DeStefano, Unions Set Sights On 2013

As Mayor John DeStefano pursues a reelection campaign fueled by city workers’ and contractors’ cash, Yale unions began this week to suss out voters’ feelings on a mayoral race that’s over a year away.

The mayor Thursday gave his clearest statement yet on his intention to run for a record 11th two-year term in office. Asked what he’s doing in 2013, DeStefano said, ​“Running for reelection.”

DeStefano (pictured at an event at Gateway Community College Thursday) is already on track to become the longest-serving mayor in city history: If DeStefano makes it through Thursday, Oct. 4, he will have beaten the record set by Mayor Elizur Goodrich in 1822.

With no campaign rivals in sight, DeStefano has racked up over $75,000 in campaign contributions from the usual cast of municipal contractors and city and school employees. The Independent spotted him two weeks ago quietly campaigning with a city staffer, who he claimed was on a ​“lunch break.”

While the mayor is currently running unopposed, Yale unions this week began polling to determine how voters feel about him, and if they’d support various potential contenders in 2013. UNITE HERE Local 34 president Laurie Kennington said the Yale unions paid for the poll and have not decided whom they will back in next year’s mayoral election.

Campaign filings for the three months between April 1 and June 30 indicate that the ​“DeStefano For Mayor” committee took in $75,525 in individual contributions.

The committee’s treasurer is former West Hills aldermanic candidate Stan Kontogiannis, assisted by deputy treasurer Elyse Lyons, a City Hall staffer.

The individual contributions come from dozens of other City Hall staffers and Board of Ed employees, along with mayoral appointees and contractors who do business with the city. The highest individual contributions are of $1,000, including one from prominent developer Carter Winstanley, whose company will be building a $100 million bio-tech lab building in what is now the Rt. 34 corridor.

A July 10 campaign filing lists all the details. Click here to see it.

In addition to individual contributions, the filing also lists donations by groups, including the city firefighters union ($650) and a variety of construction unions (pipefitters: $1,500; sheet metal workers: $300; roofers: $500).

The campaign committee’s largest expense during the reporting period was a May 9 birthday party fundraiser at Anthony’s Ocean View, which cost $7,000. The committee also paid over $3,000 for rent for an office at 129 Church St.

Scroll down to see a listing of notable individual contributions.

Polling Begins

As the mayor pulls in donations, telephone pollsters have been calling voters to suss out which possible mayoral candidates might find popular support in the 2013 Democratic primary.

A phone poll over a year ahead of the race is a rare occurrence.

“It’s not my poll,” DeStefano said. ​“I never would have polled this early.”

Kennington, whose union represents 3,500 office workers at Yale, said Yale unions paid for the poll.

“We wanted to reach out and see what people are thinking of about the mayor’s race for next year,” she said.

She said the unions had not made a decision about whether to support DeStefano or back an opponent against him. She said the unions wanted to get some data from representative voters on their feelings about DeStefano and possible contenders.

“We’ve knocked on a lot of doors over the last couple of years. People have again and again been asking — what about the mayor’s race?” she said. ​“We wanted to figure out more specifically what folks are thinking. … There’s a lot of excitement out there about democracy in the city right now.”

According to Westville neighborhood activist Mary Faulkner, who said she received the call Wednesday night, the poll asks about a variety of possible mayoral candidates: DeStefano, Board of Aldermen President Jorge Perez, State Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, Henry Fernandez, State Sen. Toni Harp, State Rep. Toni Walker, 2011 mayoral candidate Jeffrey Kerekes, and Greater New Haven NAACP President Jim Rawlings.

Faulkner said the woman she spoke with on the phone said she works for Mountain West Research, a company in Idaho. She said the pollster presented positive and negative statements about the mayor and other possible candidates and asked her how each statement might affect the likelihood of voting for or against the candidate. For DeStefano, the positive statement was that he’s improved downtown and made the city safer, Faulkner said. The negative statement was that he’s in the pocket of developers.

The poll seemed to focus especially on Alderman Perez as a mayoral challenger, Faulkner said. A negative statement the pollster tried out about him was that he’s in the pocket of the unions.

