Finnegan Schick Photo
Toni Harp returned to a neighborhood where she faced fierce opposition two years ago, and emerged with a unanimous endorsement for reelection as mayor.
Harp (pictured) was one of four candidates who won the endorsement for a second two-year term Thursday night of the Ward 26 Democratic committee, at a meeting at Davis Street School.
Ward committees throughout town are holding these endorsement sessions in the lead-up to the July 22 citywide Democratic Town Committee nominating convention.
That process was hectic two years ago when Harp and three other Democrats sought ward committee endorsements in the most heavily contested mayoral election in 20 years. Upper Westville’s Ward 26, one of the highest-voting parts of town, was split between Harp (who lives in the neighborhood) and opponent Justin Elicker in that election, which reflected New Haven’s racial divisions. (Harp barely beat Elicker, 619 – 594, in Ward 26.
This time Harp has no opponent so far in the Democratic Party. (Three people — plumber and former candidate Sundiata Keitezulu, former City Clerk Ron Smith, and Freddie Fixer Parade organizer Maurice Smith—are considering general-election runs as independents.) So ward committees have been choosing between Harp and Not Harp, and choosing Harp.
Before the Thursday night’s votes, Harp, Edward Joyner, and Darryl Brackeen gave short speeches at Davis Street School in Upper Westville to 18 of the Ward 26 committee’s 50 members. They subsequently won unanimous endorsements. City Clerk Michael Smart, who did not attend the meeting, was also endorsed, though four committee members voted against him.
Joyner, a former city principal and early-childhood education expert, is running for a seat on the Board of Education in District One against Anais Nunez, a charter-school activist. Nunez was invited by the Ward 26 co-chairs to the endorsement meeting, but did not attend.
Brackeen is looking for a second term as alder of Ward 26. So far he does not have an opponent.
The endorsements for the offices of mayor, Board of Education member, and city clerk are officially recommendations to Ward Co-Chairs Amy Marx and Sharon Jones for their votes at the Democratic Party Convention on July 22. Brackeen’s endorsement puts his name on the Democratic aldermanic ballot.
“[Harp] has been a stalwart stateswoman,” said Brackeen (pictured), who also praised the mayor’s fiscal responsibility.
When Harp became mayor 17 months ago, she faced a $9 million budget shortfall. She ended that year (and ends this one) in the black, and did not raise taxes, he said.
At 7 p.m. Harp took the floor and offered her vision for the city: safer streets, better education, and more jobs for New Haven residents.
During her time as mayor, 96 new police officers were added to the force, with 33 more cops being sworn in Friday night. Additionally, programs like YouthStat and Project Longevity that work with gang members and at-risk youth have brought down levels of crime, Harp said.
Co-Chairs Marx and Jones.
Harp mixed optimism for the city’s future with realism about persistent problems like youth violence and high unemployment.
“We’re the only town in America that really does community policing,” she said. “I want you to see with me a safe city where all the children have a bright future and all the adults have jobs that can support their families.”
Talking about education comes naturally for Joyner, who worked his way from a segregated Southern school to the principle’s office of several New Haven schools and served as the chief architect of the School Development Program at the Yale University Child Study Center.
Joyner (pictured) impressed ward members with discussion of his years working in New Haven’s schools, and shared lessons learned in his own education.
“Many children are behind before they step in the school door,” he said.
Teaching grammar, vocabulary, and reading helps students master the English language, Joyner said. But he claimed New Haven schools can do more — they can also improve the character of students. This is most true for young men who often present an unflattering image of themselves, Joyner said.
“If we can’t get them to pull up their pants, what can we get them to do?” he asked.
The candidates filed out of the room and the committee members shared their opinions before the votes were cast.
Several committee members confronted both Joyner and Harp on the city’s education budget. Joyner said he hopes to bring more resources into the classrooms while preventing organizational redundancies.
“You have to have a lean central office where every position is justified,” he said.
Westville neighbor Carol Suber (pictured) said Joyner would bring professionalism and common sense to an often dysfunctional Board of Education.
Alderman Brackeen (pictured), who collaborated with Mayor Harp on a resolution to stop a bus fare increase on the elderly, said the mayor deserves another term.
“We really need [Harp] to continue this work,” he said. “She’s just getting started.”