Markeshia Ricks Photo
Mayor Toni Harp at campaign kick-off.
Harp with supporter Tom Goldenberg and daughter Ainsley.
Toni Harp kicked off her campaign for a fourth term as mayor by urging nearly 300 supporters to stick with an administration that has brought progress in economic development, education and reduced crime.
Harp drove home those signature achievements of her mayoral administration to date on Saturday during a re-election campaign kick-off event held at The Stack, a restaurant that is part of DISTRICT, an incubator tech space in Fair Haven that is among her biggest economic development successes as mayor.
Harp faces challenger Justin Elicker for the Democratic nomination for mayor this year in a rematch of the 2013 election that Harp won.
At Saturday’s event the mayor told supporters, many of whom have been with her since she was a member of what was then the Board of Aldermen, that she’s “convinced there’s been more progress, there’s been more excitement, and there’s been more investment in New Haven these past few years than there has been ” in the more than 30 she’s been in public office.
All of that has come at a time when the city is enjoying a building boom in various sections of the city including Downtown, the Hill, and Dixwell Avenue. Harp pointed to the 1,500 new residential units available in the city and the more than 2,500 on the way. She also pointed to the 90 percent occupancy rate for retail and restaurant space in the city.
In addition to the site of her re-election event itself, Harp pointed to progress with the Hill-to-Downtown development plan and the city’s re-imagining of Long Wharf as signature achievements of her administration’s development efforts.
And supporters like Tom Goldenberg, pictured above with the mayor and his 1 and a half-year-old daughter, Ainsley, supported that message.
“I like the emphasis on economic development in the city,” Goldenberg said crediting the Harp administration for what he’s seen over the last few years. “I grew up here and I moved back from New York City because I love the city.”
Norma Rodriguez (pictured above), president of La Voz Hispana and chairwoman of the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus, told the crowd of supporters that Harp has made diversity a key feature of her administration and that the children of the city can see someone who looks like them serving in almost every department, and know that they too can one day be in those positions.
The youth of the city was also a central focus of the mayor’s remarks Saturday as she pointed out that her administration has helped drive an emphasis on providing wraparound services for students and incorporationg restorative practices to reduce suspensions and expulsions.
Harp (pictured above with Grace Reyes, wife of Chief of Staff Tomas Reyes, and Maria Rodriguez, co-chair for Ward 3 and the first Latina alder for the Board of Alders) said that since she’s been mayor, school enrollment is higher, attendance is better, graduation rates continue to go up and more students are enrolling and staying in college. Fewer students also are making contact with the corrections and judicial systems.
“These efforts — on behalf of the city’s precious and irreplaceable young people — must be sustained if they are to continue,” Harp said.
Harp also is getting some youth power for her campaign. In addition to having teen, acapella trio Kompozure perform at Saturday’s event, and having Youth Legislature Lt. Gov. Juan Patterson and Sen. Manny Comacho speak, supporters also got to meet the mayor’s new campaign manager Ed Corey, pictured above with Jason Bartlett.
Corey, 24, most recently worked in the New Haven field office for Gov. Ned Lamont. He’s been working on campaigns since he was 16 but has taken a liking to New Haven. He’s originally from Torrington and commutes to the Elm City for the campaign. He said he’s hoping to add his “organizing energy” to the enthusiasm that’s already here in a way that “brings everybody together.”
Saturday’s kickoff event brought out people with diverse histories in the city. Jay Brotman, a partner in Svigals + Partners architecture, was among those out in support of the mayor. So was Yves Joseph, founding principal of RJ Development + Advisors, who is planning to build a 100-plus room hotel at the corner of Orchard Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard.
Brotman said his firm has built five schools in New Haven, the latest of which is Engineering and Science University Magnet School, and he’s been a long time supporter of Harp.
“She’s done a good job,” he said.
The support from other women has been central to Harp’s career in public service and they were out in full support. Jan Parker, a Harp stalwart, got a shoutout from the mayor. Parker, pictured above with legislative liaison Esther Armmand and Stetson Library Branch Manager Diane Brown, called Harp a “phenomenal community leader” who “happens to be my friend.”
Harp got further back up from Sheila Carmon (pictured above at left) …
… local real estate agent Valencia Goodridge (pictured above at right) …
… and Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison (pictured above with Matthew Harp), who noted that under the leadership of Harp and the current Board of Alders, Dixwell Avenue is undergoing a renaissance. She said that during Harp’s tenure money to rebuild the Dixwell Q House was secured from the state.
And the design of that project went from about 20,000 square feet to more than double so that it would include a place for seniors, space for youth, along with a health center and a new state-of-the-art Stetson Library. And there are plans in the work to redevelop the Dixwell Plaza.
“That whole section of Dixwell will be completely different in two years,” Morrison said.“We are bringing Dixwell Avenue back to the good old days.”
Alder presence was heavy Saturday. In addition to Morrison, alders Brian Wingate (pictured with former schools Superintendent Reginald Mayo), Frank Douglass, Jill Marks, Sal DeCola, Jodi Ortiz, Evelyn Rodriguez, and President Tyisha Walker-Myers were at the event.
Veterans Frank Alvarado and Willie Holmes came to show their support …
… along with pet lovers like Christian Tabares and his four-legged pal Jax.
Click play on the video below to catch the campaign event.