Alderman Perez said Thursday that he has no plans to run for mayor and didn’t know about the poll. He said he’s not surprised his name was mentioned in the poll; it has been for the last four or five years, he said. ​“I am the president of the board and I am one of the more visible local people.”

Kerekes, who challenged the mayor in 2011, said he hasn’t decided if he will run again in 2013.

DeStefano Campaign Contributions

City Staff:
Elizabeth Benton, spokeswoman, $300
Victor Bolden, corporation counsel, $150
Joe Clerkin, budget director, $150
James DelVisco, attorney, $150
Scott Dillon, inspector, $50
Richard Fontana, emergency management, $150
Karyn Gilvarg, city plan director, $150
Michael Grant, fire department chief, $100
Todd Kornacki, fire investigation supervisor, $50
Rosemarie Lemley, administrative assistant, $150
Bob Levine, parks director, $100
Stephen Librandi, human resources manager, $150
Ronald Manning, youth services deputy director, $150
Sean Matteson, chief of staff, $150
Amy Meek, attorney, $150
Richard Miller, engineer, $150
Michael O’Neil, finance, $150
Felipe Pastore, attorney, $150
Michael Piscitelli, economic development deputy director, $150
John Prokop, public works head, $150
Ricardo Rodriguez, police, $150
Andy Rizzo, building official, $150
Daniel Roche, workers compensation coordinator, $150
Rob Smut, chief administrative officer, $150
Caprice Taylor Mendez, youth services director, $50
Jim Travers, traffic and parking director, $150
Mark Vauiso, management analyst, $150
Maureen Villani, tax collector, $150
Pat Wallace, elderly services director, $150
Stacy Werner, attorney, $150

Board of Ed:
Donna Aiello, supervisor, $150
Marlene Baldizon, administrator, $150
Eric Barbarito, assistant principal, $150
Charles Blango, truancy officer, $150
Myrta Bonilla, assistant principal, $150
Thomas Burns, school counselor, teachers union VP, $150
Immacolata Canelli, assistant superintendent, $150
Joe Canzanella, administrator, $150
Alice Caraballo, principal, $150
Kristin Cicarella, teacher, $150
David Cicarella, teachers union president, $150
Will Clark, chief operating officer, $500
Larry Conaway, assistant principal, $150
Frank Costanzo, assistant principal, $150
Michael Crocco, principal, $300
Susan Denicola, principal, $150
Mary Derwin, administrator, $150
Nadine Gannon, principal, $150
Yolanda Generette, assistant principal, $150
Margaret Mary Gethings, principal, $150
Garth Harries, assistant superintendent, $500
Kim Johnsky, director of instruction, $150
Gemma Lumpkin, administration, $150
Tina Mannarino, administrator, $150
Kathleen Mattern, assistant principal, $150
Reggie Mayo, superintendent, $500
Pedro Mendia, administrator, $150
Peggy Moore, principal, $150
Lola Nathan, principal, $150
Grace Nathman, assistant principal, $150
Leida Pacini, chief of staff, $150
Margaret Pelley, principal, $150
Steven Pynn, principal, $150
Jaime Ramos, assistant principal, $150
Iline Tracey, administrator, $150
Timothy Visel, administrator, $150
Susan Weisselberg, administrator, $500
Sheila Williams, assistant principal, $150
Gina Wells, administrator, $150

Agencies Associated With The City:
Elizabeth Carbone, Water Pollution Control Authority administrative assistant, $150
Sidney Holbrook, Water Pollution Control Authority executive director, $150
Gabriel Varca, Water Pollution Control Authority accountant, $150
Bill Kilpatrick, parking authority director, $150
Kathleen Krolak, Economic Development Corp., $150
Timothy Larson, Tweed Airport manager, $150
Vin Romei, Chapel West SSD head, $150
Judith Sheiffele, New Haven Port Authority director, $300
Karen DuBois-Walton, HANH director, $150
Jimmy Miller, HANH deputy director, $450
Matt Nemerson, parking authority board chair, $150

