Harp Seeks Mayoral Transition $$; Harp PAC Files

So, to make the transition even better, can the Mayor ask these dead-enders to quit using her name?

Justin Elicker should return the $20,000 he took from the city taxpayers to keep campaigning. The mayor has suspended her campaign.

The People's Campaign has no money. It's just a grassroots effort to keep people informed that there is still an election. Justin doesn't need taxpayer money to continue.

Why does an entity with no money need a treasurer?

Is anyone else as confused as me? If the mayor suspended her campaign why does she need money for a transition team? And why, then, would Alex ask Justin to return campaign money to the city when there's an active campaign (albeit "not run by the mayor") for mayor Harp? This seems a little passive aggressive to me.

Mayor Harp has acknowledged the political reality that exists, and is making plans for the next administration.
Concurrently, a small group of residents and nonresidents is holding fast to the unrealistic possibility that Mayor Harp can be re-elected. Styling themselves the People's Campaign for Toni Harp, this group has held a public rally in front of City Hall to express their grievances about Harp's defeat, citing race as the cause and portraying the mayor as a victim of racism. They have created a Facebook page to promote their campaign with current and year's old posts of Harp accomplishments and alleged successes. They have published a list of talking points for their members to use to win community support for Harp. They have said they are going "door-to-door" around the city to help Harp win. Recently they registered as a political action committee to be able to raise money to promote their cause. They will host a rally of appreciation for Harp this week.
Their cause is obviously not Toni Harp's cause. They are a campaign without a candidate. Harp has conceded the fact that it is impossible for her to win. This group is dreaming the impossible dream, waging an unwinnable war, fighting a campaign that has the support of only a few hundred people.
This announcement that the Harp administration is preparing to fund an Elicker transition team should knock out any wind left in the People's Committee's sails, but that is doubtful. A few of these people are so fully committed to Harp that they have denied every political fact and reality which contradicts their dream, their goal, of Harp's reelection. A few zealots will hold out to election night and beyond.
Their efforts are futile. They cannot hold back the rising tides of change. Their strategy was flawed from the beginning. No campaign based on racial identity, division and animosity can prevail in New Haven, and should have been repudiated by its potential benefactor at its inception in front of City Hall.

Fact Check -- Because FACTS Matter!

Jesus, Elicker was "fear mongering" when you guys put out the stupid drone video?

Good luck with the dead-end gang's sustained efforts to make the Mayor look bad for no reason whatsoever.

I don't think Justin Elicker knew what he was saying when he said drones were the answer to community problems.

That was Justin's choice of words, not Toni Harp or her campaign's.

Was the mailer effective? No. But that's traditional campaigns for you--overly negative. Perhaps they are like that by necessity, but The People's Campaign isn't like that.

We aren't focusing on Mayor Harp's opponent. He is misguided and has no experience but that's not the point. The point is: We Love Mayor Harp.

@alex
I an not surprised that Alex would challenge anything I say about the Harp campaign or the People's Committee for Toni Harp.
It must be one of the talking points of this group: challenge everything any Elicker supporter says no matter what the facts are.
This is a fact: the People's Committee, based on their initial City Hall rally, in front of the Amistad Memorial of all places, was founded on the simple premise that Harp lost because she is black,
Elicker won because use he is white, and that Harp was a victim of racism. That is the essence of what the speakers said at the rally! They proposed race-baiting tactics to hopefully turn out more black voters. One of the leaders has posted information about there being only two black mayor's in New Haven's 400 year history to generate black voter enthusiasm or anger to get more votes for Harp.
Members of this group blame low black voter turnout for Harp's loss as well. Their focus and appeal to get out more voters for Harp is on the Black community. There are not knocking on doors in Westville or East Rock.
The other fact is, dear Alex, is that the Harp campaign was the first and only campaign to inject race into this race. They did this by their comparison of Elicker to Trump, the infamousTrump-FBI-Elicker conspiracy lie to hurt Harp with a federal investigation, and the charge that Elicker proposed using drones to spy on the Black community.
Harp's record spoke for itself.
Elicker never once made any racist appeals, never resorted to any racial fear mongering, never attempted to racially divide this community to win an election.
This are facts. Alex can deny them, but thousands on New Haveners see the facts as they are. Alex and his crew are not in LA LA LAND. They have been transported to EGYPT-LAND, for they surely have been in Dr Nile!
No matter how many times Alex & his crew may call truth lies and facts distortions, their accusatory words can never change the record and evidence which proves otherwise.

Mr. Paine, I respond to correct the record.

