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No Guts, No Glory
DeStefano, Looney make nice at Rotary debate
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Business New Haven
9/4/2001
By:
Michael C. Bingham
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Those rooting for blood or bile at the August 28 Democratic mayoral debate between five-term incumbent John DeStefano Jr. and challenger State Sen. Martin M. Looney (D-11) at the New Haven Lawn Club came away disappointed.
The third session between the contestants (Republican Joel Schiavone was not invited) was sponsored by the Rotary Club of New Haven in conjunction with the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce. About 120 attended the luncheon session.
DeStefano and Looney agreed on nearly as many issues as they disagreed. Both supported the expansion of Tweed-New Haven Airport, although DeStefano was more blunt in acknowledging that expanding the flyway's existing "footprint" would necessarily require seizing neighboring properties by eminent domain.
Neither candidate supported the bid by Quinnipiac Energy to re-open the English Station power plant in Fair Haven, initially to be powered by oil and later as a clean gas-burning facility. Looney said he would never permit English Station to burn oil, while DeStefano said the city had recently commenced tax-foreclosure proceedings on the plant. "We want to get control of that property," he said.
The two clashed sharply, however, on the issue of public education. Looney scored a "bloated school bureaucracy" that he said employs 20 percent more administrators than Hartford's system, 30 percent more than Bridgeport's and 40 percent more than Waterbury's. He also criticized a system in which, he said, only 24 percent of pupils attained proficiency in reading on the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT).
DeStefano countered that this academic year 900 suburban students had opted to attend New Haven public schools.
Perhaps because the Rotary event attracted mainly business people, the candidates were civil, even collegial. In his closing remarks the mayor referred to his challenger as "a good man with a good heart."
The session was moderated by veteran WVIT-TV political correspondent Tom Monahan. The panel of questioners included WTNH-TV political correspondent Mark Davis, WYBC radio Public Affairs Director Michelle Turner, and New Haven Register Editor Jack Kramer, whose paper, oddly, did not cover the event.
Although he was not included in the pre-primary debate, Republican Schiavone has issued a challenge to the primary victor to join him in a series of neighborhood debates.
"I feel strongly that you and I should hold a public debate in every New Haven neighborhood," Schiavone wrote to both DeStefano and Looney. "This would provide New Haven residents in every neighborhood the opportunity to hear our individual plans to rebuild New Haven."
The final square-off between the two Democrats will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. September 5 over the airwaves of WELI (960 AM), moderated by 'ELI talk-show host Steve Kalb. The Democratic primary in New Haven will take place September 11.
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