Contractors Doing Business With The City:
Albert Annunziata, Annunziata Law Firm, attorney, $500
Sailesh Atluru, DTC, engineer, $150
Karen Baldwin Kravetz, Susman, Duffy & Segaloff, attorney, $500
Alfonso Barbarotta, AFB, facilities management, $500
Joseph Barbarotta, AFB, facilities management, $500
Marna Borgstrom, Yale-New Haven Hospital president/CEO, $500
Sal Brancati, Maritime Advisors consultant, $500
Vincenzo Capasso, G.L. Capasso, mason, $500
Carmine Capasso, G.L. Capasso, mason, $500
Giuseppe Capasso, G.L. Capasso, mason, $500
Mark Cerreta, Lindley Food Service, executive, $500
Richard Couch, Martinez Couch & Associates, engineer, $300
Robert Cox, Halloran & Sage, attorney, $150
Doron Dagan, Luch’s Consulting, engineer, $150
Chris DePino, DePino Associates, lobbyist, $150
Stephen Dietzko, Milone & MacBroom, engineer, $150
Floyd Dugas, Berchem, Moses & Devlin, attorney, $500
Brian Enright, Halloran & Sage, attorney, $150
William Esposito, self-employed appraiser, $300
James Falconer, self-employed civil engineer, $150
Joseph Faughnan, Susman, Duffy & Segaloff, attorney, $500
Joseph Friedler, Friedler & Friedler, attorney, $150
William Gilbane, Gilbane construction, $500
John Gilmore, Milone & MacBroom, engineer, $150
Michael Giordano, Giordano Construction, $500
Vincent Giordano, Giordano Construction, $500
Jeanine Gouin, Milone & MacBroom, engineer, $200
Roger Harrison, RH Associates, utilities expert, $150
Ryan Hutchins, Gilbane, senior VP, $500
Michael Iannuzzi, Tyco, owner, $500
Thomas Katon, Susman, Duffy & Segaloff, attorney, $500
George Keithan, CES, engineer, $1,000
Kerri Keishall-Ward, self-employed ​“Director of Financial Education,” $150
Steven Kononchik, Gilbane, VP, $250
Gregory Lattanzi, attorney, $300
James MacBroom, Milone & MacBroom, engineer, $250
James Maher, Halloran & Sage, attorney, $150
Chris Malerba, Giordano Construction, project manager, $500
Chuck Mascola, Mascola Associates, marketer, $150
Vincent McDermott, Milone & MacBroom, landscape architect, $250
Howard McGarvey, William Gallagher Associates, consultant, $100
Ed Mechiori, self-employed engineer, $150
John Milone, Milone & MacBroom, engineer, $500
Wendy Mongillo, Mongillo & Insler, $300
Deborah Monteith Neubert, Neubert, Pepe & Monteith, attorney, $150
Rainer Muhbauer, BL Companies, architect, $150
Ronald Nault, Luchs Engineers, engineer, $150
Herbert Newman, Newman Architects, $500
David Panico, Robinson & Cole, attorney, $150
James Perito, Halloran & Sage, attorney, $150
W. Martyn Philpot, self-employed attorney, $150
Curtis Robinson, C & R Development, principal, $150
Gilbert Rossomando, Lindley Food Service, president, $500
Glenn Santoro, Robinson & Cole, attorney, $150
Michele Schiraldi, R2D, principal, $750
Leonard Schiraldi, R2D, principal, $750
James Segaloff, Susman, Duffy & Segaloff, attorney, $500
Laura Sklaver, Susman, Duffy & Segaloff, attorney, $500
Michael Susman, Susman, Duffy & Segaloff, attorney, $500
Raul Torres, Malcolm Pirnie, consultant, $500
Benjamin Trachten, Trachten Law Firm, attorney, $500
Murray Trachten, Trachten Law Firm, attorney, $300
Carter Winstanley, Winstanley Enterprises, $1,000
Timothy Yolen, Yolen & Perzin, attorney, $150