Toni Harp’s signs came down. A Kermit Carolina sign went up. But the battle for the vote at 48 Foote St. may not be over yet.
The battle was joined on Sunday. Kermit Carolina, a son of Dixwell and one of five Democratic candidates for mayor, came upon Valerie McKinnie Council and Walter Council sitting on their front porch at 48 Foote in the Monterey housing complex, around the corner from where Carolina grew up. Carolina noticed signs on the lawn and in the window for one of his opponents, Toni Harp. He asked why.
Valerie engaged him in a discussion about his receipt of money from the public-financing Democracy Fund. After that discussion (click on this story and on the video to follow it) the Councils promised to keep an open mind.
Fast forward to Tuesday night: The Harp signs were gone. A Carolina sign was in the window.
And Walter was on the front porch.
Where did the Harp signs go? he was asked.
The sign on the lawn had been “full of roaches,” Walter said, so he took it down.
What about the one in the window?
“He [Carolina] asked to me to take it down and put his up,” Walter responded. He said he remains “undecided” in the race.
Valerie wasn’t around. Reached Wednesday morning, she said the sign switch was Walter’s decision. “My husband took it upon his-self. I came home. I said, ‘What is that?’”
She revealed that Walter is supporting Carolina because he considers the candidate “a young man who deserves a chance.”
For her part, Valerie insists she remained uncommitted — and quite skeptical of Carolina’s track record as Hillhouse High School principal. “It just doesn’t jibe with me,” she said.
“There’s no problem,” she added, “with a family being divided” about an election.
Elicker Polls: Some voters got their first phone calls this past week from someone conducting a mayoral poll. The poll focused on three candidates: Harp, Henry Fernandez, and Justin Elicker. It didn’t mention the other two Democratic candidates, Carolina and Sundiata Keitazulu. After a while the poll drilled down on Elicker and the potential pros and cons of his candidacy.
Some people who received the calls contacted the Independent, wondering if it was a “push poll” commissioned by one of Elicker’s opponents.
It turns out Elicker himself commissioned the poll, from a Danbury-based operation. But he won’t say anything about it. “We’re not going to make any comments on campaign strategy,” he responded when asked about it.
The other candidates have not yet commissioned polls. Harp’s campaign manager, Jason Bartlett, said his operation will have a telephone poll up next week. “It’ll be a real poll, a benchmark poll” gauging “the dynamic as it relates to issues and the candidates,” as opposed to a push poll that tries to convince the participant to end up liking or disliking a particular candidate, Bartlett said.
Anchors Aweigh: Amid all the campaigning, two of the candidates, Elicker and Fernandez, were spotting having a drink together at the Anchor Bar on College Street.
“It’s not a big deal,” Elicker said of the meeting. “Henry asked me for a drink. I’m always happy to meet with anybody to hear them out.” He emphasized that “there’s no collaboration between the campaigns. And there won’t be.”
“He and I had never sat down and talked” before, Fernandez said. “I thought it was worthwhile to sit down and have a conversation a little bit.”
Textual Relations
The Elicker campaign Wednesday announced a new text message alert system. People who text “Justin” to 203 – 989-3737 will receive messages about upcoming campaign events and news.
Elicker linked the new “text message initiative” to his latest policy pitch: “21st-century Technology for City Government.”
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