What to know about Hamden Republican mayoral candidate Crystal Dailey

“I know what it feels like to only have $20 until payday to feed your kids,” Hamden Republican mayoral candidate Crystal Dailey said. 

Dailey, 47, grew up in Yonkers, New York, around 15 miles outside of New York City, in project housing. She has worked all her life, from 14 to today.  She had two children there — Christopher and Niki — and raised them as a single mother. 

She moved to Connecticut for her children, to give them better education and a better living situation. 

“I did not want (Christopher) to attend the public school system in Yonkers,” Dailey said. 

She moved to the Hamden-New Haven area in 2013 not knowing a single person, but willing to put herself out there. Through church and mutual acquaintances, she stumbled into meeting her husband, Demetrius, her hairdresser’s brother. 

Christianity plays a big part in the Daileys’ lives — both Crystal and Demetrius now serve as Young Adult Pastors at Promise Land Church in West Haven, Connecticut — and have long been active in the various churches they belonged to.

So why is Dailey running for mayor?

While serving on the Board of Education, which she was appointed to earlier this year, Dailey became a concerned Hamdenite, and felt that she wanted to run for mayor.

“I wanted to be a person that was for the people and for the residents, and kind of push Hamden in the right direction,” Dailey said. 

However, the odds aren’t in her favor. 

Hamden’s last Republican mayor was Barbara DeNicola — and that was 26 years ago. But that has not stopped Dailey from putting her name on the ticket.

Dailey and Hamden’s incumbent mayor, Democrat Lauren Garrett, are slated to face one another in the New Haven County town’s Nov. 7 mayoral election. This is the first mayoral election in the town’s history in which the two general election candidates are women. 

Dailey’s platform comprises four primary pillars — affordability, crime, transparency and bipartisanship. Here is more on the main things she’s advocating for:

Affordability

Dailey emphasized one thing upfront: “I’m not a politician.”

“I’m a concerned resident,” she added. “The one thing that has impacted me — along with many residents — is the lack of affordability here in Hamden and just the climate of past administrations with wasteful spending.”

But Dailey, a healthcare administrator who has experience managing finances for complex hospital systems, argued that she is the only person on the mayoral ticket with a background in business.

“I have 27 years managing finances,” Dailey said. “I wanted to definitely be able to bring that to Hamden as an area of expertise to handle our finances.”

Lynda Burke, a 28-year Hamden resident and registered Democrat, supports Dailey for this exact reason.

“I’m supporting Crystal because she has a business background,” Burke said. “She’s a professional. I think she has more skin in the game … I think the Garrett administration is really about her political career. I really don’t think she has the best interest of Hamden in mind.” 

Dailey’s experience could prove meaningful in a town like Hamden, which has the third-highest property tax rate in the state of Connecticut.

“Again, it’s a lot of mismanagement and wasteful spending,” Dailey said. “So, I would like to do an audit into the budget to kind of see where we can cut back on spending.”

This, she hopes, would allow town officials to improve the town’s bond rating and “take the pressure off of passing that cost on to homeowners.”

Dailey also said she plans, if elected, to hire a full-time grant writer to apply for state and federal grants that would benefit Hamden’s residents.

Crime

It’s no secret that crime is a problem in Hamden. Amid a rise in robberies and thefts, Dailey addressed crime as one of the biggest concerns she’s encountered among Hamden residents. 

Dailey said the best way to address it is to make sure the Hamden Police Department is adequately staffed.

Amid a state-wide police shortage, Hamden is no different. 

Hamden has had a lot of change with the chief of police. Edward Page Reynolds was recently named the new Hamden chief of police after former acting chief of police Timothy Wydra announced his retirement on Oct. 2.

The town has now had four different police chiefs in the last five years. 

“We do have a very understaffed police department,” Dailey said. “As mayor, I’m looking to make sure that is … the police department is fully staffed.”

She has a plan to make sure that officers stay on board and that it’s a healthy working environment. 

“(To make sure) that we also have a police commission that is working alongside our police officers to create a great working environment,” Dailey said. 

Transparency

Throughout her campaign, Dailey emphasized that she wants to be seen as a human who has overcome obstacles and be a candidate that people can relate to.

“I want (Hamden citizens) to know that I’m a person that has faced many issues,” Dailey said. “I was a single mom. I know what it feels (like) to not have food to feed your children … to not know how you’re going to pay the bills.”

Dailey made clear that she wants to be someone people can relate to, which Gary Walsh, who sits alongside Dailey on the Hamden Board of Education, sees. 

“I think they’re (Hamden residents) here to support Crystal because they don’t feel they’re being listened to,” Walsh said. “They can see the integrity Crystal has and the honesty.” 

Anthony Dattilo, a lifelong Hamden resident, is frustrated with the lack of say Hamdenites have.

“This isn’t a democracy in Hamden; it’s a dictatorship,” Dattilo said.

Dattilo also values Dailey’s character and views her as a better fit for office.

“She definitely has character and that’s what you need,” Dattilo said. “You need somebody for the people, and she’s for the people.”

Dailey already has spoken to thousands of Hamden residents by going door-to-door.

She also wants to focus on transparency while in office. Dailey has a plan to make her administration more inclusive — office hours.

“I do want (to) have a mayor office hours, so I’m keeping that communication going with our residents … just having discussions that are open and honest,” Dailey said.

She’s already held a “Coffee with Crystal” event on Saturday, Oct. 14, at Best Video Film & Cultural Center on Whitney Avenue in Hamden.

“I know who she is, and I believe in her, so I came out today to make sure other people know her,” Walsh said.

Bipartisanship 

In Hamden, Dailey’s Republican affiliation will make her the underdog candidate in November’s election — and she knows that.

The political rhetoric that so often envelops the Republican Party, she acknowledged, will not work in her favor in the ballot box. 

“The thing that I hear that keeps some (voters) kind of on edge is national politics,” she said.

But Dailey stressed that her small-town mayoral campaign is “wildly” different from the national Republican campaigns that most voters are accustomed to.

“I think a lot of times, people get kind of caught up with national politics,” Dailey said. “I think we kind of need to get away from the party affiliations to push our town forward.”

And she has a plan for separating her Republican politics from the national GOP’s, she said — a unity platform.

“We’re all facing the same issues, whether we’re Democrat, Republican, Independent, unaffiliated,” she said. “We all live here together.”

Dailey also underscored that the Republican platform, like its Democratic counterpart, is not homogenous. 

“Not all Democrats think alike or agree on everything, and this is the same as Republicans,” Dailey said. “I’m going to pursue my own ideas, my own ways, my own thoughts.”

Above all else, Dailey encouraged residents to look beyond the party and the politics at the person.

“We have more in common than we do apart,” Dailey said. “I can say, once they kind of get to know me, they’re really much on board with the campaign and what we’re going to do.”