A race for a Hamden Legislative Council seat hinges in part on how to define some basic concepts of democracy in the age of both Trump and a newly ascendant wing in the local Democratic Party.
The concepts include accountability, transparency, and civility.
Those phrases are popping up in the race for the Sixth District Council seat. Incumbent Cory O’Brien faces former Council member Kathleen Schomaker in a Democratic primary for the seat this coming Tuesday.
The two represent different factions of the Hamden Democratic Party. One faction is composed mostly of people involved in local government for decades, headed by incumbent Mayor Curt Leng. The other faction is propelled by progressive activists inspired to get involved in local politics in response to President Trump’s 2016 election. This second faction includes members of the Hamden Progressive Action Network (PAN) and is represented by Democratic mayoral primary challenger Lauren Garrett. O’Brien, a first-term Council member, also represents that faction as the body’s majority leader.
The two factions haven’t gotten along well this year. They’ve battled late into the night at public meetings over taxes, pensions, budget projections, even paying a golf course water bill.
Schomaker, who left the Council in 2017 after 12 years, said party stalwarts urged her to run to restore “civility” to the Council.
“What’s wrong with our Legislative Council?” she regularly hears from voters when she campaigns in the district, which includes southeastern Hamden including State Street and Ridge Road.
A slate of newer Democrats — accounting for close to half the Council — have hammered opponents and town officials at meetings that last long into the night, showing disrespect and advancing a partisan agenda, Schomaker argued during an appearance on WNHH FM’s “Dateline Hamden” program. Until the past two years, Council members dealt with each other and officials more respectfully and productively to solve problems, she argued.
In a separate WNHH “Dateline” interview, O’Brien argued that what longer-serving Democrats call “civility” looks more like backroom decision-making and insufficient independent scrutiny, which led to a $1 billion debt problem and high taxes that drive people out of town.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with heated debate as as long as it’s respectful,” he said. “Dissenting voices need to be heard. … Debate shouldn’t be behind closed doors.”
As majority leader, O’Brien said, he has sought to bring more of the debate out from closed-door party caucuses onto the Council floor. He and his “younger, more progressive” Democratic colleagues have also sought to press town officials more on challenges like city finances and unrealistic revenue projections.
In strong-mayor governments like Hamden’s, O’Brien argued, legislative bodies too often take a “back seat.”
“I push a little bit because the administration doesn’t always provide” transparent information, O’Brien said. “I view that as accountability. That requires tough questions being asked.”
Schomaker also served as majority leader during six of her years on the Council. She argued that members asked tough questions about, say, the town’s debt burden and worked through differences to craft solutions. She observed that Council meetings now sometimes last long into the night — which she argued actually hinders democracy. People with jobs and families often can’t stay all night to see an issue debated and resolved, she said. And lawmakers don’t always make the clearest-headed decisions in that environment. “It’s almost science denial to think it’s appropriate to have human beings argue late into the night” to make public decisions, she said.
Schomaker, a graduate of Yale’s forestry school, currently works as town government’s energy-efficiency coordinator, a part-time position. She said she would continue to hold the position if elected and would consider recusing herself from votes when appropriate. If reelected, she will pursue “sustainable” policies for the local economy and environment, including a “coherent tree policy.”
O’Brien’s day job is in health care IT. He said he plans if reelected to continue “fighting for transparency” and tackling the town’s complex budget challenges. “There’s no silver bullet,” he said.
Click on the videos of their radio appearances to hear the two candidates speak at length about their visions for the office.