Paul Bass Photo
Stemerman at Shubert debate.
Toni Harp may not be running for governor, but don’t tell that to the Republicans who are.
For the second time in eight days, a Republican gubernatorial candidate took a shot at New Haven’s Democratic mayor.
The latest salvo came Tuesday from self-financing David Stemerman, who issued a release savaging Harp for giving top aides a raise at the same time that the Board of Education sent out 1,100 layoff notices.
His release came a week after another Republican candidate, Tim Herbst, called out Harp by name from the stage of the Shubert during a debate over New Haven’s sanctuary city policies.
“The image of a mayor dolling out hundreds in thousands in taxpayer money to her inner circle, even as children in her city face growing waitlists for high quality public charters, is the epitome of what’s wrong in Connecticut today,” Stemerman was quoted saying in Tuesday’s release. “Our children deserve high-quality education, and instead our best charters – such as Achievement First in New Haven – are closing their doors due to chronic underfunding of $4,000 per student. And our taxpayers deserve more than tax hikes going directly to government bureaucrats who produce no results.
“This latest news underscores the stakes of this year’s elections: more self-serving Democratic rule to the benefit of political insiders, or a total change to save our state and make it work for the taxpayers, families and businesses.”
The release went on to describe a visit Stermerman made to New Haven’s charter Amistad High School; it praised charters and accused “Hartford insiders” of “severely underfunding high-quality public charters – resulting in longer and longer waitlists and schools closing their doors.”
Harp has defended the raises, noting that most of the aides had not received any raises for years and that these raises are commensurate with those given to unionized supervisors.
Here’s what she had to say when asked Wednesday about Stemerman’s release: “I never met Mr. Stemerman. He doesn’t know anything about New Haven. His remarks show that he is a rookie candidate.”
Meanwhile, Amistad High Principal Morgan Barth said there is no danger of the school closing its doors.
“While we at Amistad will always advocate to be funded at the same levels as other schools, our doors will remain open. There is no present threat to Amistad closing,” Barth wrote in an email message.
Educate This Notes: