Majority lifts Harkins

Written by John Kovach
Thursday, 05 November 2009 08:52

State Rep. John Harkins was overwhelmingly elected Stratford's second mayor Tuesday, the first to win with a clear majority.

Harkins finished with more than 50% of the vote, and some 3,000 ballots more than Democratic incumbent James R. Miron garnered four years ago.

Cheers could be heard down Main Street from a crowd that spilled out of Harkins headquarters on Paradise Green as unofficial results were called in by observers and written on a large sheet of paper.

Harkins finished with 53% of the 13,734 votes cast, or 7,334. Miron had 28% of the vote, or 3,912. Unaffiliated candidate Domenic Costello was third with 17% (2,402 votes). George Mulligan, also a petitioning candidate, got 86 votes.

In 2005, Miron was elected with 33.2% of the vote. Costello, then running as a Republican, finished second with 27%. Jonathan Best, running as an unaffiliated candidate, was third with 26%. Best fell short to Harkins in this September’s Republican primary.

Harkins and his backers hailed Tuesday’s victory as a chance to restore pride in Stratford, a key plank in the Harkins platform.

“The sun is shining, the cloud has lifted,” outgoing Republican Town Council member Michael Julian said while congratulating Harkins.

“The people have spoken,” Miron said in a subdued headquarters on Hawley Lane, in the presence of most town department heads, telling supporters he had conceded shortly before 8:45 p.m.

Concern was evident on the faces of several of those department heads, hired by the outgoing mayor.

Harkins said at his headquarters that it was “premature” to discuss what changes, if any would affect Town Hall staff.

Police, firefighters and School Supt. Irene Cornish, with whom Harkins has promised a more civil relationship, were among those at his headquarters, as were those who said Miron treated them unfairly.

“This shows you can’t treat people like garbage,” former Fire Chief Jay Cybart said outside Harkins headquarters.

“I think the message is ‘restore the pride,’ that’s the big thing, especially with the public safety folks,” Republican Town Committee Chairman Joe Crudo said.

Miron said he and his backers could be reassured that they did everything they could.

“The measure for me is, at the end of the day, did we do everything we could have done,” Miron said, telling supporters they had.

“For four years I gave my 150% to this job,” Miron said after his speech, adding that he led with integrity.

The first mayor has offered to assist his successor with transition, something he said there was no plan for when he was elected in 2005.

Harkins, as well as the new Town Council, are scheduled to be sworn in on Monday, Dec. 14.

Asked if he had any advice for the new mayor, Miron said, “Good luck.”

Mulligan and Costello both ran campaigns critical of the way partisan politics have worked in Stratford.

“Politics is like casino gambling; eventually the house always wins,” Mulligan said Wednesday. “I believe the timetables for the last 25 years were all set for after this election; for overdue revitalization of Stratford, Bridgeport and the Valley. I wish John Harkins well and hope he is a man of the people and not of the parties. Town attorney and other personnel appointments will show real, or appearances of, changes or not.”

Costello could not be reached for comment.