Harp Sworn In, Warns Of ​“Storm Clouds”

Toni Harp kicked off 2018 by taking the oath of office for her third two-year term as mayor — and invoking a different year, 1968, to enlist New Haveners in a ​“moral” and ​“spiritual” quest to ​“unify a fractured society” as ​“storm clouds loom” on the state and federal horizons.

Harp made that pitch Monday afternoon in an inaugural address after taking the oath before hundreds of onlookers at a ceremony held in the auditorium of Hill Regional Career High School, a building her late husband Wendell designed.

City Clerk Michael Smart also took the oath for his third term in office. Reelected Board of Education member Edward Joyner, newly elected Probate Judge Clifton Graves Jr., and the 30 members of the Board of Alders — nine of whom did not serve during the previous term — were inaugurated as well.

Politics-watchers examining the tea leaves of Harp’s address found no hints of a quest for higher office in this gubernatorial election year: No list of personal accomplishments as mayor (as her predecessor invoked at his mayoral inauguration the year he ran for governor in 2006, or as New York Mayor Bill DiBlasio did Monday), no sound bites hinting at campaign-commercial-ready slogans.

Rather, Harp issued a call for people in the city to prepare for ​“perilous times” by pulling together. (The full prepared text of the address as well as a video of Harp delivering it appear lower down in this story.) She sounded like a mayor, not a candidate.

“In Washington, the current federal government has taken steps seemingly with an intent to consolidate wealth in this nation, as well as voting rights, meaningful education, and effective healthcare. The sinister byproduct of these steps is a consolidation of opportunity itself. I don’t believe it’s an understatement to say we’re living in perilous times in this regard,” Harp said.

Meanwhile, she noted, the budget-strapped state government has delivered ​“insufficient state aid to cities and towns, shortchanged social services, and infrastructure maintenance deferred statewide.”

In an improvised break from her prepared remarks, she noted that New Haven is ​“joined at the hip” with the state, because ​“54 percent of our property is nontaxable.” Yet the state has been cutting back on promised municipal aid through the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program.

Harp quoted San Diego Catholic Bishop Robert W. McElroy describing public service as a ​“profoundly spiritual and moral undertaking” requiring putting the needs of the poor and the ​“common good” above special interests or ​“self-aggrandizement.”

That mission takes on special importance in 2018, she argued, because of ​“ominous circumstances” that remind her of America’s political climate a half-century ago, in 1968 — ​“when racial tensions, an unpopular president, and furious disagreement over federal policies, including a controversial war, started to split families, cities, and these United States.” She called for heeding the ​“clarion calls for justice” provided by two leaders who were murdered that year: Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

“In a community like this one,” Harp said of New Haven in 2018, ​“there is the extraordinary ability to pool resources, assemble talent, and direct a collective energy toward the common good.”

Some Fresh Faces

The 30 alders sworn in Monday (with a star denoting someone either serving a first term or returning to the board after a hiatus) were: Hacibey Catalbasoglu*, Ward 1; Frank Douglass Jr., Ward 2; Ron Hurt*, Ward 3; Evelyn Rodriguez, Ward 4; David Reyes Jr, Ward 5; Dolores Colon, Ward 6; Abigail Roth*, Ward 7; Aaron Greenberg, Ward 8; Charles Decker*, Ward 9; Anna Festa, Ward 10; Renee Hayward*, Ward 11; Gerald Angunes, Ward 12; Rosa Ferraro Santana, Ward 13; Kenneth Reveiz, Ward 14; Ernie Santiago, Ward 15; Jose Crespo, Ward 16; Jody Ortiz*, Ward 17; Salvatore DeCola, Ward 18; Kimberly Edwards*, Ward 19; Delphine Clyburn, Ward 20; Steven Winter*, Ward 21; Jeanette Morrison, Ward 22; Tyisha Walker-Myers, Ward 23; Evette Hamilton, Ward 24; Adam Marchand, Ward 25; Darryl Brackeen Jr., Ward 26; Richard Furlow, Ward 27; Jill Marks, Ward 28; Brian Wingate, Ward 29; Michelle Sepulveda, Ward 30.

In remarks after his swearing in for a second term representing half the city on the Board of Education, Ed Joyner made a promise: ​“I will serve with restraint.” He didn’t spell out the reference he was making —  his challenging a fellow board member to a ​“duel” at a fractious board meeting. He didn’t need to spell it out, based on the supportive chuckling the remark elicited in the Career auditorium.

“My character is a peaceful and caring person, no matter what you have seen on occasion,” Joyner said.

“Here come the new judge,” Clifton Graves joked at the end of his own post-swearing-in remarks, as he prepared to succeed Probate Judge Jack Keyes, who retired after serving 32 years in the office. Keyes administered the oath to Graves, who then urged the crowd to give Keyes two standing ovations for his tenure.

At least one candidate for governor this year — Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who plans to formally announce his candidacy this week — attended Monday’s inauguration and was acknowledged by Harp.

“Profoundly Spiritual & Moral Undertaking

Following are the prepared remarks for Mayor Harp’s inaugural address. (Click on the above Facebook Live video to watch her deliver it.)

We’re assembled for a time-honored ceremony and a New Haven tradition, to celebrate democracy and a system of government that relies upon participation by, and consent of the governed.

It’s no secret that I’m a firm believer in government: in the strength of this system to yield more than the sum of its parts and be the force for good, through the collective wisdom, combined resources, and thoughtful deliberation of its participants.

Please know the honor and profound gratitude I feel for the opportunity I have to continue serving as New Haven’s mayor. I accept the voters’ confidence in me with solemn gravity and a pledge to continue working on their behalf, on behalf of the city we share, and toward its bright, promising future.

