Rosen was elected to the council for the former Kingston Township in 1994, and in 1997 was elected to the Board of Control of the newly amalgamated City of Kingston.[3] He practiced law privately until 2000 when he joined Rosen Corp. Ltd., a family-owned firm which at one point included Rosen Fuels, a fuel-oil company founded by Rosen's father.[4]
Mayor of Kingston
Rosen was elected the 94th Mayor of the City of Kingston on November 10, 2003.[3] Following controversy over a downtown entertainment complex development, he was re-elected for a four-year term on November 13, 2006, by a slim margin of 730 votes, winning over runner-up candidate and Councillor Rick Downes.[5] He did not seek reelection in 2010.[6]
After finishing two terms as Kingston mayor, Rosen sought the federal Liberal nomination for the federal riding of Kingston and the Islands in 2010, after incumbent Peter Milliken, who was first elected in 1988, announced he would not run again. Rosen was one of five contenders; the eventual winner was Ted Hsu, who went on to retain the riding for the Liberals in the 2011 federal election.
^Paul Schliesmann (8 December 2010). "New city council sworn in". The Kingston Whig Standard. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
^ abcde"Harvey Rosen". Archive of City of Kingston, Ontario, Canada website. Archived from the original on 20 February 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2010.