Harp, Paca Blast Each Other’s Records

Mayor Toni Harp accused Marcus Paca of running against her this year because she fired him and he’d failed in every professional pursuit he’d ever tried. Marcus Paca shot back that Harp is a lackluster leader who lacks the energy and vision demanded by the job.

Those wounding words were exchanged during a fiery mayoral debate on Tuesday night at Booker T. Washington Academy, hosted by the New Haven Independent, La Voz Hispana, and the Democracy Fund.

Featuring questions from a panel of reporters and even inquiries from the candidates themselves, the debate covered a range of issues: policing, economic development, sanctuary cities, disaster preparedness, housing affordability and more. (Scroll down in this story for a blow-by-blow recap.) Over the last several months, the candidates largely staked out their positions on these big topics, first as they went ward by ward seeking endorsements from the Democratic Town Committee and then as they hashed it out in a previous debate.

What was new Tuesday night was a direct confrontation over Paca’s April 2016 termination as Harp’s labor director. Paca has sued the city over the firing. He is now running against Harp in a Sept. 12 Democratic mayoral primary and will appear on the Nov. 7 mayoral general election ballot as an independent.

But until Tuesday night, Paca’s firing and lawsuit had remained largely below the surface of the campaign.

On WNHH’s ​“Mayor Monday,” Harp had previously stated that she didn’t want to even debate her opponent, lest she interfere with the city’s position in the lawsuit that Paca has filed. ​“One of the things that I don’t want to do inadvertently is to say something that would have a negative impact on our case,” she said on the radio program in July.

On Tuesday night, Harp dropped that restraint. She criticized Paca for ​“running on revenge.” She asked pointedly, ​“You served one term as an alder before the ward voted you out. You served less than two years as labor director before you were fired. Given your lack of public accomplishments and lack of experience, how do you propose to get anything done?” And she called her initial choice to hire him ​“one of the biggest mistakes I made.” She said, ​“You can’t just look at the degrees a person has. You have to look at their experience. You have to look at their character.”

Paca, for his part, welcomed the line of questioning. He said he had been unjustly fired, but he promised to drop the suit against the city if he is elected. Paca said that his termination, like many others by Harp, reflected this administration’s chaotic management of City Hall. He attacked Harp for ousting former city fair-hiring chief Nichole Jefferson and small business staffer Jackie James and for hesitating to fire more public-facing employees like the police chief and school superintendent. He also accused her of operating through ​“intimidation and strong-arm tactics,” as well as ​“character assassination.”

Harp responded that Paca had cost taxpayers in the labor job and his lawsuit, and she said that she learned from the experience that she needs to hire someone with legal experience to handle labor relations. She also characterized the firings as examples of being a decisive leader.

Meanwhile, Paca defended his tenure as an Edgewood alder, and noted that many alders lost their seats in 2011 against candidates backed by Yale’s unions.

Aside from that dispute over the firing, which recurred throughout the night, the two candidates made strong pitches for why they deserve the next term as mayor. Harp, a two-term incumbent who spent two decades before that as a state senator, portrayed herself as the experienced public official who has balanced four straight budgets, kept taxes and crime lower than in other Connecticut cities, and kept more kids in school who might otherwise get suspended. Paca asserted himself as the fresh face who’s ready to criss-cross town listening to his constituents and fight for those who currently can’t pay their bills, who has heard and is championing the frustrations of people who have trouble affording the rent in New Haven or fear for their safety on the streets.

As the candidates sparred, the atmosphere in the school’s auditorium got heated. (Literally, too, after blowing fans were switched off to better hear the candidates.) More than 200 people showed up, about evenly divided from both sides. Harp’s campaign wore white T‑shirts and waved signs; Paca’s team appeared in blue. Both sides cheered, shouted and hissed so loudly throughout, that it was sometimes hard to hear what the candidates were saying.

Read on below for a detailed account of the key exchanges from a live blog from the event.

