Category: Hamden

California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts — these are the 11 states where the use and sale of recreational marijuana are legal. For state legislatures like Josh Elliott, the hope is that in the next few years, Connecticut will join that list. 

Since winning the election for the 88th District House seat in the Connecticut General Assembly in 2016, Elliott often is outspoken on passing laws to make the use and sale of marijuana recreationally in Connecticut legal. 

“I’ve actually been a casual user since I was 18, so I’ve been pro-legalization for 17 years,” Elliott said. “I’ve been very outspoken since I got elected, I’ve been vocal about since I ran for my first term, so nothing much has changed in terms of my advocacy, unfortunately, new electors are usually only about 50-50 in support of it.” 

In 2019, three different bills to legalize, tax, and sell marijuana passed in the Connecticut General Assembly, only to never be voted on in either the House or the Senate. According to Elliott, there are a couple of factors at play as to why the success in the Assembly yielded no positive results last year and more than likely result in similar disappointment in 2020. One of those issues is the age of users.

“The governor is vocally in support, so it comes down to what each voter has an issue with,” Elliott said, “some voters have an issue with the age, some are fine with 18, some are fine with 21, some want 25+.”

A second issue facing the progression of a vote is debate over what the money through taxes and selling marijuana will go towards.

 “Some want to see it go towards improving African-American and minority communities,” Elliott said. “Others want to see it go towards improving mental health and addiction services, and there is a threshold there somewhat, to see it go towards our pension and debt obligations.”

The third big issue is concern over testing for people who drive under the influence of marijuana.

“We don’t have roadside testing currently,” Elliott said. “It wouldn’t be testing blood or saliva, because both of those have proven to be ineffective.”

According to Elliott though, the biggest issue facing these bills getting voted on is not policies, but instead politics. 

“There are a number of folks (legislatures) who would have no problem with this being legal but do not want to be the one to have to vote on it being legal,” Elliott said. “I have a Republican colleague who is fine with it, he thinks his district is fine with it, but the people who are close to him on the Republican town committee do not want it.” 

Elliott feels that by being active in trying to get recreational marijuana passed into law, that people think the government is condoning the use of drugs. 

“Some people feel that we’re sending a message that the government is okay with drugs basically, and I think that makes some people uncomfortable,” Elliott said.

According to the Marijuana Policy Project, an organization dedicated to legalizing cannabis across the U.S., 65 percent of residents in Connecticut are in favor of passing laws making the selling and consumption of recreational marijuana legal. 

Elliott explains that it is not just having a majority of residents in favor that matters, but also where the residents live that plays the biggest determining factor. 

“While it is two-thirds of the state majority, it is not two-thirds of the state spread out evenly,” Elliott said. “All the folk from urban centers will be in support, but you need support across the board. The suburban folk are against it, rural areas are generally against it, so that’s the problem.” 

While Elliott remains hopeful, he does not believe that this year will yield better results for the passing of recreational marijuana laws.

“Probably not,” Elliott said. “Two-year terms, we couldn’t get it over the finish line last year, no reason to think that anything is going to change for this year. The biggest change is that we have a UFCW (United Food & Commercial Workers), who are trying to unionize what would be a new market, so they are being proactive in trying to push this year. The MPP, they are lobbying for this. The governor’s office wants this too, but they don’t really know how the political effect of this would work yet, they may not ever know, so this may have to be just a legislature led issue, so they are not going to be helpful.” 

For people who are interested in helping these bills pass into legislation, Elliott suggests writing and calling your local representation consistently and let them know that you support the selling and consumption of recreational marijuana. Even if nothing comes out of it, voicing your support on issues that matter to you is always better than staying silent. 

Over 110 Hamden residents came to Keefe Community Center to show their support for Justin Farmer, a Hamden legislative councilman. Farmer is running for the state 17th district senate. 

Several local speakers from the area came to endorse Farmer.

 “[Justin] is bringing the most energy, the brightest and boldest ideas, and the most grass-roots support to social justice in this race. Every political campaign I care about, Justin is there,” said Ben Leven, a member of the Yale endowment justice coalition.

“Accountability is measured with ‘where are you?’ and we know [Justin] is there,” said Seth Poole of New Haven.

“It doesn’t make any sense to be the person running for higher office if I can’t hold down my community,” said Farmer. 

During his speech, Justin talked about the current issues he would like to tackle. He referenced the objective of establishing plausible public transportation, overcoming the opioid crisis, and using funds to fight climate change.

