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Mauro, Wharton swap peace offerings before battling on air.
Who says Republican and Democratic leaders can’t get along?
The leaders of the parties, at least in New Haven, sat down together Thursday and found some common ground: a belief that New Haven is a happening city on the upswing; support for new development to create jobs and enliven the town.
Appearing on an episode of WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven” program, the two party bosses, Democratic Town Chair Vincent Mauro Jr. and Republican Town Chair Jonathan Wharton, also disagreed, of course. They debated whether labor has too much influence over city decisions, whether development is being jeopardized, how relevant national politics are to local politics.
They did so civilly, in contrast to the partisan hostility and noncooperation they bemoaned in Washington.
Heck, they even brought each other presents, which did reveal a partisan divide. Mauro offered Wharton a Joyade Nicaragua cigar. Wharton brought a bottle of wine.
Mauro: What is this?
Wharton: Beaujolais.
Mauro: I don’t know what that means!
Wharton: It’s a Republican thing.
Mauro: I’m a Budweiser guy, for crying out loud.
Wharton: We’ll forgive you for that.
Mauro: Is this like Boone’s Farm or something?
Wharton: Chill it for two hours and see what you think.
Wharton, who teaches political science at Southern Connecticut State University, has worked mightily to rebuild the decimated city GOP. Democrats still hold all the competitively elected offices in town. Registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 37,048 to 2,348. But another 14,231 unaffiliated voters loom — and both Wharton and Mauro aim to woo them. The growing ranks of unaffiliateds have helped make general elections competitive over the past decade.
Unaffiliated voters tend to distrust established parties, the two chairmen agreed. They were asked how they’re pitching their parties to that tough crowd.
Mauro argued that New Haveners are basically Democrats at heart.
The GOP peace offering.
Mauro: Party is also what happens on a national level. You care about health care? His party in Washington is trying to destory health care.
Wharton: That’s oversimplified.
Wharton: It is not.
Mauro: Your party in Wash wants to destory health care. I can’t make that pitch?
Wharton: That’s not a pitch. Republicans are not looking to take it away …
Mauro: Aw, come on! You cannot ignore what happened in the last election!
Wharton: That was not all Republicans. If anything, they wanted to negotiate a fair plan. Susan Collins, McCain, there were others [who voted against repealing Obamacare]. What should happen in Washington is something called communication, negotiation. That arc is gone with health care. That is gone! At least you and I are talking locally.
Mauro: You own it. You want to get rid of it? You own it.
Wharton said the GOP’s pitch to unaffiliateds is local: He characterized his party as an alternative to the “status quo” one-party dominance of New Haven for the past half-century.
He specifically targeted the influence of Yale’s UNITE HERE union locals, which have recruited and supported the election of a majority of the Board of Alders. The result, Wharton claimed, has been undue special-interest influence on government.
He cited as an example the effort by UNITE HERE-backed alders earlier this year to “rush” through for approval an historic rewriting of the city’s zoning laws to create a new “university” designation aimed primarily at injecting more review and oversight of Yale’s building plans. (Read about that here, here, and here.)
As a member of the City Plan Commission, Wharton spoke up against the plan and criticized the alders for seeking to obtain votes of approval on a plan that hadn’t been shared with or reviewed by city planning staff. (The commission decided not to vote on the plan, which was then pared down and approved by a Board of Alders committee.)
“Do you find it ironic that a Republican now complains about how fast government works? You’re complaining that government works fast? We’ve gone to a new place here,” Mauro responded.
“Vinnie,” Wharton pressed, “it would be nice if the staff members knew the language of it first, and knowing the impacts and implications surrounding the law. Why do you want everything to go so quickly? Plus there is an agenda to it. It was unbelievable … to ram it down the throats of the Board of Alders and the City Plan Commission.”
The two also disagreed about the latest example of union-backed alders clashing with Yale at City Hall over development: A vote by Wooster Square Alder Aaron Greenberg to deny unanimous consent to allow Yale to proceed with renovating the Hall of Graduate Studies on York Street from graduate dorms to new conference and classroom space. The basis for the delay: The plan includes a film screening room and lecture hall that might exacerbate parking problems. Greenberg said it makes sense to take time to examine that issue in more depth. Yale argued the delay is unnecessary and deprives the city of needed permit fees and jobs. (Read more about that here.)
Mauro: I’m confused now. Jonathan [first complained government] is moving too fast. Now he’s complaining things move too slow. Aaron Greenberg’s a good alder. He knows what he’s doing. My guess is at the end of the day things work out
Wharton: I disagree with that. Aaron also has a hatchet and an agenda as the leader of a union for the garduate students there. He’s leveraging this. Hey, it’s political. I get it. He wants to use his power. There’s an agenda attached we should be concerned about.
Of all the issues to politicize — parking spaces?
Mauro: Jonathan’s claiming virginity now. …
Listen, the party is controlled by the voters. There’s been a long dominance of Democratically elected people in this city. Everyone says, “UNITE HERE …” Have you met any of these alders?
Wharton: Yes. I know them too well.
Mauro: They live and work in neighborhoods. They may work for certain associations. But they also care deeply about their neighborhoods. It’s an unfair broad-brush painting. You don’t think Democrats care about their property taxes and crime or small business or big business? Of course they do. This is where your national Republican talking points are taking over.
Wharton: There’s no national anything with me.
The Republicans are fielding two candidates for Board of Alders seat, one for probate judge, and one for the Board of Education this November. Wharton demurred when asked if he thinks any of the candidates will win. Mauro predicted none will — but added that their candidacies will enrich the city by offering alternative views. He said New Haven needs “more dialogue.”
And he made his GOP counterpart a bet. “If they do win a seat,” Mauro promised, “I’ll bring him a bottle of whatever the hell he’s drinking.”
Click on or download the above audio file to hear the full episode of WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven” with Vin Mauro and Jonathan Wharton.