Campaign Diary 4/24/13

Harp Responds To Critics

Toni Harp summoned a former president to respond to the first criticism to come from an opponent in this year’s mayoral race.

That criticism came from Hillhouse Principal Kermit Carolina, who has an ​“exploratory committee” urging him to seek the Democratic nomination for mayor. Toni Harp, an 11th-term state senator, announced Monday that she will also seek the nomination, joining fellow Democratic candidates Henry Fernandez, Gary Holder-Winfield, Justin Elicker, Matthew Nemerson, and Sundiata Keitazulu.

As the race’s presumed frontrunner, Harp got people asking whether other candidates would drop out as a result of her surprise entrance because of her popularity, name recognition, and decades in elected office. At a Tuesday night campaign event designed to show he’s still very much moving ahead, Carolina (pictured) made a generational argument.

“The 50-plus group knows Toni the best,” Carolina said. ​“And people under 45 know me best.” There are exceptions to those categories, of course, he said. He said many younger people in New Haven don’t know who Harp is.

Harp is 65 years old; Carolina, 45.

In response Wednesday morning, Harp said with a chuckle that she, like former President Ronald Reagan in 1984, will not use her opponents’ ​“inexperience” against them. When challenged about his senior-citizen status during a 1984 campaign debate, Reagan was quoted as responding: ​“I will not make age an issue in this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” (Click on the play arrow to watch that moment.)

Carolina also criticized Harp’s ​“character” for originally supporting fellow legislator Holder-Winfield’s campaign, then suddenly switching gears to run herself.

“It seems a little selfish” of Harp to leave her powerful Capitol position to pursue something that was ​“on her personal list of things to do” — be mayor. The job switch would come ​“at the expense of people she serves,” Carolina said.

“I know it’s upsetting some people” in other campaigns that she decided to run, responded Harp (pictured). ​“I’m running because I can do good things for the city. I want to talk about issues that matter. I want to talk to people about how to building up the city as a wonderful place to raise children.” She said she has ​“the utmost respect for Gary. He’s a fabulous legislator. I look forward to continue to working with him, mentoring from him, learning from him.”

Weekend Examination Looms

For his part, Holder-Winfield (pictured speaking at a mayoral debate last weekend), a third-term state representative, said he’s going to reserve time this weekend to step away from the hustle and bustle of the state legislature and the mayoral race to weigh the future of his own campaign in light of Harp’s announcement.

He repeated two points he had made Monday: He for now is still running for mayor ​“at this point.” But he is definitely ​“reassessing” whether he should continue given Harp’s entrance. (Read about that here.) He’s been speaking continuously with supporters about the subject.

“Some people say, ​‘It’s a problem.’ Others say, ​‘Go for it,’” he reported.

He won’t necessarily have a decision made by Monday morning, he said, but he will have finally had time to gather lots of input and then examine it thoughtfully.

A Chance Enounter On Ogden Street

Another Democratic candidate, Matthew Nemerson (pictured at the same debate), demonstrated that his campaign, too, remains fully on in the wake of Harp’s announcement. He began a formal planned leave from his day job as president and CEO of the East Hartford-based Connecticut Technology Council. A press release read in part: ​“Matthew Nemerson, a leader in Connecticut’s technology industry and economic development will continue at the Council on a part-time basis as he runs for Mayor of New Haven. Nemerson will continue to supervise the management of the CTC, with day-to-day responsibilities for running the organization left to senior staff. He will continue to be actively involved in advising the other organizations under CTC’s management, Crossroads Venture Group and CTNext, the State’s initiative to support entrepreneurship.”

Meanwhile, Nemerson said he was taking a walk Tuesday morning in the East Rock neighborhood when he bumped into Police Chief Dean Esserman on Ogden Street. Esserman told him he’d read Nemerson’s comments in this Independent article calling for ​“reintroducing” more block watches citywide as part of rebuilding community policing. Esserman told Nemerson he agreed and had begun acting on the suggestion.

Esserman confirmed Nemerson’s account. Esserman said he plans to ​“reach out” to leaders of all block watch and community management teams to get their advice on how to expand and revitalize the city’s block watches. He said he raised the issue as well to district managers at a department retreat last Friday: ​“We are working inside the department to rebuild. In the spirit of community policing, we need the same effort” out in the community with block watches and management teams. ​“The New Haven police department does not believe in working alone.”

Nemerson said he drew a lesson from the encounter: that candidates serve the city well by throwing out specific proposals.

“The value of a campaign is if we put things out on the table — like my idea of an honors high school, or developing industrial parks on the Boulevard and East Street — wherever I go people are asking me about the specific things that I’m putting out there,” he said. ​“I’m realizing that the power of the public debate are what the next five or six months are going to be about.”