From 1995: Serra Opponents Could Run With Patronage Issue

The following article was published exactly 15 years ago today, appearing in the Hartford Courant on June 27, 1995. It was written by Bill Daley.
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"Patronage" apparently is the dirty word of choice for both Republicans and dissident Democrats.

Those at a Republican town committee meeting Monday seemed poised to wage as big an attack on Mayor Thomas J. Serra's hiring record as Maria Madsen Holzberg, the mayor's challenger for the Democratic nomination.

"As far as patronage is concerned, I will not consider anything like that," said Emanuel Pattavina, the sole announced GOP candidate for mayor.

City hiring procedures have been a big issue for Holzberg, who on Monday called on Serra to hire a consulting firm to work on filling the town clerk's and building inspector's posts.

Greg Harris, a GOP committee member, took note of Holzberg's issues. The Republicans could draw on them if she loses a September primary to Serra, he said, but what if Holzberg wins? What themes could Republicans use? he asked.

Former Mayor Stephen Gionfriddo -- whose appointment as mayor after his predecessor stepped into the tax collector's job drew fire from Holzberg in 1993 -- conceded that the GOP would have a tougher time against Holzberg in the municipal election because she doesn't have a record to defend. He said Republicans would stress Pattavina's municipal track record while highlighting Holzberg's inexperience.

Pattavina is a former longtime Democratic councilman who turned Republican after being repudiated in 1993 by the Democrats for siding too often with the GOP on council votes.

Gionfriddo added that the Republicans could also seek to draw on disaffected Serra supporters, an idea Pattavina addressed with tongue firmly in check.

Pattavina noted that Democratic Town Chairman Bill Pillarella has announced that he won't support Holzberg if she wins the party primary. He thanked Pillarella in advance for his support.

Earle Roberts, a GOP committee member who attended Holzberg's announcement, said the Republicans need to focus on the issues of patronage and open government. He drew a sharp reaction from High Sheriff Joseph Bibisi when he mentioned Bibisi's hiring practices.

Bibisi's hires since he took office June 1 include a former Middletown police officer who has been accused of threatening another officer with a loaded gun.

"I have picked people who believe in my philosophy, my work organization," Bibisi said. "It is not patronage. It is choosing people who believe in your philosophy and work ethics. . . . There's a difference between patronage and reorganization."

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The 1995 Democratic mayoral primary was hotly contested between incumbent mayor Serra and challenger Holzberg. Holzberg repeatedly attacked Serra's hiring record; the Courant reported that in their first debate, "Holzberg repeatedly accused the mayor of unnecessarily filling vacancies in city departments--often with friends, some of them politically connected--that would best go unfilled to save money. ... She said with the police vacancies, the mayor 'hired people with a history of assault and gambling.'" Serra, in turn, called his opponent "the minister of disinformation."

Holzberg won the primary by 173 votes. Serra, and some other Democratic Town Committee members refused to support Holzberg in the general election, which Holzberg won.