Paul Bass Photo
Hamden mayoral candidate Peter Cyr at WNHH FM.
You know those social-media addicted millennials? Peter Cyr doesn’t count himself among them.
Yes, Cyr has a Facebook page for his current campaign to become Hamden’s next mayor.
But he said he’s making a point of focusing more on face-to-face contact than social-media pushes to win votes.
Hamden’s political world spends too much time ginning up anger and accusations on social media. Cyr, a 26-year-old Hamden native, said he’s running in part to de-toxify the government and political culture.
“We lean a lot on social media,” with local issues becoming subsumed by national political fights, Cyr argued during an interview on WNHH FM’s “Dateline Hamden program.”
“I want to get back to a positive narrative for our town.”
Cyr faces incumbent Mayor Curt Leng and Democratic Town Committee-endorsed candidate Lauren Garrett in a Sept. 14 primary. Petitioning his way onto the primary ballot, Cyr collected more signatures than did either Leng or a fourth candidate, who fell short of qualifying.
He was asked why he’s starting out running for the mayor’s office rather than, say, a seat on the Legislative Council or the Board of Education.
“The change has to start at the top, not being tied to past decisions,” he said. “I haven’t alienated anyone.”
Cyr does have political experience. After growing up next door to Best Video in Spring Glen — “I lived in the political documentary section” — he studied political science at the University of California-Berkeley. He worked as a field organizer in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He served as a legislative aide to Massachusetts State Rep. Jon Zlotnik. He served as a regional organizing director for the Connecticut Democratic Party. He also worked for U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, as a lead organizer on his issues-based #FightBackCT campaign promoting reforms to gun violence, climate change and health care.
The Murphy spin-offs: State Rep. Scanlon; mayoral hopeful Cyr; Mayor Florsheim; State Rep. Santiago.
In launching a mayoral run at 26, Cyr is looking to join a club of youthful Chris Murphy aides who went on to launch their own political careers. Call them the Murphy Mentees: Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim (elected the city’s youngest-ever chief exec at 27), Guilford State Rep. Sean Scanlon, Meriden State Rep. Hilda Santiago, who’s now preparing a run for secretary of the state.
A lesson from his six-month 2016 door-knocking stint for Clinton taught him a lesson that drove him to return home to pursue a political career: “I wasn’t effective” in Wilkes-Barre, he said, because “I wasn’t from there.”
He is from Hamden: graduate of the public schools, including Spring Glen, Hamden Middle, and Hamden High.
Based on that experience, he said he would like to tackle the town’s desperate finances by pushing for more state reimbursement for revenue lost due to Quinnipiac University’s tax-exempt status; and cutting administrative overhead at the Board of Education, focusing dollars on the classroom. The latter move would most immediately address the need to find $8 million next year to match a sudden spike in annual debt payments without raising taxes. Cyr was asked for specific examples of administrative positions he would cut. He named one category: assistant principals. With district enrollment declining, the town doesn’t need as many, he said.
He also vowed to reopen negotiations on a police contract clause barring layoffs for three years. In general, he said he’d like to see the town hiring more social workers rather than cops. But he also said he would not look to downsize the department from its current 100-officer strength.
Another way he’d like to build the tax base (and thus preventing tax hikes) would be through zoning. He criticized a decision to block a zoning change that would have allowed for mixed-use development around Whitney Avenue in Spring Glen. “That has stifled growth.” He’d also like to see more housing density allowed.
Cyr grew up in Spring Glen. So he knows neighbors there have fought zoning changes, part of a history that has prevented the neighborhood from diversifying.
He expressed confidence that he can pursue his position without meeting the same kind of resistance from his neighbors as he encountered in Wilkes-Barre. “These same people” fighting zoning changes “want lower taxes. That’s a contradiction,” he said. The neighbors were primarily concerned about opening the door to housing towers like on Mix Avenue. He said he would promote more modest densification.
Despite his Democratic credentials, Cyr did not commit to endorsing the winner of the Democratic primary in the general election should he fail to win it.
“I’m committed to winning the primary,” he said. “I need some conversation with [his opponents] first” before making such a commitment.
Click on the video above in this story for the full interview with Peter Cyr on WNHH FM’s “Dateline Hamden” program. Below are videos from episodes featuring his Democratic primary opponents.