Hamden’s Financial Struggle: Who’s Leading the Charge?
Guest Post from Hamden Resident Michael Laughlin
This was recently shared within our Hamden Residents Unite Facebook group, and I’ve received permission to repost it here.
Hamden, I promised to dig through our town’s past leadership minutes and video recorded meetings, to illuminate the voting patterns of our LC members. Going back to budget deliberation meetings for the current 24-25 budget, I hoped voting records would reveal patterns of who to trust and not trust within the LC. Unfortunately graphs of voting records would fail to capture the nuances of committee voting like voting one way to influence a bigger decision later, abstaining to make a point or having a conflict of interest. Out of fairness to the LC, this sort of data would be pointless and misleading. Though, there are clear patterns as to how members vote, engage or choose not to engage when you consider the nuances. Body language speaks volumes too. I will not mention any names until election time as I really do not think voting patterns will change during the current 25-26 budget deliberations. But the 24-25 final split vote can be found on May 16, 2024. That said, I will share three hard truths that I now subscribe to:
1) The real Hamden financial problem is multi-pronged and bigger than any one person or position of leadership. The 4/29/24 finance commission report to the LC council called out every significant, particularly long term budgetary issue facing us right now. Some council members spoke up in agreement, while others remained silent. Some voted in line with commission recommendations but were ultimately outvoted by the 2/3 majority. I need not mention party affiliation as the two lone Republicans mostly lean towards fiscal conservatism, while the remaining 12 Democrats seem to be more erratic and/or have their own sub camps. Please notice the District 6 seat remains empty since Paula Irvin’s resignation on 3/1/25. We could spend hours complaining about the past, but the solution is clear - a concrete, long-term fiscally responsible recovery plan – of which I cannot find beyond Mayor Garrett’s plan to grow the fund balance years ago, and the finance commission’s recommendation to stop borrowing from the fund balance in 2024. They went further to offer some suggestions for a long term plan (per a LC question), one of which includes strong negotiations with the three big unions (police, fire, education) and NOT SPEND (expenses) MORE THAN YOU BRING IN (revenue).
2) Hamden needs a mayor with negotiating and financial chops. When I say chops, I mean putting together a reliable team that is willing to negotiate in the best interests of over-taxed residents and a financial team that actually, does its job. My next vote for mayor became open when it was revealed the LC does not receive consistent variance reports. In the past six months, the auditor does not have the information to do its job, and I am not quite sure if we even have a Finance Director at the moment. It was also surprising to hear the 4/29/24 finance commission offer their ongoing services (for free). I am yet to find evidence of the mayor or LC utilizing this service. In fact, the 8/19/24 finance committee agenda included appointing two new mayor appointees to the finance commission: Dan Smolnik, Cory O’Brien. The minutes are not available on the website.
3) The "Legislative Power" of the council is not being realized by the current collective members. According to the Charter, the LC has significant authority to be innovative and creative as Hamden finds a way forward. Using laymen’s terms, they have the power to a) create, edit or reject the rules of the town, b) create or abolish boards, commissions, and nearly all positions unless stated otherwise in the Charter. But remember, they can change the charter, c) add to or reduce the budget, d) contract out for services, e) explore contracts with other US entities to provide services and facilities, f) fund emergencies, g) set charges to be made for services. With this level of autonomy, I am disappointed the LC (spanning generations) has not explored either more innovative revenue streams or more critical expense reduction. As election time rolls around, I want to hear from candidates who do their homework and push for stronger investment partnerships with the surrounding universities and medical networks that sandwich Hamden. You have empty acreage in the middle of Dixwell, have the universities pony up for new structures where students gain needed experience on the residents of Hamden. This is not my area of expertise, but a good investment portfolio requires diversity, not 80% reliance upon property taxes.