Democrat Lauren Garrett is seeking re-election on Nov. 7 as residents in her Connecticut town worry about property taxes, crime
Sitting in the driver’s seat of her car in a parking lot, Hamden mayor Lauren Garrett is on zoom call on her phone talking to a journalism class at Quinnipiac University.
She is also a mother, anticipating her son’s high school cross country meet, the starting gun about to go off.
Such is the multitasking, life-balancing act of Garrett, who is seeking her second term this month.
Garrett is the Democratic candidate in the upcoming municipal election on Nov. 7 running for re-election. She has been in office since November 2021 and won the 2023 Democratic primary over challenger Walter Morton IV.
Over the last two years, Garrett has balanced her work and personal life, while dealing with one of the state’s highest mill rates, criticism from Hamden citizens and – most recently – a formidable one-two punch of competitors for her office.
HQNN breaks down her fight for re-election.
Balancing her personal life with work
Garrett has three children – an 18-year-old daughter and two sons, 16 and 11.
However, in February of this year, Garrett and her husband of nearly two decades, Dan, divorced. Garrett filed a marriage dissolution suit in New Haven Superior Court. In 2021, Dan was among Garrett’s top contributors.
Dan Garrett ran in the September primary for a legislative council spot for District 1. He lost.
Garrett said she always makes time to see her kids run races or play basketball, multitasking because she loves the work she does.
Her 16-year-old son, Connor, is a star on the Hamden High cross country team. All three of her children attended Hamden public schools.
“I do try to find time to spend time with my kids — that is super important to me,” Garrett said.
Last week, she went trick-or-treating with her sons. She recently celebrated her daughter’s graduation and went with her to get her nose pierced right in Hamden.
Garrett is from Michigan and attended University of Michigan, where she earned a degree in naval architecture and marine engineering. She moved to Connecticut in 2002 for a job at Derektor Shipyard.
She became interested in politics during the 2006 senate primary and then started volunteering on national, state and municipal campaigns every year since.
What she has accomplished as mayor
Garrett defeated three-term incumbent Curt Balzano Leng in the 2021 primary before defeating Republican Ron Gambardella. A Republican has not held the top job in Hamden since the 1990s.
During her time as mayor, Garrett has updated the fiscal and policies procedures policy manual for the first time in 30 years which contains a summary of policies pertaining to all departments, capital budget, financial accounting and other fundamental operations.
She wrote the policy for how the community development block grant will be spent which includes funds for residential and commercial rehabilitation, infrastructure improvements and more. She has submitted an application to the federal government for $5.3 million to update police radios and communication.
Garrett has also focused on bringing more business into Hamden, cutting the ribbon to mark the opening of 40 to 50 new storefronts, including Ashley’s Furniture, Succoso Burger and Whitney Brewery, which should open in the coming months.
“We’ve had a lot of really big companies come to Hamden,” Garrett said. “We’ve got FullStack Modular (design and construction of buildings), which came from New York, and now their global headquarters is in Hamden.”
Garrett is attempting to ensure that Hamden plazas have more security with lighting, cameras and police presence. The town has also earned a grant from the state for stolen motor vehicle deterrent patrols.
“What we tend to see in Hamden is really on trend with what we see in the state, and there was actually just an article recently that I read that, that crime statistics have improved over the last year and so we’re also seeing that in Hamden,” Garrett said.
In Hamden, violent crime has gone down 17% from 2021, but property crime has gone up 8%.
Garrett said her team was able to get $30 million in grants, many through the state.
One of the projects stemming from those grants that has begun in her administration is the building of a firehouse in southern Hamden for $8.6 million to replace the previous rundown firehouse on Circular Avenue.
“I really enjoy being the mayor,” Garrett said. “It is incredibly fulfilling.”
Taxes: The endless Hamden merry-go-round
Hamden’s property taxes are the fourth highest in Connecticut, generating a $55,480 annual tax bill on a home which is assessed at $1 million.
For many years, the town did not pay for its pension plan, an oversight that has bled through into the tax issues the town faces today, Garrett said.
To try to combat this, Garrett said she went out to bid on the medical broker of record, which is a person that handles insurance policies. She was able to save $5 million last year by having a medical broker negotiate drug costs and bring down medical bills.
“People are thinking about how they’re going to pay for medications for food, for their kids to play sports and the tax bills that they have to pay,” Garrett said. “It’s definitely a concern, and I understand it.”
Over the next few years taxes will remain steady, Garrett said, because the town will not collect much new debt, a reason for why gaining grants is so important. She said it will take around 10 years to bring costs down, but the peak where debt and pension costs collide will happen soon.
“This makes it so that we can continue to make improvements to our town without going to the taxpayers for it and without taking on new debt issuances,” Garrett said.
Garrett said the debt will increase another $1 million to $2 million, and the pensions will increase slightly more than that.
