For Hamden’s mayor, the holiday season is a time to work harder to make sure the town’s residents are warm, fed and Covid-free.
The mayor, Curt Leng, joined the “Municipal Voice,” a co-production between the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and WNHH FM, to discuss how Hamden has approached public health, economic development, and social services in a world with and without Covid-19.
“With the vaccine itself, there’s the wonderful news of the effectiveness of it – that’s the great side of it. The challenging side is that there are very specific steps that need to be taken,” Leng said.
Hamden has been working with its health department, Mayor Justin Elicker of New Haven, First Selectman Michael J. Freda of North Haven, and Mayor Luke Bronin in Hartford to share ideas on social distancing and how to cope with their citizens’ Covid-19 fatigue.
Leng emphasized that it is important to continue to mitigate Covid-19 risk as vaccines become available. If you’re going to do something this holiday season, do it outside, Leng cautions, and limit times when you might have to go to the store.
2020 has seen an uptick in homelessness, and Hamden has spent years expanding help for those experiencing homelessness. That includes opening warming centers, working with partners like Columbus House, and holding virtual forums with the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness.
Leng singled out his Board of Education for providing 270,000 meals since Covid-19 began.
“Partnerships are more important than ever,” he said. “I think my biggest realization as mayor is if we don’t lean on our partners, and actively pursue partners to come in, you just really can’t be successful in the current environment.”
“You can be far more effective by bringing people that have additional expertise and additional manpower. It’s working with the right people, who you may already have a relationship with and utilizing those tools that are already available.”