And click on this video to watch the debate from a Facebook Live feed. (Suggestion: Start watching at the 10:55 point. Technical difficulties — with the school’s sound system and a noisy fan — made the principal’s introduction the moderator’s introduction and the first question hard to hear in the part of the video leading up to that point.)

Live Blog

6:55 p.m.: Both candidates have arrived, and the auditorium is starting to fill up.

Outside Booker T. Washington Academy, Paca’s campaign parked a truck listing his campaign’s priorities, and a representative passed out literature.

Inside the auditorium, Harp supporters have filled up the front rows, with their shirts and signs on prominent display.

7:03 p.m.: The rules: Moderator Paul Bass, the Independent’s editor, will read short biographies submitted by each of the candidates. Then, each candidate will respond to questions from three reporters: the Register’s Esteban Hernandez, Mercy Quaye, and La Voz’s Carlos Resto. After that, the candidates will take two questions from each other. Above all, Bass said, ​“Be respectful.”

7:07 p.m.: Here’s what Harp highlighted from her biography: The daughter of teenage mother, Harp was raised by her grandparents. After contracting polio, she was told she would never walk again. From that, she said she learned, ​“Your birth has nothing to do with what you accomplish.” A Yale grad, she’s a former alder, former state senator, and of course, the city’s first female mayor.

Paca grew up in Newhallville and attended New Haven’s public schools. He was a mentee of Mayor John Daniels. He began his career in business as a marketing executive, then transitioned into the nonprofit sector where he worked on workforce development and clean energy. He was director of labor relations for the city.

7:12 p.m.: The first question, from Hernandez: With uncertainty in Hartford, due largely to a looming budget deficit, what are some new streams of tax revenue? Is taxing Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) an option?

Paca took the microphone first, which kept glitching out. He said the city needs to ​“take control of our own finances” first, some of which is hampered by the city’s ​“excessive legal spending.” He plans to do that, he said, by figuring out how to ​“cut waste from city government,” particularly in police and fire overtime; reinvest in economic development that will bring more work to New Haven, particularly more international trade to Long Wharf and diversifying the jobs; and ​“keep all options on the table,” including taxing YNHH.

Harp got a new microphone before she answered, which sounded crystal clear. The crowd erupted; two supporters stood up and waved signs. Harp, who had only one minute to answer, cut them off: ​“You’re taking up my time,” she shushed them. She said that the city stands to earn $50 million annually by taxing YNHH, but she also acknowledged that the hospital does a lot of work for uninsured residents. She said she’d support taxation, if YNHH was able to get full Medicaid reimbursements from the state.

7:15 p.m.: Another question comes from Quaye: The city last year didn’t have a fire chief, police chief, or school superintendent. How would each act differently, based on that experience?

Harp said that she learned a mayor can’t judge employees based on pedigree. Instead, she’s now looking at ​“disposition.” She said she canned these department heads because they weren’t able to interact with the community or effectively carry out their jobs. ​“Education matters, but character matters more. I have been a decisive mayor, and when I decide that their character does not align with the city and their taxpayers, I will make a decision to let them go,” she said, in what sounded like a subtle dig at why she fired Paca as labor relations director.

Paca said it was a shame that Harp took so long to get rid of each. ​“They were protected and supported, even though they weren’t doing things that were in the best interest of public safety, children and taxpayers.” He said he’d be hiring candidates with relationships to the community.

7:20 p.m.: When it comes to policing, there’s a lot of citizen complaints about cops violating people’s rights, haranguing them at protests, taking away cameras and overcharging them on violations that are later thrown out in court.

Both candidates said they support oversight by a civilian review board. Harp said that the police chief should ​“admit when they’re wrong,” and that she’s ​“anxious” for the Board of Alders to turn over their proposal. Paca said he’d advocate for a hybrid panel, like the Board of Education, with elected members. He took the question as an additional chance to jab at the mayor’s full-time security guard. ​“If it’s so safe, why does she need security?” he asked.

