As Mayor John DeStefano prepared to launch his first TV ads in a mayoral campaign in years, Superintendent of Schools Reggie Mayo asked his staff to find smiling students to appear on camera.
The ad (click the play arrow to watch) first aired on WTNH Channel 8 on Saturday. It is playing on a “spectrum” of other cable stations, according to Danny Kedem, spokesman for Mayor John DeStefano’s reelection campaign. The school-themed ad has been playing frequently in the run-up to the Sept. 13 Democratic primary, where DeStefano faces three opponents in the most competitive election since 2001. School started Thursday for grades 1 to 12 in all schools that have power.
Mayo’s recruitment of staff brought rebukes from DeStefano’s three opponents, who accused DeStefano of abusing the power of his incumbency to further his campaign. Kedem replied that all the people in the ad were volunteers who were happy to participate.
The TV spot features a teacher, a principal, some parents and some students of several age groups. The students came from Head Start and New Haven Public Schools classrooms, according to Kedem. The ad was filmed at the Mauro-Sheridan Science, Technology and Communications School at 191 Fountain St., Kedem said.
The commercial came as a surprise to many viewers when it popped up last weekend amid round-the-clock hurricane coverage: DeStefano doesn’t usually invest in television spots in a mayoral race. His most recent mayoral TV ad in memory came in 2003, when he released a commercial featuring the mayor riding a bicycle around town with the motto “Pedal Power.”
The new ad touts DeStefano’s expansion of pre‑K, his $1.5 billion school rebuilding program and his spearheading of New Haven Promise, a college scholarship program funded by Yale and the Community Foundation For Greater New Haven.
Melissa Bailey Photo
DeStefano & Mayo at Wednesday’s school board meeting.
Reached Wednesday after a school board meeting, Superintendent Mayo was asked how the students ended up at the campaign event.
“There were a couple of kids that we recruited from schools,” Mayo said.
“I asked some of our staff did they think they had any students that wouldn’t mind doing that, and parents,” Mayo said.
The video shows Danielle Zito, a pre-school teacher at Davis Street School, posing with a class of children, Davis Street Principal Lola Nathan along with some kids in uniform t‑shirts, and a class of what appear to be high school students.
DeStefano’s three challengers took issue with the top school official asking people who work for him to support the mayor’s campaign.
Jeffrey Kerekes said the action fits a pattern of “questionable behavior.”
“John DeStefano has a long history of using the power of his office for his own personal gain. Whether it is his run for governor or for mayor, he shakes down city contractors and employees in large part, to fund his campaign. The next logical step on this slippery slope is to have big dollar department heads lean on their subordinates in order to put him in the most favorable light.”
“This all shows that John has to in effect, cheat his way back into office by “recruiting” school children to participate in campaign videos instead of natural supporters,” Kerekes said. He didn’t give evidence that Mayo had “leaned on” any individuals.
Kerekes called on DeStefano to “take down the ad and restore some legitimacy to his campaign and in doing so, he will be reminded who he really works for — the taxpayers and citizens of this great city.”
Tony Dawson called the making of the ad “abuse of power.”
“It’s the same as [DeStefano] accepting money from” people who work for the city, he argued.
DeStefano “should have used some outside actors,” Dawson suggested. “It’s not a good thing to put students in the middle of it.”
“Everybody knows the extremely close relationship between the mayor and Dr. Mayo, and it doesn’t surprise me that the superintendent would use his office to try to support the campaign,” said Clifton Graves. “But it does raise ethical questions.”
All the people who appear in the commercial are unpaid “volunteers,” according to Kedem. “The people in our ad were excited to participate. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t have come.”
“It is natural for the Mayor’s opposing candidates to want to throw out tons of complaints against him,” Kedem said in an emailed statement. “It is also natural for people who are closest to the schools and city government to want to support a candidate who demonstrates a clear vision in getting our kids into college and making the right investments for our families. The people who volunteered to be in our commercial were happy to do so. Other interpretations are just sour grapes.”
Principal Nathan, who appears in the spot, said the kids in the video are not students at her school. Asked how she came to participate in the ad, she said, “They asked me to. You have to call the superintendent’s office and the mayor’s office” for more details on where the students came from.
Kedem said the campaign “rented the space” for the filming of the ad.
“Well, we more paid for the staff’s time,” he clarified. The campaign paid $96 for staff to keep the school open.
Incumbents’ use of government resources for campaigns has proven controversial in the past. Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s chief of staff, M. Lisa Moody, faced a 13-month investigation after she used state time and equipment to provide the governor’s 2006 election campaign an official state email list. She was cleared of wrongdoing. Susan Bysiewicz caused a stir when she took a database of citizens who had called her office when she was secretary of state, complete with detailed information about their personal lives, and used it for a subsequent campaign. A probe found her guilty of “improper use” of the data.
DeStefano’s ad does not appear to rise to the level of violating state law.
State Elections Enforcement Commission spokeswoman Nancy Nicolescu declined to comment on the specifics of this case; she instead referred the Independent to several subsections of state election law.
The only one that seemed relevant is Sec. 9 – 610(5)(12), which prohibits municipal employees from “solicit[ing] a contribution on behalf of” a candidate for municipal office from “an individual under the supervision of such employee.” However, the definition of “contribution” does not appear to be applicable here. (“Uncompensated services provided by individuals volunteering their time” are not considered a “contribution.”)