly.. I do not intend responding to your theatrics again... unless overwhelmingly compelled to do so.

Good nite..

Posted by: New And Improved | July 28, 2009 10:33 PM

This is the least the guy could do when you consider that the campaign funds a virtually coersed from workers under the threat of loosing funding for or eliminating their positions entirely. In New Haven you're only as valuable as your willingness to funnel part of your paycheck back into the mayors campaign coffers.

Posted by: Streever | July 29, 2009 10:31 AM

Faccheck:
FAIL

Posted by: Streever | July 29, 2009 10:38 AM

Faccheck:

Is it always your policy to write back to someone who spends time to refute your weak arguments with long, drawn-out personal attacks, rife with logical fallacies?

Elicker Swears Off Mayor’s Money

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