7:24 p.m.: Housing affordability has been a recurring theme throughout this election, including at the previous debate. With so much change downtown, there’s discussion about whether the city’s gentrifying. In his first question to the mayor, Paca asked what Harp’s strategy was to make sure that slumlords don’t become a trademark of the Elm City. Harp responded that one of her administration’s top priorities has been making sure that residents ​“live in a decent home,” adding, ​“and I wish Marcus would get this right.” She said that Elm City Communities has already built 300 units, and that there are 760 more affordable units in the works. Paca said she didn’t deserve credit for those, since most of the funding comes from the feds.

7:27 p.m.: The gloves came off after that.

Harp went straight for the jugular with her first question. ​“You served one term as an alder before the ward voted you out. You served less than two years as labor director before you were fired. Given your lack of public accomplishments and lack of experience, how do you propose to get anything done?”

Paca answered, ​“I’m glad the mayor asked that question. I did serve one term as an alder, and I’m proud of what I did. My colleagues knew I was responsive, that I got streets paved, I got seven people to go to college, and responded to the needs of nonprofits. I’m very proud.” He pointed out that he was voted out in 2011 as the Yale unions swept the Board of Alders, one of many that went down that year. Then, he turned to his ​“termination,” as he dubbed it. ​“I value government, I value laws, I value the charter,” Paca said. ​“She doesn’t respect it.”

Bass asked if Harp wanted to respond. ​“No,” she said.

7:32 p.m.: Another big theme this year has been how far-reaching economic development has been. Has it been concentrated too closely downtown?

Hernandez asked, Is it enough to keep young people here in the city?

Harp said the city’s recent growth is plain to see.

Paca, in response, counted off a number of projects that he said had ​“stalled”: LiveWorkLearnPlay, the Hill-to-Downtown redevelopment along Route 34, and a faster train to New York City. He said he also planned to make the Elm City a ​“leader in green technology.”

Harp, still in battle mode, leaped on that answer: ​“Since it has been a number of years since Paca was looking at policy in New Haven, he would know that we’re already growing green jobs. He would know that we were the first city to come out of the recession in Connecticut. He would know that New Haven is driving the economy of the state. He needs to learn more about the things that are going on today, and not the things that might have been going on years ago. The reality is that we are doing green jobs, and that we are a leader in green jobs.” She concluded, ​“I would hope the other candidate would get his facts straight.”

7:39 p.m.: Paca took a lot of heat for his answer at a previous debate on sanctuary cities. Then, he walked through how he’d evaluate the loss of federal grant money, if the Trump administration attempted to cut off funds to cities that protected immigrants from deportation. To some in the audience, it looked like Paca was wavering.

Tonight, asked again by Resto about their positions, Harp staked out a position strongly in favor of maintaining the Elm City’s sanctuary status. ​“It’s in the interest and safety of people in New Haven that our neighbors feel safe,” she said. ​“I would not sell our neighbors down the river for a few silver coins.”

Paca ditched his earlier answer. Bluntly, he said he favored being a sanctuary city too. ​“Just to be clear, I support sanctuary cities 100 percent. I support them because I do not believe families should be ripped apart, I do not believe people should be living in fear, and I believe we all have a right to experience the American Dream.” He said he’d fight to protect DACA beneficiaries, too.

7:45 p.m.: In her second question to the candidate, Harp again grilled Paca on his record — or, as she painted it, his lack thereof. As an alder, she asked, what committee chairmanship did he hold? ​“And isn’t it true that you have never held a position long enough to accomplish anything?”

Paca seemed shocked at the mayor’s offense, which hasn’t been on display at tame Democratic Town Committee forums, WNHH radio appearances and prior debates.

“Woah,” he said as he stepped up to the mic. ​“Listen, I’ve worked all my life to make sure I was in a position to help somebody,” he said. ​“I’ve always had public service at the heart of everything that I do. I’m proud of the success I’ve been able to accomplish, as a black man in America. For you to paint that I have not accomplished anything is just a sign of the inherent problems that we have in New Haven.” He concluded, ​“I want to make sure we have a better future for all New Haveners. That’s my plan, and I’m going to continue to do that.”

