Police, Finances Split Hamden Candidates

Green jobs — including cannabis jobs — got a thumb’s up while crime fears and affordable housing sparked differing visions at the final debate leading up to Tuesday’s Hamden mayoral election.

Democrat Lauren Garrett and Republican Ron Gambardella returned to the virtual floor for the rematch debate Thursday night. They were joined this time by write-in candidate Al Lotto, who got his name on the ballot after removing it a month earlier after citing ​“venomous attacks” from ​“important people in town.”

Incumbent Mayor Curt Leng, who lost to Garrett in a Sept. 14 Democratic primary, is, like Lotto, registered as a write-in candidate — but says he is not actively running for office (unless one of the other candidates suddenly moves to Pluto).

Thursday evening’s debate, hosted by Hamden/ North Haven League of Women Voters and moderated by its past president Carol Reimers, illuminated the tactics candidates are using in the final days before the general election in hopes of distinguishing themselves as the best person to occupy Hamden’s top office.

The choices: A Democratic ​“coalition builder,” an accountant looking for change and more police in plazas, and an Independent who works three jobs and hopes to appeal to ​“the people.”

The issues: Economic development, taxes, public safety, schools, zoning, environmentalism, and pathways to public participation in local government.

“We’re on a financial cliff,” Gambardella warned the debate’s Zoom audience of around 300. ​“The town is in grave financial danger …. If you have a financial problem, you call a financial educator.”

Through building the town’s budget from the ground up with a zero-based budgeting approach and performing an operational audit, Gambardella said, he would ​“bring approaches that have not been tried in the past” throughout 20 years of Democratic executive rule. He said his undergraduate economics degree, MBA in finance, and 19 years in former SNET’s finance department equip him to ​“navigate the difficult waters ahead of us.”

Garrett argued that her degree in naval architecture and engineering as well as her experience managing finances for her real estate business would better suit her to lower Hamden’s fiscal flooding — and the town’s problem with literal, chronic flooding.

Garrett said during her recent time on the Legislative Council, between 2017 and 2019, she proposed an operational efficiency audit across departments, but didn’t have the support to get it through.

Like Gambardella, she would prioritize finally following through with an efficiency audit for the town’s operations budget. She and Lotto also emphasized the importance of a five year plan to promise fiscal stability to potential business owners as well as the possibility of regionalizing services to cut costs.

Garrett said she has discussed consolidating emergency dispatch operations across municipalities with State Rep. Mike D’Agostino, who has endorsed her candidacy. And she has a municipal maintenance plan to regionalize and track trash disposal and other services provided by public works, she said. The tracking system would be available on a reimagined town website. ​“The old one was terrible,” Garrett said, while Al Lotto nodded vigorously in agreement.

When it comes to attracting new businesses for heightened sources of revenue, Garrett said, her background in infrastructure would be necessary. ​“I can read schematics,” she said. She said she wants to spend the $30 million Hamden has coming in American Rescue funds on green infrastructure, from storm drainage to solar panels to sidewalks to more trees. She said that members of her candidate slate with whom she has strong relationships have relevant professional expertise: Ted Stevens, a Democrat running in the eighth district, is a transportation planner, while Dominique Baez, an incumbent at-large rep, has experience in workforce development and finding ways to hire local people.

Garrett also said she’d like to start investing in electric fleets for the town — she herself drives an electric car, she proudly pointed out.

If he wasn’t mistaken, Gambardella said, Garrett drives a Tesla. ​“That’s wonderful, but they’re expensive and not everybody can afford those cars,” he said. It’s about measuring the sustainable technology against the costs, he asserted.

“I drive a VW Electric,” Garrett retorted. ​“It is $19,000.”

Gambardella and Garrett continued to butt heads over ideas of accessibility and equity.

When it came to talk of public education, Gambardella stressed the importance of parental input and involvement. ​“I want to give the people of Hamden a voice,” he said, and he has a plan. ​“It’s what I call, ​‘giving the people of Hamden a voice.’”

The plan: ​“To bring parents together to discuss and debate the issues and then make recommendations to the mayor.” He said he wants to create forums for groups of everyday residents to come together and talk about thorny issues and then relay their conversations to him. That’s how he would discern which schools most desperately need construction or additional resources, he said, ​“when everybody wants to compete for the same pool of money.”

“I don’t want to create an echo chamber,” Garrett said. ​“There are certain schools that have a stronger voice — that’s not always the school that’s most in need … There are working parents with two to three jobs. It’s not always fair to request to hear from parents; they’re not always there to advocate.”

She said the key lies in getting the public to show up to Board of Education meetings — and keeping virtual options open for people to join over Zoom, or watch recordings — in order to make sure people stay informed and engaged. When she chaired the council’s Education Committee, she said, she would go to meetings and take her own notes to share with parents, teachers, and residents. Ensuring that more detailed minutes are drafted and posted in a timely manner on the BOE’s website moving forward could support parents who feel left out of decisions that affect their children and families.

