Mayor-Elect Speaks On Win, Team, Plans And What 'Broke His Heart'

EAST HAVEN, CT — An hour and a half after the polls closed, and already being called mayor-elect for as long, Democrat Joe Carfora spoke with Patch about his not-surprising excitement over a hard fought victory.

In the interview, Carfora addressed his tax issue, a cloud that hung about through the end of the campaign, and the way he dealt with it. And he spoke about his love for his campaign team, including a childhood friend, and trio of supportive brothers and the way they ran the campaign. And Carfora shared the one thing that broke his heart. And finally, said he was getting right to work calling today “day one.”

“I’m totally ecstatic,” Carfora said from headquarters on Foxon Road at around 9:30 Tuesday night.

“I have such a great team starting with a childhood friend. It’s hard to express how happy I am about this team, people who ran a great campaign. We’re so happy.”

The campaign

In early October, raised publicly in a press release run by Patch, Republican Town Committee chair Bob Parente blasted Carfora saying he was “in the center of a tax controversy.” Parente provided documents that showed Carfora had thousands in outstanding tax debt and alleged that Carfora “misrepresented” the amount of tax he owed the town of North Haven and the IRS.

But Carfora said that he had come forward and addressed the matter and did so publicly and in the mayoral debate.

“We released the tax issue info, we wanted to be transparent. We were battling (accusations) and we came right out front. We wanted to be honest and transparent and we were. My mother and father brought me up in an honest and trustworthy way.”

Carfora said that he ran a “clean campaign” and “stayed on issues.”

“We talked about the issues, what matters to the residents. I made a promise to run a clean campaign,” he said, adding he chose not to attack challenger Republican “Big” Steve Tracey.

In an opinion piece submitted to Patch, Carfora wrote that Tracey “and his handlers continue the personal attacks on me and my family. Despite a yearlong campaign, and numerous opportunities to speak about real issues, my opponent still fails to do so, but instead chooses a negative personal attack campaign.”

But in the mayoral debate, sparks flew. It wasn't fisticuffs, but it got heated. Read more about the debate here.

In the nail-biting end, Carfora won with 3,865 votes, or 52.76 percent. Tracey received 3,169 votes or 43.26 percent, a margin of 696 votes.

“I never came at him. There was stuff, but I never went there. This (race) was about the issues and that’s what mattered.”

Carfora said one thing on election night deeply hurt him.

Democrat Tina M. Hedley fell short of being named Town Clerk by 28 votes to challenger Republcian winner Stacy Gravino, who with 3,455 votes won with 50.20 percent of the vote to Hedley’s 49.80 percent.

“The only thing that breaks my heart” was Hedley’s loss. “She walked every night. Just great and so trustworthy. She just fell short. My heart's broken.”

Moving forward

Carfora has laid out many plans and made a lot of promises including:

• Residential Development and opposition to the development of Sperry Lane, D.C. Moore and any other properties
• Economic Development, “commercial development that is the right commercial development, not development that benefits a developer.”
• Revamp the Town's Ethics Ordinance by adding “teeth.”
• Implementation of a Town Wide Computer System for the logging of citizen concerns, which will be monitored by the Mayor and relevant Department Heads;
• Improved space for our Seniors at a newly renovated Senior Center
• Improved transportation for Seniors through the use of the Senior Bus to drive them to Doctor's appointments
• Establishment of a Historic District in the Center of Town
• Designation of a member of the Mayor's Staff as a Grant Writer, tasked with identifying and securing Grant Money for the Town that lessens the burden on our taxpayers and allows us to access money that every other Town around us gets
• Strict Enforcement of the East Haven Anti-Blight Ordinance to address all areas of Town
• Responsible Fiscal Policies that are designed to keep taxes low and cut fat where needed
• Education: Working hand in hand with our Board of Education to support it in advancing our children's goals and aspirations
• Public Works: Minimize the use of outside private contractors and stop micromanaging so public works can do its job.
• Parks Department: Sole purpose to attack head on, the dilapidated condition of our ballfields/parks
• Exploring the possibility of a town-wide, town-run transport ambulance service
• Resident only parking in the area around the beach

The list is voluminous. But he said he’s going to get things done.

“We’re going to start right off executing my plans,” he said.

When, he was asked by a reporter?

“Starting tomorrow,” he said Tuesday night after being mayor-elect for 90 minutes. And he said he fully expects voters to hold him to his word.

"I was raised to be trustworthy."