Elicker Scores Another ​“Democracy” $20K

The city’s public-financing Democracy Fund has authorized granting mayoral candidate Justin Elicker another $20,000 — but he might end up having to give it back.

That grant was approved and that possibility broached at Wednesday night’s regular meeting of the Democracy Fund at City Hall.

The Democracy Fund provides public matching funds up to $125,000 and a public financing grant of $20,000 for both the primary and general elections of qualifying mayoral candidates who agree to limit the size of individual donations and swear off special-interest money.

The main item on Wednesday’s agenda was to award to the Friends of Justin Elicker its general election grant of $20,000. Elicker defeated incumbent Toni Harp in last week’s Democratic mayoral primary. For now he still faces opposition in the general election from Harp, whose name is on the Working Families Party, and Urn Pendragon, who petitioned her way onto an unaffiliated line.

It’s essentially a new cycle, fund director Alyson Heimer explained to the assembled Democracy Fund commissioners, who included Chairman Sergio Rodriguez, Aaron Goode, William Wynn, and James O’Connell. Money currently in the candidate’s account from the primary simply rolls over into the account for the upcoming November general election, Heimer said.

The same basic rules that pertain to the primary also apply to the general: The fund will match with $60 all gifts from $30 to $390 per distinct New Haven individual contributor. Contributions under $30 are matched two-to-one. If you gave, say, $390 in the primary, you can start again and give up to that amount for the general. The maximum the Fund will match remains $125,000, and it too starts again from zero.

“We see it as a completely separate and new election,” Heimer said.

However there was one important rub, which occupied the commissioners in a spirited debate. ​“One of the rules” for giving Elicker his $20,000 grant, ​“is that the race be contested,” Heimer explained. “‘Contested’ means that there are at least two people with ballot access who have at least $5,000 in the bank.”

That situation certainly obtains at the moment, because of Mayor Harp’s candidacy. (Pendragon has not formed a fundraising committee.) However, what if Mayor Harp decides not to pursue her campaign?

Commissioner Aaron Goode put it this way: ​“If Harp decides to not run, is there a clawback” to recover the $20,000 from Elicker?

“What if the funds are disbursed,” Commissioner James O’Connell pressed the hypothesis, ​“and it becomes uncontested? What’s the deadline?”

Goode complicated the what-if even further as the discussion rolled on: Absentee ​“ballots are printed on Oct. 4. If she’s on the ballot” but has dropped out, ​“is it still ​‘contested?’”

“As of right now,” Heimer replied ​“he’s eligible. Would you like to consider postponing it?”

“No, I’m happy to move on it,” said Rodriguez. ​“We’ll know by Oct. 4. And people could vote [for her], so it’s still contested.”

“Yes,” said Goode, ​“we need to vote based on present circumstances.”

“We can’t expect a campaign to give it back,” said Jim O’Connell.

Elicker Campaign Manager Gage Frank surprised O’Connell, and solved the conundrum.

“We’re happy to give it back,” Frank said.

“We can’t really require them to return it, though I think they will,” said Goode.

And so Frank repeated: ​“We believe in the Democracy Fund. If the mayor drops out, we’re happy to return the money.”

The commissioners then voted unanimously to authorize the $20,000 disbursement to the Elicker campaign. With the check being cut at the end of this week, Frank said he expects for it to be received and deposited by mid-week.

Debating the Debate

On the commissioners’ agenda was also a ​“debrief” of the Sept. 5 mayoral debate, which was organized and co-sponsored by the Democracy Fund, the Independent, La Voz Hispana, and the League of Women Voters.

O’Connell said that while he thought the debate a success, he rued that only 350 could attend in the theater space at Co-Op High School. He urged future debates to deploy in larger venues, with better parking, such as Career Regional High School.

The fund has budgeted $5,000 for debates. It spent about $1,500 to put on the one at Co-Op High, so $3,500 is left for the general election. Democracy Fund grant recipients are required to participate in a debate.

O’Connell reserved his more serious criticism for how the fund used its resources to advertise or put the word out about the debate. Heimer explained that advertising was primarily on digital sites — the New Haven Register’s, which charged a fee, and the New Haven Independent, which did not.

Without wanting to cite names, O’Connell said that using digital media to market the debate favored candidates who are comfortable in that medium. The other commissioners agreed. Heimer duly noted the concerns. ​“I understand you want a mix of different kinds of advertising — print and digital — in the future,” she said.

“In the general election debate, we’ll diversify the advertising,” she said, and entered the note in her computer before the meeting adjourned.