Hamden residents have noticed the work that Garrett has done towards helping Hamden reduce debt.
Susan Nugent, 61, has been a Hamden resident for over 25 years. She has noticed with past administrations that the taxes were higher compared to the neighboring towns.
“There was something going on in the financial department that was causing the taxes to be outrageous, so I think that this mayor has really paid attention to that and that’s very noticeable,” Nugent said.
Nugent said Garrett’s five-year fiscal plan has been heading in the right direction for the town. She said paying the debt requires sacrifice – and she is willing to pay the taxes in order for it to get there.
Lifelong Hamden resident Mike Luzzi, 80, has noticed Garrett making progress with the amount of debt Hamden has.
“She cares about Hamden and the finances in Hamden. We’re in dire need and I believe that they’re better than what they were from the previous administration,” Luzzi said.
How Garrett is different from GOP opponent Dailey
Garrett said she differs from her opponent, Republican Crystal Dailey, in her experience being mayor, as well as being on the legislative council and chair of the education committee in 2017.
On the committee, she communicated with residents about what was happening with the board of education.
“In spending a lot of time teaching Hamden residents about our finances, people started to trust that I understood what we were facing and intended to appreciate the work that I was doing,” Garrett said.
“I think she understands the importance of the long game,” Connecticut state senator Jorge Cabrera of Hamden said. “I think she understands being someone who really pays attention to detail and the long term effect of her decisions.”
Garrett has also worked with the municipal finance advisory commission, which is a state agency that oversees Hamden’s finances. She said that has allowed her to communicate the town’s financial position to residents more effectively.
In 2022, there were more than 20,300 registered Democrats in Hamden. In the same year, roughly 4,300 residents registered as Republicans.
“I’m a Democrat and the values that I have are the values that Hamden has,” Garrett said.
Working with state delegation and legislative council Garrett said also helps in forwarding Hamden’s agenda, which she has done for several years.
“You can’t really just force it, so when you have somebody brand new, who doesn’t have those relationships, there’s a lot of trust that you would have to build in there and it doesn’t happen very easily,” Garrett said.
Nugent said she’s noticed Garrett’s close relationship with the state senators, lieutenant governor, bonding commission and the legislative council.
“I think Lauren Garrett does have a demonstrated history and I think when you have the respect of other leaders, it’s translated to a lot of good things for Hamden,” Nugent said. “That matters.”
Dealing with criticism from residents
Some Hamden residents have openly criticized Garrett and her administration, which she said does bother her at times.
On Oct. 18, a post in a Facebook group by the admin of Hamden Needs Solutions states, “Lauren=Arrogance and narcissism. Hamden’s Worst mayor. Garrett gotta go! And take (Chief of Staff Sean) Grace with ya!”
Another post from Sept. 10 states by an anonymous participant, “Inquiring minds want to know if Mayor Lauren Garrett has been drug tested!!”
A post from July 5 says by the admin “Mayor Garrett has no clue as to why her appointed Police Commissioner quit abruptly with a one sentence email. I thought she ran a tight ship? More like a sinking ship, Clueless?”
These Facebook posts are just some examples of what residents have had to say about Garrett.
“Some of the attacks that are made on social media are just mean and gross, and typically you don’t say those things to a person’s face but being behind a keyboard empowers people to say things that they know are unacceptable,” Garrett said.
Garrett said the way she is treated on social media is a part of a national trend of political polarization that goes all the way up to the White House.
However, Garrett said that she hopes people in Hamden will think of the government as their neighbors
“I think that it’s just really important that we take more of a look at what’s being accomplished and just keep it on that high level of being respectful to each other,” Garrett said.
Nugent, who avoids social media herself, blamed the issue on a small group of vocal residents.
“I think it’s just not nice, and I don’t know what it’s promoting,” Nugent said. “It doesn’t promote anything. It’s disrespectful, just generally to any person, including her.”
Luzzi is in favor of Garrett for another term as well, and said she has helped him out tremendously when he became a member of the Greater New Haven Heritage Committee to keep his wife’s memory alive. The committee hosts the Greater New Haven Italian American Heritage event.
Garrett named the Hamden High School pool The Laura Luzzi Aquatics Center in honor of Luzzi’s wife who died in 2022. She was a world champion swimmer who won the Pan American Games in 1979 and worked for Hamden as a recreation supervisor for 27 years.
“She’s been really compassionate, she’s been great with the family,” Luzzi said. “I think she’s doing a great job for the town even though there’s a lot of people that are against her.”
Cabrera has worked with Garrett closely over the years. He said they first met in 2017-2018 when he was running for state senate and knocking on residents doors.
“(She is) a great partner in just being organized, being prepared, doing our due diligence to help me have the access to the information and to the staff that I need to be able to deliver,” Cabrera said.
The election is Tuesday, Nov. 7.