1) The mayor is only the second black mayor in New Haven's 400 year history. That is a fact. Also the first woman.

2) Elicker absolutely did inject race into the election. His entire campaign was premised on racist stereotypes of the Harp Administration. Whether or not it was intentional.

3) But it's about indecency from his campaign, not just race-baiting tactics: Elicker sent mailers to my home, which sits across from the Green, blaming Mayor Harp for overdoses there. Gross!

4) No one at our rally said that Mayor Harp lost because of race. But if the race (and gender) of the candidates were reversed, and we were only looking at their resume and list-of-accomplishments, many of us are wondering whether the result would be the same.

5) The People's Campaign has been seen in East Rock and Westville actually! #EastRockStillWithToni #WestvilleForToni

Facts matter - and don't lie! #RunToniRun

@alex
In my previous post, "Dr Nile" should read "de Nile."
Most informed readers can see through Alex like looking through a glass of water.
It was the New Haven Police Department that originally suggested the use of drones to track down dirt bikers. It was the Harp campaign that twisted this fact to say Elicker wanted them to be used to invade the bedrooms of people in the Black community. That was the message in Harp's infamous campaign ad!
For Alex to justify or excuse the Harp ad because it was ineffective is foolish. To defend it as "traditional" negative campaign strategy is immoral because it defends a LIE!
Of course it was more than ineffective. It was a foolish blunder that backfired! It angered voters and it failed to motivate the Black community to get out and vote for Harp to protect their privacy!
It is one thing to campaign on negatives. It is a whole different ballgame to base a campaign strategy on bold-faced lies!
The People's Campaign's strategy is essentially no different. It is simply taking up the ball that the Harp campaign layed down.
The group's main problem, as Alex confesses, is that they simply love Toni Harp.
Now there is nothing wrong with loving Toni Harp. People whi support Justin Elicker do not hate Harp as some Harpites believe. People simply have different political views, policies and preferences.
The "love"that some of these peope have for Harp however is unhealthy to a degree, because it clouds their objectivity, reason, logic and ability to face facts and truth.
'Toni's great. She was disrespected & dishonored as a black woman mayor. Elicker's bad. He will never be my mayor!" This is what many members of the People's Campaign are saying.
The people voted for Elicker. It was a free and fair democratic election. The people will vote for Elicker again. That's democracy. Get over it.
After the election in November, the People's Committee must be willing to move on, or move out of the way, because this city is moving forward.

Mr. Paine,

Whether NHPD "originated" it or not, Elicker adopted the idea as his own in an Instagram post, now deleted.

He was for it until he got called out — then he clutched his pearls and was not only against it, but SHOCKED that anyone would suggest he was.

No lies - just facts.

@alex

What do you think you are doing for the city at this point?

You are fighting a lost cause for your own personal interest. I tend to think it is because you now feel like you are important to the black community, but you are doing a disservice to both the mayor and the city.

It is long past due that you pipe down. Swallow that big ego and admit that your flailing campaign lost badly.

@alex
You say: "2) Elicker absolutely did inject race into the election. His entire campaign was premised on racist stereotypes of the Harp Administration. Whether or not it was intentional.
Would you please provide detailed evidence to substantiate your claim that the entirety of the Elicker camapign or any part of it was racist. Produce your facts! Otherwise you are simply spreading lies in your futile attempt to get Harp re-elected. Why would any person of color support Justin Elicker if your accusation is valid?
I have met with Elicker personally and in private home gatherings, rallies, forums and debates. I have never seen, heard or read anything resembling what you say here, BECAUSE IT SIMPLY DOES NOT EXIST! But I challenge you to produce your evidence!

Checking,

I forgot where in the Constitution it says I need to fit your definition of helping "the city" to speak out.

The People's Campaign isn't me—it's more than 200 people united around a positive message about our city. This isn't my campaign — or the Mayor's campaign. This campaign belongs only to the People.

Tom Paine,

It's all in the mailers.

So after you subtract all your out-of-towners, your "people's campaign" seems to have 1 wayward resident for every 900 to 1,000 residents in the city?

I guess you are just committed to making us laugh at you.

@ Alex

Has Tyisha Walker-Myers switched party affiliation? She listed as a member under your PAC and The Aldermanic Board President.

Was this one of the alders that is part of the people campaign?

Hmmmm

Being a Member of a Facebook Group doesn't make you a Member of the People's Campaign.

There is no organization to be a "member" of.

Joining the group just ensures that you get all of the interesting and informative updates about what we're up to!