A similar back and forth occurred when discussing zoning laws.

Garrett and Lotto both pushed the necessity of constructing more affordable housing in town.

Garrett elaborated, asserting that she would advocated to alter zoning laws in order to ​“reverse the legacy of zoning and other practices that have segregated out town.” She noted that Hamden is currently required by the state to desegregate their school systems, which she argued should happen by redistricting.

Gambardella hopped in: ​“She wants to change zoning laws so high-density, low-income projects can be located anywhere in town with no restrictions.”

He brought up a current affordable housing proposal in the southern end of town, which residents have rejected. ​“What they want to see is homeownership,” he said.

“I really don’t need you speaking for me,” Garrett countered. Then she said, ​“Ron wants to use affordable housing to segregate Hamden. Not Democratic values, obviously.”

“Affordable housing also involves condos!” Lotto pitched in. ​“It does encourage people to own!”

The same tension carried over to the issue of public safety.

“The Police Department issues a report to the state of Connecticut stating that there are 2,500 cases every year where a social worker can respond better than the police can,” she told the audience. She said on top of heightened community policing, she wants to develop a broader crisis response team made up of social workers and work on trauma informed policing to disrupt violence by people who had violence inflicted upon them first.

Employment, safe housing, good security, youth programming, and treatment for mental illness and substance disorders have to be priorities in lowering crime rates, Garrett asserted.

Gambardella offered his interpretation of Garrett’s proposed policies: ​“She’s soft on crime. She thinks the criminals are victims and the victims are criminals.”

He said he wants more police in shopping centers, where seniors have said they’re afraid to go for groceries or to run errands due to ​“an increase in crime.”

The Hamden PD shared the following data with the Independent regarding changes in specific crimes over the past two years: From January through September in 2021, Hamden has seen 43 robberies, compared to 41 in the same period in 2020, and 39 in 2019. Over the same nine-month period, aggravated assault gravitated from 102 in 2018, down to 83 in 2019, 71 in 2020, 91 in 2021. Burglaries in the period rose from 82 to 89 from 2019 to 2020, then back down to 79 so far in 2021. Thefts from motor vehicles rose in that period from 111 to 163 from 2019 to 2020, then down to 152 so far this year. Shooting incidents rose from 22 in 2019 to 32 in 2020 to 47 so far this year. Three homicides have occurred so far this year, compared to one last year.

Over the past year, Hamden has seen an increase in aggravated assaults. Gambardella asserted that people in town are also worried about ​“unreported crime” — ​“People looking for jobs, donations, and money,” in addition to ​“gunshots at night.”

Gambardella said that decreasing crime across the board is the first step to growing economic development. Gambardella and Garrett agreed on investing in basic infrastructure and streamlining the zoning process to draw more businesses to town.

Lotto, who runs the Facebook page ​“Hamden Crime Watchers,: a public site with over 5,000 members, said his primary concern is filling the roughly 20 vacant spots in the PD that are required through the town’s union contract with the police. He also said he’d like to rearrange where police are located around town, though he didn’t offer any specifics. ​“No disrespect to the police department at all,” he said, ​“But when an incident occurs, they always seem to be on the wrong side of town.”

Lotto used the topic of economic development to bring up one of his primary interests: Cannabis dispensaries. He argued that engaging Hamden in the cannabis industry would attract a new wave of people to town — including entrepreneurs and business owners, individuals looking for jobs, and homebuyers.

Gambardella also brought up cannabis — though in a different context: Green jobs. In addition to hiring locals to install more panels and investing in wind turbines, he brought up job creation through cannabis cultivation. ​“There’s nothing more green than that!”

In their closing statements, the candidates summarized not their political stances but their positionalities and experiences.

“I see two candidates that can be considered career politicians. I have no to desire to be a career politician— I listen to residents and hear their concerns,” Lotto said.

“Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We need new blood, different ideas.”

Gambardella agreed that new blood is needed — but that experience is also key. He identified himself not through political party, but as a neutral candidate with financial expertise who could shake up years of Democratic leadership.

Meanwhile, Garrett argued that electing a Democrat would be critical in the upcoming election. She pointed to her slate of candidates, who she called ​“diverse in life and professional experiences,” as well as the Democratic state and federal leaders who have endorsed her so far in the race, from Lt. Governor Susan Bysewiecz to U.S. Rep. Rose DeLauro to Attorney General William Tong. By building strong relationships and coalitions within her party, she promised to make concrete changes in town over the next two years.

Learn more about how to make your vote count by checking out voter education resources available on the League of Women Voters website here.