Sam Gurwitt Photo
Curt Leng at Tuesday night’s convention.
Amid calls for unity, Hamden Democrats split on Tuesday about whom to endorse for mayor, with incumbent Curt Leng outpacing Councilwoman Lauren Garrett by only seven votes.
“We obviously have a bit of a split town committee here,” Leng said as he took the microphone to accept his party’s nomination. “And I think there’s a lot of people that voted on both sides that have more in common than not, and I do hope that as we continue this process we can mend those fences.”
Leng and Garrett faced off at the Hamden Democratic Town Committee (DTC)’s convention Tuesday evening in Thornton Wilder Memorial Hall. Both sought their party’s endorsement to run for mayor. Leng, who is now running for his third two-year term, received 34 votes from the committee’s delegates. Garrett, who has served for one term on the Legislative Council, earned 27.
The “split” that Leng referred to among committee members mirrors a split that has played out for much of the last year among Hamden’s elected officials. Since the end of 2017, when the current council came into office, many of the newer members have sparred with Leng and old-guard Democrats on the council. Garrett, one of those self-proclaimed progressives with a fiscal-responsibility bent, has been one of Leng’s most vocal critics.
Garrett has built her campaign on a promise of financial responsibility, while also championing progressive causes like increased police accountability, environmental protection, and restorative justice for instances of racism.
“My administration will be fiscally conservative, accountable, transparent and responsive to taxpayers,” her campaign website says.
Garrett has consistently criticized Leng for being unrealistic in crafting budgets that have ended in shortfalls and for using money allocated for the town’s pension to pay for overages in operating expense accounts. She was one of the proponents of the budget the council approved in May that lowered many revenue projections to levels council members felt were more attainable. Leng ultimately vetoed that budget.
Delegates sitting with their districts.
Since she did not receive her party’s endorsement, Garrett will have to petition to run against Leng in the primary in September. She will need to receive the signatures of 5 percent — or 838— of Hamden’s 16744 registered Democrats by Aug. 7.
Hamden also has 3,909 registered Republicans, 419 voters affiliated with other parties, and 11,464 unaffiliated voters. Republican Jay Kaye is running for mayor as well.
Garrett told the Independent that she plans to request the petition form from Town Clerk Vera Morrison Wednesday morning, and will start collecting signatures by the evening.
Both candidates have started campaigning. Garrett said she has already knocked over 5,000 doors herself. Leng said that he has had canvassers out for six weeks already, and that he started making calls last year.
The primary will take place on Sept. 10. Garrett has vowed that if she loses the primary, she will not run as an Independent in the general election. Leng has also indicated that he also will not run as an Independent if he loses the primary, though in less firm language. “I’m going all in for the Democratic Primary,” he told the Independent. “No, I have no intention of going beyond that.”
The DTC also chose its endorsements for council seats and for two Board of Education positions Tuesday evening. Jody Clouse, Berita Rowe-Lewis, Brad Macdowall, and Dominique Baez received endorsements to run at-large. Endorsements for district seats were as follows: Mick McGarry in the first district, Harry Gagliardi in the second, Athena Gary in the third, Valerie Horsley in the fourth, Justin Farmer in the fifth, Cory O’Brien in the sixth, Michael Colaiacovo in the seventh, Kristin Dolan in the eighth, and Sarah Gagne in the ninth.
Chris Daur and Roxana Walker-Canton got the party’s endorsements to run for the two open seats on the Board of Education.
Criticisms
Lauren Garrett.
During his speech, Leng acknowledged the criticism he has received from his fellow politicians, many of whom were in the room.
“I want to push back a little bit on the notion that Hamden is struggling so much,” he said.
“I also am criticized because I’m too optimistic,” he added. “And that was a strange one for me. I think as mayor you’re the town’s ambassador and it’s your job to sell your community, be enthusiastic, be a glass half-full kind of person.”
Leng told the Independent that there have been times when council members have criticized him for “being too positive about the town or too optimistic about the town.”
One instance when council members criticized Leng for being optimistic took place in April. A few hours before a contested meeting in which the council was supposed to divert funds budgeted for the pension to pay for the Fire Department and for utility bills, Leng said on WTNH that “our overall budget’s sound. We do not have a bill problem, and, uh, we’re in pretty good shape.” Council members criticized him for painting such a rosy picture when accounts were going over budget.
“Why are we being asked to underfund the pension if there is no problem?” Majority Leader Cory O’Brien asked.
Council members, including Garrett, have also criticized him for “inflated” or overly “optimistic” revenue projections in the budgets he has crafted.
Leng told the Independent that if he serves a third term, he will focus on expanding community policing, increasing economic development in Hamden, and securing more funding from the state.
Garrett said that if elected mayor, she would focus on economic development in southern Hamden, specifically in Census Tract 1655, which stretches from Hamden’s southern border up to Putnam Avenue along Dixwell Avenue, and which is a Designated Opportunity Zone.
Decisions And Divisions
Flying monkeys: Leng seen as ready.
For some delegates, the choice came down to experience.
“It was an experience thing for me,” said DTC Secretary Kyle Blake. “I don’t think Lauren has the experience to do the job yet — especially the budget,” though she added that “there are a lot of things that I agree with Lauren on.”
As Council President Mick McGarry put it in his speech to nominate Leng for the party’s endorsement, “He has had almost every position of trust and responsibility this town has to offer.” Even if flying monkeys were to descend on Hamden, he added, Leng would be prepared.
Others, however, said they believe in Garrett’s promise.
“She has put a focus on transparency of our finances,” said Sixth-District Delegate Patrick Johnson, explaining why he had voted for her. “She wants to go out and fight for everyday people.”
Vera Morrison: Enough divisiveness.
Though committee members were divided over who should be mayor, and over at-large council positions and Board of Education nominations, there was one thing they could all agree on: Town Clerk Vera Morrison.
And she has had enough of the division.
After securing the nomination unopposed, she went to the podium to give a speech based on the wisdom of her 24 years in office.
“Certain things have happened in the last two years…” she began. “I guess the incivility of the last two years has bothered me the most. I sit as the monkey in the middle,” she added, and watch as the council and the mayor fight. “Please, guys, let’s get along.”
As she left the mic to sit down, every delegate in the room stood to applaud her.
Calls for unity should have been calls to replace Leng. His fiscal management skills has put the town on track as one of the worst run towns in Connecticut. He joins his sister city New Haven - and Hartford. For such a small town, with such a vibrant commercial and home tax base - this is nuts.