Harp Vows To Reveal ​“Mystery Donors”

I'm impressed that he's going down fighting, but as long as Toni Harp has the unions in her pocket Justin Elicker will be unable to close the deal.

EarlyBird: Harp is losing Dems (see preliminary Town Committee votes) and Justin appeals to Independents. See his vote in the first campaign. The Union support is insufficient to guarantee a win any more.

PS The lack of transparency - not to mention compliance with SEEC rules - reflects poorly on Harp. She is the candidate. She is the current Mayor. How long can you violate the basic rules and laws and still think you deserve the public trust?

This is why I am voting for Justin Elicker. I think that Mayor Harp is an extremely sharp and well accomplished politician. I think that she knows how the state government works and has the ability to bring in state dollars to New Haven. I think that violent crime is down across the city. She has supported many of the things that are important to me like sanctuary city proclamations. The problem is the transparency. She has not resolved her election issues from the previous election, one in which she really did not have another opponent who was trying all the way to the end (Sorry Sarah and Marcus.) In this election her problems have continued. This is indicative of how she has run the city. What seems like a simple procedure of reporting who is giving you money and what you are spending it on has not been followed. Does this remind us of other scandals from city hall this year? We deserve better than this. It is either that the mayor does not want us to know who gave to--which I doubt--or that her team does not know how to track expenses. I think that this should be resolved before the election.

I am going into voting for Justin Elicker with my eyes open. He has less experience. Some of his outreach across the neighborhoods has been a little tone deaf. He is a little naive about what he can accomplish with Yale. What he can do is run a campaign that has hired the right people to raise money and enthusiasm and fill out the correct forms in a timely manner. That sounds like the right person for city hall right now.

When there is true transparency, there is no need for mystery.
For 2019 and 2017, the Harp campaigns have gained to disclose specific information about donors.
TWO years have passed from the last campaign, yet that information about mystery donors has not yet been made public.
Why the mystery? Why the secrecy? Why the failure to follow standard procedures? Why the delays?
Was there some hope that the public would forget?
It's the LAW! JUST FOLLOW THE LAW! Why is that so difficult for the Harp campaign to do if theyvhsve nothing to hide that might prove to be an embarrassment to the campaign.
Judge Judy always says when you tell the truth you don't have to THINK about what you're going to say.
Just the facts ma'am, just release the facts. If the information is valid, no problem. Move on.
If there are illegalities, any unethical financial dealings, any crooked contributions, there will be problems for the Harp campaign.
We hope there will be no effort to blame Trump or the FBI if problems are revealed.
The public will watch and wait for the mystery to be revealed.

I heard that Toni as going to say that Trump ate her homework...

Me and my wife are supporting Elicker with some slight hesitation. We hope he will respect residents quality of life of issues through discussion and outreach before some zoning change is made.
Wooster Square residents passionately opposed the Youth Continuum over night shelter. Subsequent to the Conte June 2018 public meeting where the majority of residents and Police expressed opposition to permit night time shelter of young adults, some loophole was either created and/or zoning variance exploited to greenlight this additional service.

The LCI Downtown and Wooster Square Neighborhood Specialist Carmen Mendez, also voiced her oppostion to the Youth Continuum expanded use, citing the saturation of non-profit social service agencies located within the Grand Avenue corridor between Olive and East Streets. Mendez stated this challenges existing business's and discourages new enterprises from locating to what was once a thriving retail mecca,ultimately resulting in supressing commercial tax base growth.

Justin Elicker supports the Youth Continuum expansion even though it's Harvard model exists on the Harvard campus and has caused problems in the neighborhood. If the impressive efforts of Elickers campaign staff vetting Harps sloppy campaign report filings are applied to neighborhood concerns, then community stability will be maintained.

We pray Elicker has the wisdom to realize you don't need an Ivy League pedigree to know whats right for Elm City living and its OK if you don't have all the answers. Democratic Presidential candidate, South Bend, Indianna Mayor Pete Buttigieg, was praised during the first Democratic debate for honestly answering why there was no increase of minority police officers during his 2 terms to which he replied, "We couldn't get it done".

@ Early Bird
Never over-estimate the influence of unions.
Never underestimate the power of the people in a democracy.
Never underestimate the impact of a well-run campaign that works in overdrive to contact and communicate with individual voters one house at a time, ward by ward, throughout the city.
Justin Elicker is one of the hardest working politicians we have seen in New Haven in decades!
Don't believe the hype about the unions.
Don't be hoodwinked or bamboozled.
Many union members are not even New Haven residents, and cannot vote in city elections.
Union money cannot always buy elections when the People flex their muscles.

Honestly, I wonder if Harp's donors even want to be identified publicly. They might be fighting it.

The mayor's promises to reveal donors - something she hasn't done according to the rules is overdue, outside the boundaries and a violation of state law.

As I campaign across Ward 25 in lower Westville, one of the biggest complaints I am hearing is about Unite Here. It isnt that residents are anti union, it's that people believe our elected officials have catered to Unite Here while ignoring the rest of the electorate.

Dennis Serfilippi

@Frank Columbo

Wooster Square residents passionately opposed the Youth Continuum over night shelter. Subsequent to the Conte June 2018 public meeting where the majority of residents and Police expressed opposition to permit night time shelter of young adults, some loophole was either created and/or zoning variance exploited to greenlight this additional service.

That's why disclosing her donors is a must and would expose special treatment to big spenders in the area of zoning, building and LCI issues

ELICKER FOR MAYOR is my stance

"HARP VOWS TO REVEAL MYSTERY DONORS"
Those who wrote this article failed to press the mayor for a deadline.
WHEN WILL THE MYSTERY DONOR LIST BE REVEALED?
The public has been waiting since 2017 for the complete donor list from the previous election.
Now the public awaits the complete donor list for the current election.
This is a legal requirement for ALL candidates. It is not optional. It is not voluntary.
Public release of the names of donors and the amount of their contributions is required in order for there to be transparency in campaign financing.
Mayor Harp will be expected to keep her vow in a timely manner BEFORE the election.
"Better is it that thou shoulders not vow, than that thou shoulders vow and not pay."
---Ecclesiastes 5:5
"