Harp didn’t let Paca off the hook so easily. ​“One of the things that Marcus Paca did not do is answer the question. What I would say is that he ought to have done the work, he ought to have the experience, and he shouldn’t want to use the [mayoralty] as a learn-as-you-go job.”

7:50 p.m.: On Paca’s second question for Harp, he looked back to her time in Hartford, when she chaired the State Senate’s Appropriations Committee for a decade. He said the the city’s facing a multi-million dollar shortfall (depending on what comes through in municipal aid this year), while the state, in turn, is looking at a deficit of billions. ​“What role did you play in the current fiscal crisis and how will you get us out?” Paca asked.

“This is another case in point where Mr. Marcus needs to get his facts straight,” Harp started. She came into office with a $14 million shortfall that she ​“had to solve in six months, and we ended the year in the black,” she said. ​“I understand budgeting, because, yes, I did it for 11 years in the General Assembly. I made it my job to send resources down to this community.”

Paca said that the city’s fiscal future was shaky, because of its current budgeting strategies that rely on debt. ​“We shouldn’t balance a budget on the backs of young people,” he said. ​“We need a mayor to be honest and forthright about the fiscal realities of our city.”

7:53 p.m.: One last question to end the evening came from Hernandez about an internal spat earlier this year with labor.

Harp took it as a chance to pivot back to why she fired Paca, calling it ​“one of the biggest mistakes I made.” She explained, ​“I feel badly that I made the mistake of hiring a labor director who did not have [legal experience]. It cost taxpayers money, and it’s continuing to with the lawsuit he is filing against the city. For someone who is so concerned about taxpayers, I wonder why Marcus is spending taxpayer money with this frivolous lawsuit.” She added that she’s since hired a replacement ​“with decades of experience.”

In response, Paca listed off all the people that Harp had ousted, from Nichole Jefferson to Jackie James. He took issue with her methods: ​“She uses character assassination to justify her actions. To me, that’s not leadership.” He argued that Harp could have handled the situation more tactfully: ​“If she says hiring me is a bad decision, she should take responsibility and apologize, not try to blame it on somebody else.”

In one of the biggest tidbits of news from the night, Paca said he would withdraw his lawsuit if he won. ​“Once I’m Mayor of New Haven, my lawsuit will be dropped, but I have to protect myself against a wrongful termination,” he said.

8:02 p.m.: In their closing statements, prepared remarks that each read, the candidates laid out their best argument for why each deserved to be the Elm City’s top executive. Paca said he’d bring youthful enthusiasm, hands-on leadership and vision to the office; Harp answered by pointing to the record of what she’s already done from City Hall.

Paca started off by arguing that there’s not much difference between the candidates in an inter-party primary on policy stances; instead, it’s all about ​“priorities, strategy and implementation.” He criticized Harp for abusing her power, ​“governing by intimidation and strong-arm tactics,” and for not standing firmer against the Proud Boys who protested on the Green. ​“I always believe in a thing called progress. I always had faith that that the days of our children would be better than our own. Our people are losing that faith,” he said, riffing on Jimmy Carter’s ​“crisis of confidence” speech. ​“New Haven deserves a listener and a collaborator to plan and enact the change we need.”

Harp undercut that lofty rhetoric by saying that this election season was about repaying a grievance. ​“Unfortunately, Marcus is running on revenge. There’s no indication that he can do the job,” she said. She referred to her accomplishments of balancing the budget for four years, reducing violence through Project Longevity (an anti-gang violence initiative with local cops and federal agents), and reducing absenteeism and expulsions with the YouthStat program (which brings teachers, administrators, social workers, probation officers, and others together weekly to strategize about how to keep the most at-risk students out of trouble). ​“I have a body of work,” she concluded. ​“I know it takes all of us to move New Haven forward.”