Let's defeat Jarjura next Tuesday

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

The New Canaan DTC has some good info on the primary candidates. Jarjura is a nasty bit of business and deserves a thumping next Tuesday.

"Mike Jarjura

Mike Jarjura is mayor of Waterbury. He developed a reputation as a ferocious campaigner when he failed to secure his party’s nomination for mayor in 2005, then won anyway by waging a write-in campaign. Following his victory, he said “Republican support was essential.” He was a strong and vocal backer of Joe Lieberman’s the following year. Jarjura is proudly pro-life and vehemently opposes marriage equality for same-sex couples. The Family Institute of Connecticut, a rather far-right-wing “family values” sort of organization, took time out from rallying support for the CT Tea Party to endorse Jarjura. As mayor, Jarjura hired John Rowland (yes, the other former Waterbury mayor, CT governor, and convicted felon) to do economic development work for Waterbury.

<snip>
Jarjura’s campaign claims “a record of financial expertise which brought Waterbury from $95,000,000 in debt to an $18 million surplus.” The Waterbury Republican-American reported on the claim, recognizing that Jarjura had little to do with the turnaround:

A state oversight board with far-reaching and exceptional powers controlled Waterbury’s finances for most of Jarjura’s administration. For the first five years, the board approved every city budget and imposed contract terms on the city and its unions.

“Believe me, no one will give more credit than I will,” Jarjura said.

Yet, there is no mention of the oversight board in the campaign’s appeals to voters. Instead, Jarjura is pledging that he will bring the same financial expertise that he used to save Waterbury to the comptroller’s office. The omission is doubly glaring in light of this claim because the mayor was not only a member of the board, but he voted as a state lawmaker to place Waterbury under state receivership in 2001.

Jarjura has now filed a lawsuit to try to block Kevin Lembo from receiving his CEP grant, which was approved when Lembo cleared the fund raising bar with a significant buffer last week.

Am I being unfair to Jarjura? Well, I’m not keen on promoting self-serving anti-choice, anti-family, serial embellishers who game the system with backroom deals and thwart it with lawsuits. Maybe Mike should’ve taken a minute to cut some sort of deal with me at the convention. After all, isn’t that what we do?

Which reminds me, Waterbury’s police union just endorsed Lembo, “saying that Lembo was a man they could trust, someone who kept his word when given.”

http://newcanaandems.info/

[brendan120678]

1. Rowland was never mayor here...

He was a State Rep., U.S. Rep (5th), and then Governor.
Other than that, spot-on.
Although a very (very, very, very) small part of me keeps thinking that if Jarjura wins, we can get him out of our City for good.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

2. Good catch

Did you go to their site and comment on that ?

You guys had Giordano as mayor, didn't you? I wonder if the author was thinking of him.

[JerseygirlCT]

3. Jarjura has nothing to do with Democrats...

I'm not sure what he is (other than wrong for public office), but a Democrat, he ain't.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

4. That's for sure. He's a real right-winger.

My fear is that his smear campaign will fool some voters on Tuesday and Lembo will not get on the balot for November.

[JerseygirlCT]

5. Well, just got another robo call from PP

so they're definitely out in mail and on the phone for Lembo. Hope it helps!