Today’s inauguration completes the scheduled, peaceful manner in which responsibility for government is transferred – or sustained. This selection process must not be assumed or taken lightly; we are the fortunate beneficiaries of those who struggled and suffered for the type of government we now enjoy.

With that in mind I acknowledge all members of the new Board of Alders, the City/Town clerk, the new Judge of Probate, and one of two elected members of the board of education – all of whom were sworn-in today. I congratulate each of you and appreciate your willingness to serve New Haven in these respective roles.

I recently came across what I believe is an apt description of what we are called upon to do as public officials. The piece I read was written by a Catholic bishop in San Diego: at first I couldn’t imagine a connection, because I’m Baptist, a government official, not a religious leader, and frankly, because San Diego is about as far from New Haven as you can get in this country.

But then I remembered the similarities we share: each of us is from an urban area with diverse populations, cultures, and languages. Each city boasts great attributes and faces daunting challenges.

Beyond that, the people of each city share identical needs for security, public education, healthcare, and economic opportunity.

So I read with interest this bishop’s description of politics and government – how this system we have is meant to help each individual we serve prosper to the full extent of his or her potential, so the community itself can prosper and thrive.

The bishop writes of public service: ​“It is a vocation that requires special and self-sacrificial concern for the poor… the vulnerable, and the marginalized. It is a commitment to pursue the common good over that of interest groups or parties or self-aggrandizement. It is a profoundly spiritual and moral undertaking.”

That last line caught my attention: the idea that effective public service requires an appeal to the greatest good in each of us so we might have the necessary patience, so we pay attention to every detail, and so we consistently have the willingness to serve each individual, in an effort to lift the whole community.

Each of us sworn-in today begins this new term at what I believe is a particularly charged point in time. The historic, distinguished city we serve is strong and stable, but storm clouds loom on its horizon. Many reliable features of the world around us are shifting, most notably at the state and federal levels of government, upon which New Haven depends so heavily.

In Washington, the current federal government has taken steps seemingly with an intent to consolidate wealth in this nation, as well as voting rights, meaningful education, and effective healthcare. The sinister byproduct of these steps is a consolidation of opportunity itself. I don’t believe it’s understatement to say we’re living in perilous times in this regard.

In Hartford, the current state government is struggling mightily to meet its responsibilities with late budgets and still-projected deficits, absent the collective will necessary to address unreliable revenues necessary to fulfill its many obligations. The result is insufficient state aid to cities and towns, shortchanged social services, and infrastructure maintenance deferred statewide, at its peril.

In New Haven, the challenge we face as elected officials is to steer a steady course for this city, its residents, and all who depend upon its prosperity, despite these strong headwinds and cross currents.

While perched on the doorsill of 2018, I’m reminded of comparably ominous circumstances looming exactly 50 years ago, when racial tensions, an unpopular President, and furious disagreement over federal policies, including a controversial war, started to split families, cities, and these United States.

It was also 50 years ago this year the lives of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy – two of the exceptional leaders to emerge from such chaos – ended so violently and so abruptly.

Theirs had been calm voices of reason at that emotionally and politically charged point in time, and theirs had been passionate voices for justice as well: ​‘the creative synthesis of opposites,’ as Dr. King once described it.

Fifty years ago, their alternately calm and passionate voices were to be the ones that would unify a fractured society. Theirs were the voices heard by literally millions of people – that also spoke to each of us as individuals, resonating at the heart of what each of us shares as a human being.

In their day, in their clarion call for justice – as it applies in race relations, economic policies, public education, healthcare, and even war and peace – Dr. King and Senator Kennedy identified and articulated precisely – and simply – what human beings want for themselves and for their loved ones.

In a word, as human beings, we seek comfort and security, and we seek opportunity.

And that brings me back to New Haven on the doorsill of 2018.

I fervently believe all of us who call this city home, who bear responsibility for its well-being, and who are accountable for its future, have among our shared values a vision for justice in the programs, services, and opportunities New Haven makes available.

At the very center of our beings, we are not inclined to ignore the needs of others. To the contrary, I’m convinced, it is instinctual in us to lend a hand and assist as we’re able.

In a community like this one, there is the extraordinary ability to pool resources, assemble talent, and direct a collective energy toward the common good.

There’s a reason this call to serve the greatest good is referred to as community ​‘spirit.’ It’s because an instinctual Spirit – to be helpful – lives in each of us. It is what motivates us, strengthens us, and unites us.

And paradoxically, that’s the Spirit fortified in us while doing this type of work: the more spiritual energy we expend toward the common good, the more Spiritual strength, resolve, and resilience we have available for it.

So today I call upon all those who identify with New Haven to join the city’s police officers, firefighters, educators, social service workers, and elected officials, and join this unified effort to provide for this community what’s best for this community.

We do this in the name of community safety, public education, healthcare and social services, and economic development. And all of it is done through a commitment to the ​‘spiritual and moral undertaking’ described by the San Diego bishop.

We do it because we want to, because we can, and because we absolutely must if we are to move this city forward, and thereby provide for its residents the comfort, security, and opportunity every single one of them seeks.

We do this work as the Spirit moves us, precisely because the Spirit moves us – individually, and collectively – to ensure the greatest good for New Haven despite the considerable obstacles we face at this challenging point in time.

As I mentioned, I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue serving as mayor of this city. Likewise, I’m profoundly honored to do so among so many other motivated and dedicated public officials.

And I solemnly pledge to continue doing so, on behalf of the greatest good for New Haven residents, its businesses, its attractions, its institutions, and its future.

Thank you very much. God bless you, and God bless the City of New Haven.

Click on the above Facebook Live video to watch Kenijah George and Joseph Lampo perform ​“My Favorite Things” at the inauguration.