The New Haven Register, 9/13/2004, Angela Carter, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — A former city employee and local television newsman has registered a campaign committee for the 2005 mayoral race.

Gary Jenkins, who worked as a public information officer for the mayor’s office, Public Works Department and chief administrative officer’s office, said Friday he registered the "Gary Jenkins for Mayor" committee so he could begin fund-raising activities.

The official announcement and kickoff rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday on the steps of City Hall, 165 Church St.

"We’re going to invite churches and people in the community to come out," he said. "This is going to be an uphill battle, I know it. John DeStefano is very entrenched. I look at it as the battle of David and Goliath. I’m David."

Jenkins said he has been conducting an "ascertainment tour" throughout city neighborhoods, and residents’ concerns vary from affordable housing, to finding living wage jobs, to neighborhood improvements such as repairing the Ferry Street bridge.

"I’m going to bring a kinder, gentler and more respectful spirit to City Hall," he said.

Jenkins was laid off by the city about two years ago and now is the full-time pastor of Sword of the Spirit Ministries, a non-denominational church.

A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Jenkins was a scout sniper in the Vietnam War and later was one of the first African Americans appointed to former President Richard Nixon’s personal security force.

In addition to a former job for Channel 8 Action News in New Haven, now News Channel 8, Jenkins has previously used the media training he acquired in the Marines as a radio newscaster for WTIC AM/FM in Hartford and a morning news anchor at Channel 40, WGGB in Springfield, Mass.

"I’m proud of my experience serving my country," Jenkins said. "Although Nixon wasn’t a popular president at the time, it’s a fond memory that I’ll always cherish."

The mayor and the 30 members of the Board of Aldermen will be up for re-election next year.

Jenkins is running as an Independent, while former Newhallville Alderman Willie Greene said Friday he plans to register a committee Wednesday and challenge DeStefano for the Democratic nomination.

Greene said New Haveners cannot afford luxury apartments being built downtown and that the Coliseum should not be demolished without public input. He recommended moving Long Wharf Theatre into what he called a "dormant" Palace Theater, instead of building a new facility.

Green Party candidate Thomas Holahan of Fair Haven Heights already has registered a campaign committee, and promotes himself as someone who "wants the job for two years."

Holahan said DeStefano has been a good mayor, but is not committed to finishing the next term because he is running a dual campaign for governor.

Sherri Killins, who unsuccessfully ran against DeStefano in the Democratic primary last year, did not say whether she plans to contest him again. Killins would only say the priority now is electing John Kerry as the next president of the United States.

Derek Slap, DeStefano’s spokesman, said the incumbent has 11 years of experience running the city, and in that time incidents of violent crime and the city’s high school dropout rate have been cut in half.

Homeownership is on the rise, and 19 schools have been renovated or rebuilt, Slap said.

"A lot of exciting things are happening in the city," he said. "Good, robust elections are a great way to affirm the direction in which the city is going is the right direction."

DeStefano also has a committee and has started fund raising, Slap said.