Garrett Hits Doors Early For Return Run

On Hamden’s busy mayoral campaign trail.

Garrett, who two years ago ran against then and now incumbent Mayor Curt Leng in a Democratic primary, is campaigning again for the Democratic mayoral nomination. She said she has hit more than 2,000 doors over the past two months. She also said she plans to personally knock on an additional 3,000 before the September primary.

During Garrett’s rounds on Sunday, Whitneyville resident Elizabeth Johnson was one of the many to recognize Garret from her 2019 run for the same position.

“I think I voted for you last time,” she said.

Garrett grinned before offering her standard introduction: ​“I ran for mayor in 2019 because our finances are a mess. And they’re getting worse, so I’m running again.”

Garrett, who works in real estate and is a mother to three, first got involved in Hamden politics while attending Board of Education meetings in her 20s. In 2017, she was elected to the Legislative Council. In 2019, she gave up her seat in order to run against Leng in the mayoral primary. Though Garrett lost, she said she built the necessary infrastructure that summer to propel her forward in this year’s election.

The Democratic Town Committee plans to endorse their chosen candidate on July 27, after which point other Democratic candidates can petition for a spot on a Sept. 14 primary ballot.

Announced Democratic candidates so far include Garrett, running against Brad Macdowall, a current at-large council representative, and Peter Cyr, a statewide political organizer. Mayor Leng has not officially announced whether or not he will run again, but has suggested he may try to make it on the general election ballot as a third-party candidate.

“Well I’m certainly not entirely happy with the way things are,” Johnson replied to Garrett, noting Hamden’s high taxes.

This was another cue: Garrett offered an analogy to explain the complex history behind why Hamden has the largest debt per capita in the state.

“There’s been a lack of transparency,” she began, describing how she believes Leng has abused capital sweeps, or transferring funds from bonds for capital projects to pay debt, and other strategies in attempts to balance budget shortfalls. 

“Imagine taking out a mortgage on a house, but you don’t take the house and you keep the mortgage,” Garrett said.

At other houses she offered another example: Imagine ​“taking out money, putting in on a credit card, not getting the stuff, and just getting the debt.”

So, Johnson asked, what’s Garrett’s plan?

“To reduce expenses in a way that doesn’t hurt people,” Garrett offered.

While canvassing, Garrett often critiques Leng’s actions, then asserts she will do the opposite.

For example, she told most doors that Leng gave out raises to nine non-union employees during the pandemic. She said that Hamden has not taken their $60 million healthcare contract out to bid for two decades because of political favoritism.

“Holy cow!” exclaimed another Hamden resident, Nancy Ovedovitz.

On her website, Garrett asserts that ​“spending restraint” and ​“hard-nosed negotiations” across the board are crucial. The problem that has plagued Hamden for years, she asserts, ​“is terrible mismanagement.”

In an email to the Independent, Leng said ​“mismanagement accusations are pure politics.” He asserted that Garrett’s canvassing points were ​“disingenuous manipulation and misrepresentation of facts.”

“You can’t pretend the Town hasn’t strengthened its finances, that we haven’t achieved millions in medical insurance cost savings and stabilized our Town Pension Fund. These are facts,” he said.

He also noted that Hamden is self-insured and that ​“95% of our insurance costs are direct expenses paid for services and prescriptions for town and board of education employees and retirees.” Leng reported that the town’s contract with Anthem Blue Cross has been competitively bid several times by Brown & Brown, the firm which acts as Hamden’s agent of record for insurance. He said Hamden was able to move all their unions to high deductible health savings account plans, which ​“will save the town millions.”

Garrett noted that the vice-president of Brown & Brown is Lew Panzo — who was also the previous chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, and fundraised for Curt Leng’s past campaigns. ​“I don’t believe you can have a contract for two decades and be bidding competitively,” she argued She asserted that she does not necessarily disapprove of the current agent of record, but said that she thinks Hamden should consider negotiating its contract independently or examine the possibility of hiring a new agent of record.

Meanwhile, back on the doors, Ovedovitz’s ​“I may have voted for you two years ago” turned into ​“you have my vote,” by the end of the conversation.

The Entourage

Garrett has established contact with thousands of Hamden residents inside and outside of her West Woods neighborhood over the years, she said. Even when someone doesn’t immediately recognize Garrett, Garrett or her team often remember them.

Garrett usually canvasses with at least one other person; she said that having others track door-knocking data while she pitches herself to residents increases efficiency and allows her to have more in depth conversations.

On Sunday, she was joined by three supporters consistently referred to by residents and Garrett herself as ​“the entourage.”

Sean Grace, chair of the Democratic Town Committee, Jennifer Pope, co-founder of the Hamden Progressive Action Network and democratic state central committee woman, and Alexa Panayotakis, Garrett’s campaign treasurer, made up what Grace preferred to call ​“the peanut gallery” this Sunday.

Garrett also asserted that ​“it wouldn’t be safe for me to go out by myself.”

From Facebook To Real Life

Concerns over safety and politically-based aggression were echoed by one homeowner Garrett spoke to on Sunday.

Grace recognized her immediately. ​“Nice to see you in person, Facebook friend!” he said cheerfully. ​“You’re one of the funniest Facebook friends I have.”

Panayotakis also tried to prod the woman’s memory. She recalled how the woman invited them inside for ice water and introduced them to her pets during one of the hottest days back in 2019.

The woman, who didn’t want to be identified because she’s ​“afraid of violence,” couldn’t place everyone. But, she said, ​“I’m ready to move on from Leng. Things have to change.”

“What are your concerns?” Garrett asked.

“The roads are in terrible condition,” she said. ​“My car — is it still in the driveway or has it been stolen?” she asked sarcastically, before remembering how a salesman at an auto dealership in Branford urged her to take extra measures to protect her car on the basis that Hamden roads are severely damaged and damaging to vehicles.

“I specifically asked for fog lights so I could see potholes,” she said.

Garrett asserted that millions must be spent on roads each year for basic maintenance, but that ​“Hamden hasn’t even paved our roads in two years.” She added that Hamden has received $30 million through the American Rescue Plan Act which must be used within the next two years. Garrett wants to invest those funds in sustainable infrastructure.

When again discussing how to limit overall spending, the woman asked ​“what about libraries?”

“I love libraries,” Garrett said. She shared that she has three children in Hamden public schools, and that funding education is at the heart of her campaign.

“Public education and public libraries are the cornerstones of democracy,” continued the woman who declined to be named for this story. ​“Without them, we’ll have an even stupider populace than we do now.”

Other than a ​“Nasty Woman” bumper sticker, she said she refuses to put up political signage or showcase political messages because she is nervous that she will become a target for aggressive conservatives in Hamden.

As Garrett’s team turned to walk away, the woman shouted ​“Good luck, Lauren!”

Sean Grace said how important it is that Garrett knock on doors herself rather than depending entirely on volunteers to canvass for her. Garrett has been spending four to eight hours a week for the past two months meeting residents on their doorsteps.

It’s OK, she said, to chat about Elizabeth Johnson’s garden or to take a ten minute break to take pictures of a neighborhood girl’s pet bunny.

“I’m not trying to play catch up,” Garrett asserted. ​“I’m in the lead.”