Harp in Peril: Mayor Confuses Subpoena with FOI Request.

Read The Courant’s Chris Keating on the race for mayor of New Haven. It’s a rematch between incumbent Democrat Toni Harp and challenger Justin Elicker.

Harp’s seeking a fourth term while her administration is under siege from a federal law enforcement criminal investigation of the city’s youth services department–headed until recently by Harp insider Jason Bartlett. Harp’s hoping to keep the lid on public disquiet over the investigation. She will need to do better than comparing a federal subpoena to a request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act. The two are not close to the same.

A federal investigation of corruption in an administration always puts the person at the top under strain. Harp faces the challenge of balancing her legal strategy with bolstering her immediate political prospects. Neither will be served if she keeps spouting nonsense aimed at minimizing a summer of growing peril.