“The best thing about Justin is that he inspires us to continue fighting. Justin is hope for an equitable future,” said Miriam Kahn, a Hamden global-youth activist. 

Farmer would be representing the towns of Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Naugatuck, Derby Hamden, and Woodbridge. 

“[This] is a diverse community, but I don’t think it is a challenge that we can’t surmount,” said Farmer.

On Friday, Feb. 14, Mayor Curt Leng announced in a press release that former New York fiscal director, Curtis Eatman, has been hired as Hamden’s new Finance Director.  

Eatman was a former deputy director of finance for the city of Schenectady, New York. 

Additionally, Rick Galarza will be returning as the town’s Deputy Finance Director. 

Galarza served as deputy finance director in late 2017 and took over the department for two years following the departure of the finance director, Salvatore DeCola.

 The hiring of a financial director and deputy financial director has been on the agenda for some time. 

The previous audit for the 2017-2018 financial year noted that the report, along with important financial information, had not been released on time and delayed several days. This was due to the two senior positions in the town’s finance office becoming vacant after the fiscal year ended.

With the recent release of the 2018-2019 audit, Mayor Leng stated he felt the results were “excellent,” as he stated in the most recent town of Hamden newsletter. 

He additionally noted that the budget was balanced and even came with a surplus of $500,000. 

“This is great news for Hamden,” Leng said. 

Despite his optimism, some residents feel as though the mayor is only putting the problem off further. 

“The problem with this analysis is that the budget was balanced by underfunding the pension by $6.7 million,” said Christian McNamara, a Yale lecturer in management. 

“That is, our actuarially determined contribution was $22.6 million, but we contributed only $15.9 million.” 

McNamara is one of several residents to host a series of community discussions about the budget across Hamden. 

Hamden’s finance department took the money for the pension fund, and instead, put it toward balancing the year’s budget. 

“This is the equivalent of kicking the can down the road, and [it] increases our future financial burden,” McNamara said. 

Mayor Leng and the new hirees have met earlier this week to begin planning for the years ahead.  

Meanwhile, Hamden residents are meeting amongst themselves to discuss their financial stake in the town’s financial progression. 

“Mr. Eatman must start on the right foot,” says Stockton Clark, a Hamden resident deeply involved within the community discussion. 

Since the role of the Finance Director became vacant, a disconnect became apparent between the mayor’s office and the Hamden legislative council. With the hiring of Eatman, Clark and other residents hope the council will now be clued in. 

“The legislative council should have monthly reports on financial status. Secondly, there should be a clear three to five-year financial plan going forward,” McNamara said.

Hamden’s next hire is likely to be for chief assessor, a position vacant since November. 

Funcles Cafe will be the new establishment replacing B&D Deli on Whitney Ave. in Hamden. The Cafe is set to open this April.

Dan Jablon, co-owner of Funcles currently works as a kitchen manager at Bowlero in Milford. Jablon does catering for the parties and manages the employees. He believes this experience will help him manage Funcles as well.

“I’ve been around food my whole life,” Jablon said. “I’m looking forward to doing something for myself that is more upscale and has a smaller menu.”

The move from Milford into Hamden to begin his own business was an easy decision for Jablon.

“The first day I came to check out the place so many people came to the door,” Jablon said. “There is so much foot traffic on Whitney Ave with people constantly coming in and out.”

Denis Marukovich, the other owner of Funcles is a head chef at Tarry Lodge in New Haven. Marukovich is familiar with upscale dining from managing the kitchen, but he has similar thoughts as his partner about the transition to Funcles.

“I’ve been cooking for a while and creating menus,” Marukovich said. The only difference is, I’m doing it for myself now, not somebody else.”

Jablon explained that the name “Funcles” came from a childhood nickname for the funniest person he knows, his uncle Keith. It also sets the tone for the type of atmosphere Jablon hopes to create.

“I have a lot of resources and I’m super grateful for my family,” Jablon said. “I want to be able to create a family vibe for people here.”

The biggest change Jablon explains is going to be the menu. It will be smaller and a third of it will consist of specials.

“We will have those typical items your older crowd would order,” Jablon said. “As well as things like a pickled chicken sandwich for the newer and younger crowd.”

A few things you can expect to see on the menu every day are a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich, breakfast burrito and a waffle omelet. 

“Everything is going to be made in house,” said Jablon. “We will also have a section of grab and go foods so people can get in and out quickly in the morning.”

Additionally, Jablon and Marukovich will be offering CBD for their coffee and shakes.

