New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
A CORDIAL CLASH
Elicker, Carlson meet in city’s first Dem-GOP mayoral debate since 2007
NEW HAVEN — Mayoral candidates Justin Elicker and John Carlson clashed on a few things, including policing, affordable housing, the city’s budget and how best to educate the city’s students, but for the most part kept it pretty cordial in a debate Monday night at Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School.
It was the first city debate between a Democrat — in this case first-term incumbent Elicker — and a Republican, Carlson, in 14 years, coming in the first election featuring a Republican candidate since H. Richter Elser ran against Mayor John DeStefano Jr. in 2007.
As might be expected, Elicker for the most part talked about what he’s already doing. Carlson, pressed for specifics on what he might do differently, offered some possibilities.
The debate was co-sponsored by The Democracy Fund, the New Haven Independent and La Voz
Hispana.
Questions came from a panel that included retired New Haven Register reporter Mary O’Leary, La Voz Hispana Publisher Norma Rodriguez-Reyes, radio journalist Michelle Turner of WSME radio, WTNH TV Chief Political Correspondent Jodi Latina and New Haven Independent Editor Paul Bass, who also was the moderator.
The debate was livestreamed both on the WTNH website and the New Haven Independent Facebook page.
Responding to a question from Latina, who pointed out that Carlson “has been outspoken on crime” and “says he won’t handcuff the police,” Elicker said, “No one is handcuffing the police” and that he and Acting Police Chief Renee Dominguez have worked hard to combat the recent rise in violent crime, which has mirrored a national trend.
“Our strategy is manyfold” and the city “is actually increasing the numbers of officers walking on the beat, as well as investing federal recovery dollars it has received in more cameras through out the city and an expansion of the Shotspotter electronic gunshot warning system, Elicker said.
Carlson said it’s true that crime is increasing across the nation, but in New Haven, he said, “we haven’t done enough” to stop it.
Asked by O’Leary how he would accomplish all the things he says he would do for the city, such as paving more streets, which costs money, Carlson said, “I would go line by line” and implement “zero-based budgets ... keep what we need, get rid of what we don’t.”
Elicker said he was “unapologetic” about the way he has spent city funds, including creating an all-new city department, the Community Resilience Department, to focus on mental health issues as one way to head off crime.
But throughout his first term, “I’ve been honest with our city about the challenges we face,” Elicker said.
Elicker responded to a question from Turner about whether he should return funds he accepted from The Democracy Fund, New Haven’s first-in-Connecticut public election financing program, which allowed him to collect donations with a $390 limit per election or primary, only to see the expected primary evaporate when Karen DuBoisWalton withdrew, by saying he followed both the spirit and the rules of The Democracy Fund.
“New Haven residents are driving my campaign,” Elicker said.
Carlson said allowing candidates to keep funds collected for a primary even if it doesn’t take place “is a flaw in the rule,” and “I would have given the money back.” The rule should be changed, Carlson said.
Asked by Rodriguez-Reyes what plans he might have for a moderate-income home ownership program at a time when “folks from New York are buying every single home that’s out there,” Carlson said, “There’s no need to give big corporations tax breaks.”
Elicker said the city already is providing assistance, including a new complex being build at Thompson Street and Winchester Avenue in Newhallville, and the city’s down payment assistance program, “where we help people pay down payments on their homes.”
Asked by Bass if it matters that no Black of Latinos are in any of city government’s top five jobs, Elicker said it does matter, but his administration is trying to become more representative of the community, “not just among elected officials.”
Carlson responded that “we have a very diverse city but his administration is not diverse.”
Carlson has criticized the city’s school system for its spending. Asked by Latina what he would do differently, he said, “to begin with, I would cut waste at the top. There’s no need for New Haven to have” a public information officer “making $120,000 a year.”
Elicker took issue with Carlson’s suggestion that New Haven spends more to educate its students than comparable cities, but said, “We need to do more for our children.”
Turner asked Carlson, given that Democrats outnumber Republicans 14-1 in the city, “How would you convince those who vote the party ticket to vote for you?”
Carlson responded, “Don’t be politically prejudiced. Just like you wouldn’t judge someone by the color of the skin,” you shouldn’t judge them by what political party they’re in, he said.
“Your party is your choice,” responded Elicker, his voice rising. “The color of your skin is not your choice, so let’s not make that comparison.”
But “I think we need to be honest about politics today,” and what’s happening on both the local and national levels, “and make sure we have values we can share,” he said.
Elicker, who is fluent in Spanish, surprised some people — and went over the heads of a majority of the audience — when he responded to a question from Rodriguez-Reyes about how the city can do a better job of educating Hispanics by speaking entirely in Spanish.
Perhaps one-fourth of those in the audience understood him.
“He talks the talk but he doesn’t walk the walk,” said Carlson. “His education system doesn’t reflect the population, just like the police department.”
Elicker had a strong response to Latina’s question about the city’s use of increased state PILOT money and CARES Act funds this year to balance the budget, and what it might do in the future.
“We’ve been honest with our residents,” Elicker said.
He pointed out that the $50 million increase in Payments in Lieu of Taxes funds from the state is “not a one-time thing. That’s a change in the formula — every year, instead of $40 million, we’ll have $90 million.”
Carlson said that “PILOT sounds great to everyone,” but “half of the property we have in the city is not on the tax rolls.” The easiest way to fix that, he said, “is to pressure the legislature to re-write our constitution and tax Yale.”
The two candidates also differed on COVID mandates, which Elicker supports and has used. Carlson said the “vaccinations work. Masks work. But I would not force anybody to get vaccinated.”
In response to a question from O’Leary about charter revision, Elicker said, “it’s very important that we have four-year-terms in New Haven. It’s important to get things done.” He also said the city “should keep as much of an appointed Board of Education as possible” because it “keeps politics out of it.”
Carlson said the school board “should be all elected,” so appointed members don’t feel pressure from the mayor, who sits on the board. With regard to term lengths, he said, “I can get it done in two.”
Elicker, 45, former executive director of the New Haven Land Trust and a former East Rock alder, is seeking a second term after defeating former Mayor
Toni Harp in both a Democratic primary and the general election in 2019.
Carlson, 52, a Greenwich Avenue resident and Bridgeport teacher who took over as Republican town chairman in March 2020, accepted the GOP nomination after being asked to run at the Republican Town Committee’s annual nominating convention.
The last time New Haven had a Republican mayor was 1953 — 68 years ago.