In light of a state probe into enrollment figures at the Celentano School, mayoral hopeful Jim Newton called for a full investigation of the mayor’s $1.5 billion school construction program, including “whether … the mayor has been using the school construction program for his own personal piggy bank” to generate campaign contributions. Click on the PLAY arrow to watch his speech, delivered from his new campaign headquarters in an obscure Long Wharf warehouse.
The Independent reported Monday that the state, acting on a whistleblower complaint, is investigating whether it overpaid New Haven for the rebuilding of Celentano School.
At a press conference Thursday, Newton called for Attorney General Blumenthal’s probe to be expanded to examine all aspects of Mayor John DeStefano’s plan to rebuild every public school in the city. Proponents of the program say it gives kids a high-tech school they can be proud of, for a good price: 80 percent of the construction is refunded by the state, according to the school system. Newton, a Democrat challenging DeStefano in a September primary, railed against the program as fiscally irresponsible.
(Click here to read the text of Newton’s speech. Click on the PLAY arrow above to watch the beginning.)
“How is it that untold millions have been spent on facilities already in need of repair?” Newton asked. Some schools, like this one, have suffered maintenance problems shortly after being built. Others have reported water damage or floor tiles that peel up from the ground. Aldermen have already requested a list of all post-construction issues in newly built schools, how the issues are being resolved and who will bear the cost. School construction chief Sue Weisselberg said Thursday she plans to complete the list next week.
Newton took the chance to criticize the school system as a whole: “How is it that we pay inflated salaries to school officials and yet the children who are being taught constantly fall below accepted standards when being testing for proficiency?”
He called for the attorney general to investigate how much money had been donated to DeStefano’s mayoral and gubernatorial campaigns by contractors and architects the city hired to build the schools.
Is DeStefano using the program as a “personal piggy bank” to generate campaign contributions? Adriana Arreola, DeStefano’s campaign manager, defended the charge: “The mayor is running one of the cleanest campaigns in Connecticut history.” He’s participating in the Democracy Fund, while Newton is choosing not to, she noted.
What about using contractors to fund his gubernatorial race? DeStefano “raised more money than any other Democrat in Connecticut history. He had over 7,000 people donate to the campaign.” Some of the donors were contractors who did work with the city, Arreola said, but “They’re not forced to give money, they give it willingly.”
New Digs
Newton’s press event Thursday was the first in his new headquarters, in an out-of-the-way warehouse among the meat markets of Long Wharf.
The speech was delayed as attendees — five supporters and two reporters — searched for the entrance among the loading docks. Through a large window, campaign staff spotted former Mayor John Daniels looping through the Long Wharf terminal in a sedan.
“That’s him! I know it was him — I saw the Malloy bumper sticker on his car,” said Newton’s spokeswoman, sending a scout to find him. Daniels, who openly supported Dan Malloy, DeStefano’s Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race, is one of Newton’s small crew of supporters making steadfast appearances at Newton events, along with former aldermanic president Tom√°s Reyes.
Adam Riegelmann (pictured) is another steady face. The treasurer of the campaign, he used to own a company next door to Newton’s new digs — the Production and Tool Company, which closed a few years ago.
Riegelmann said he came to the city from Hungary, where he had joined the nationwide revolt of 1956 against a Communist government. He landed in New Haven shortly after the Soviets crushed the revolution. A couple decades later, he met Newton at the Howe Street YMCA, where the two played handball, according to Riegelmann.
“He has a very hard shot — what we call a kill shot,” Riegelmann said of Newton, whom he’s been friends with ever since. “That’s his specialty.”
The pair are still at work setting up the headquarters, which is currently quite bare. Newton said he plans to hold an inaugural celebration soon, as well as release positions on the city budget and the municipal ID, about which he declined to comment.
why is the NHI so anti-Newton? You call his campaign unclean, which is a lie. You refer to his campaign office as obscure, so what. Maybe you think he should set up in town hall. I would suggest NHI try to be fair. The mayor, and you know it has many skeltons in the closet. It has been suggested in this forum many times to look at deferral programs, to FOI certain departments, yet I never see anything. When did you sell out like the Register. Shame on you.