“This is us in a nutshell,” Jablon said. “We are trying to be new and different. It turns heads just like our name.”

The freshness of the food and the cleanliness of the place is something that Jablon and Marukovich say they will focus on.

“I like everything clean,” said Jablon. “Even if it’s just an unfolded towel I will immediately fold it.”

Currently, the staff consists of Marukovich, Jablon, his friend Nick Simiola and two other people. Simiola will be Jablon’s front end person and work the register.

“I want to keep it small,” Jablon said. “That way, you know it’s people who want to help you out.”

Simiola is grateful for the opportunity and excited for his friend.

“When I found out Dan had the opportunity to open up a restaurant in Hamden I wanted to do anything I could to help,” Simiola said. “This place can be a gold mine if you know what you are doing.”

Knowing what to do and working together does not seem like it will be a problem for Jablon and Marukovich.

“I’ve known Dan for a while,” Marukovich said. “We have never had the pleasure of working together, but there’s a lot of trust between us.”

Funcles will be open Monday-Saturday from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with fresh food and ready to go meals. 

 

 

Hosted by Yale lecturer Christian McNamara, concerned Hamden residents gathered at Books & Company late Tuesday evening to discuss the drastic financial debt Hamden has found itself in.

“A few fellow Hamden residents and I have put together a presentation on our town’s precarious financial condition,” Christian McNamara said in a mass email.

Other Hamden residents like McNamara that are taking action are Judy and Stockton ‘Stocky’ Clark. McNamara and the Clarks, along with others, started the months-long project of compiling data into a multi-sheet pamphlet to illustrate the scope of Hamden’s financial debt. It includes graphs and projection charts using older data received from Hamden’s audits and financial reports already available to the public.

“I spent hours and hours reading everything I could get my hands on about the town’s financial situation,” McNamara said. “It was an enormous amount of work, but work that we felt was very important.”

The group simplified pages of numbers and figures into a series of straight-forward graphs.

“The charts are meant to show people, graphically, what is going on,” Stocky Clark said.

The bulk of the presentation makes obvious the immense financial debt taken by Hamden. Despite being the sixth most taxed town in the state as of 2017, Hamden is having severe difficulty making ends meet.

“We owe $1.1 billion…that’s how much the town of Hamden owes right now,”  Stocky said.

In 2019, Hamden’s Moody’s municipal credit score lowered down to Baa3 status, neighboring with Sprague and West Haven. This rating is just one notch above the worst municipal score, Ba1, referred to as ‘junk status.’ The term refers to junk bonds, a bond which borrowers take when they have no other option, and are taken when the borrower is subject to substantial credit risk.

“Under junk bond status, it is going to be extremely expensive to take out bonds,” Hamden Legislative Council Member Brad Macdowall said.

There is skepticism that with Baa3 status comes the possibility of the Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) taking over financially. The board provides  financial accountability for municipalities experiencing various levels of fiscal distress.

“If the MARB did come in, we would see slashed and gutted services, and no benefits to taxpayers for it,” Macdowall said.

The big picture, however, is lost to many Hamden residents.

“Often times when we point out these challenges, people say, ‘Well okay it’s one thing to point out that we have a problem but what’s your solution?’ To me it’s difficult to have a conversation about it until you’ve defined the scope of the problem,” McNamara said.

“That’s what we hoped to do tonight,” he continued. “[We are] getting the information out there, so that we can collectively define the full scale of the problem. And then use that as the basis for fostering a community-wide discussion about what to do.”

McNamara has reached out to legislative council members and the mayor’s office in hopes of his presentation creating a town-wide dialogue.

Of the Hamden Legislative council, three members were present at the meeting. Council members encouraged attendees to speak up about their concerns, sooner rather than later.

“In order to make the best decision, we need you all to make your opinion known to help us better serve you,” Hamden Legislative Council Member Justin Farmer said.

An average of 40 community members showed up to Books & Company for the presentation that evening.

“There were a good number of people there tonight,” Macdowall said. “It’s a low number, but it’s a bigger number than we’ve ever had before. I’m glad this conversation is beginning, and gaining traction.”

“Residents need to be aware, and they need to be involved in the conversation,” he continued. “Otherwise, it allows people to keep doing the same reckless things, just to kick the can down the road. I do not believe the average voter, or the average resident, is aware of how difficult a situation we are in. People are starting to wake up and see it, but it’s still early.”
To read Christian McNamara’s full financial presentation, click here.