Campaign Promise: I’ll Rake Your Yard

After Hurricane Irene knocked down trees across his upper Westville neighborhood, aldermanic candidate Stan Kontogiannis headed out for a new type of campaigning — with a rake in one hand and campaign flyers in the other.

Kontogiannis is running for alderman in Ward 27, a swath of New Haven’s west side that includes parts of Beaver Hills, Westville, West Hills, Amity, and Beverly Hills. He and Angela Russel, both seeking to replace retiring Alderman Tom Lehtonen, will square off in a Sept. 13 Democratic primary. Kontogiannis is the town Democratic committee-endorsed candidate and also has the blessing of Alderman Lehtonen.

His neighborhood cleanup rounds came as candidates have been forced to adjust the pace and tone of their campaigns in response to the natural disaster. Five aldermen and two aldermanic candidates are among those organizing 11 cleanups across the city Saturday—click here for a list of locations.

Kontogiannis said he suspended his normal door-to-door campaign this week; instead he emailed the Independent to invite coverage of his cleanup efforts.

Kontogiannis had another opponent in the race, Mary Wadley, who lives on Fountain Street. Wadley told the Independent Friday she has withdrawn from the race and is throwing her support to Kontogiannis.

An Australian of Greek parentage, who still speaks with an Aussie accent, Kontogiannis said he came to New Haven in 1998 at the request of Anthony Kennedy Shriver, to run the Best Buddies program and stayed on. He’s currently in charge of raising money and managing corporate relations for the Eastern Connecticut Heath Network headquartered in Manchester.

Before Irene hit, Kontogiannis was already in crisis mode. He made over 100 calls to neighbors Saturday night informing them of the city’s Emergency Operations Center phone numbers, he said.

On Tuesday night, looking at the mess in his neighborhood, Kontogiannis decided to get organized. He assembled a crew of nine volunteers to clear debris. They were not campaign workers, he said, but family, friends, and neighbors. It didn’t even occur to him to bring campaign materials, he said. Whey they set out, they didn’t have flyers or clipboards, just rakes, gloves and bags.

Kontogiannis knocked on doors for permission to clean up and move debris to the street for pick-up by the city. If residents weren’t in or Kontogiannis knew that an elderly or sick person lived there and not answering, he moved the stuff anyway.

Tuesday he and his crew focused on cleaning up on Earl Street, where he lives, and on nearby Lawncrest. They worked on 15 houses.

On Wednesday about five people hauled debris to the curbside at five more houses.

Along the way, the candidate picked up plenty of compliments, he reported. On Tuesday a resident on Lawncrest, where he was working, said, ​“I’ve never seen a candidate with a rake.” On Wednesday, he said one woman in her 80s came out as they raked and ​“called us angels for what we did.”

But he got some surprising complaints too, he said. People were upset he hadn’t brought campaign literature.

So on Thursday he took flyers along with bags and gardening equipment.

He said the work is bipartisan. ​“I’m helping Democrats, Republicans, unaffiliated, anyone in the ward who needs it,” he said.

On Thursday night, before his crew assembled, Kontogiannis paid a visit to a person who’s supporting his candidacy. He knocked on Kathleen Flanagan’s door on Davis Street. The well-kept little house between Plant and Fountain is Flanagan’s childhood home, right across the street from what is now the Davis Street Arts and Academics School. Flanagan, who is disabled, lives with her 92-year-old mother.

Kontogiannis’ only helper at that point was his 3‑year-old son Alex, who has just started pre‑K at Davis Street. Kontogiannis said he wasn’t mining for votes. Flanagan, who had asked for his help clearing branches, already sported one of his signs on her trim front lawn.

For the next three quarter of an hour, Kontogiannis lugged lopped off branches from the deep backyard to the curb, forming a chest-high pile. Alex broke toddler-sized twigs as dad did the heavier schlepping.

Kontogiannis said it was as important to show his son the value of being a good neighbor as it was to impress potential constituents. ​“If we don’t do the right thing, who will? If we don’t lead by example, [who will]? I’m not only talking about community involvement. I live it.”

Angela Russell did not return several phone messages left Thursday and Friday.

As Kontogiannis finished up at her Davis Street house, Flanagan gave him her endorsement: ​“Never ever in 57 years have I seen an alderman or potential alderman go out of his way like this to help his constituent.”

Would Kontogiannis continue to do this kind of work if he is elected?

“This is nothing new. This is who I am,” he said.

Kontogiannis checked his watch and repositioned the sandwich in his son Alex’s hand. Then the two marched off down Davis Street towards Pardee Place to rendezvous with what Kontogiannis estimated would be a crew of about a dozen people.

Kontogiannis later reported that a crew of six to seven people. Instead of downed trees, they moved to collecting abandoned beer bottles and paper napkins strewn around the streets on Pardee, Emerson, and Fountain. He said they filled up four to five bags of trash.