Jay Kaye, who ran as a Republican candidate against Mayor Curt Leng, standing in front of Common Grounds, Hamden. Photo by Bryan Proctor.
Growing up, Jay Kaye mowed lawns, shoveled snow and painted houses. Painting stuck with him, and for the past 23 years he’s been at Ferraro’s Painting & Restoration. He worked himself up from painting in the field to production manager. When he decided he wanted to head in a new direction, he got involved in local politics.
He said his political journey began in 2018 when he marched in the Memorial Day Parade with the Hamden Republican Town Committee.
“At that point I had already gone to a couple Legislative Council meetings and kind of figured out what was going on, and how the whole system was working, and how broken the system was,” Kaye said. “I wasn’t really sure how marching in the parade was going to help that, but I felt moved enough to march in the parade. I’ll represent Republicans because I really have lost trust in the Democrat’s ability to manage the town properly.”
> “ I wasn’t really sure how marching in the parade was going to help that, but I felt moved enough to march in the parade. I’ll represent Republicans because I really have lost trust in the Democrat’s ability to manage the town properly.”
— Jay Kaye
After being a lifelong Democrat, Kaye lost faith in the Democratic group running Hamden.
The Republican Town Committee was at the front of the parade. Kaye was standing in the middle carrying the committee’s sign. He said seeing the public’s reaction to the Republican group is when he decided the town needed political change.
“Some people were a little more vocal, but there was a respectful clap, where they’d almost look to see who was watching then decided whether they were going to clap or not,” he said. “Which actually cemented the fact that things need to change here because people are afraid to stand up the regime, or whatever you want to call it, the democratic machine, running the town for so long.”
When Kaye started to attend the Republican Town Committee meetings, he said he saw dedication, but low morale. He took this as an opportunity to get involved and run for public office, specifically for Mayor.
“They really needed somebody willing to go out there and represent (them), and instead of Legislative Council, I picked Mayor,” he said. “I thought that would be the best, most effective use of my abilities and would help the town the most.”
He saw running for mayor as an opportunity to communicate a message to voters.
“Listen there’s an opportunity to make a change here,” he said. “We can change the direction (of the town), things are bad, we all know things are bad, but we don’t have to be stuck there, we can make a difference.”
Though he wanted to run for mayor, he wasn’t sure what kind of a toll running would take.
“At first I was afraid it would affect my family and my job, but my family became more and more supportive and my wife even entered one of the races,” he said.
His family backed him, and he said Ferraro’s was also good about giving him the time he needed for his campaign.
Kaye was determined to change the leadership of Hamden. He says he was confident because he saw people believing in his ideas.
> “I think one of my biggest ideas, and it’s certainly not my own idea, it’s been brought up before, was switching the town from a mayoral council to a town manager system.”
— Jay Kaye
“I think one of my biggest ideas, and it’s certainly not my own idea, it’s been brought up before, was switching the town from a mayoral council to a town manager system,” he said.
A town manager is hired by the Legislative Council and Board of Finance to manage the town’s finances, making the role of the mayor smaller. Kaye said a town manager system makes the mayor a cheerleader and advocate for the town and its people.
He continues, “The benefit of this is that the town manager doesn’t owe anyone any favors, isn’t working for a political agenda, isn’t working for anything other than the taxpayer. Basically, working for the town. It’s designed to get rid of any corruption, get rid of cronyism, get rid of party agendas, get rid of paying back favors, and losing control.”
When it came to election night Kaye says he was feeling confident, but he knew after votes were counted in the sixth district he was going to lose.
“When I saw the results coming in, obviously I was disappointed, but I wasn’t disheartened,” Kaye said. “I went to the headquarters (the Elks Lodge) where we were either going to be celebrating or disappointed. The reaction there was actually quite positive because the numbers were strong and we picked up an extra seat.”
He ended up losing the election to opponent Curt Leng 7,412 to 4,898. While Kaye lost, he did win the 9th district, the only district to go Republican.
The graphic above displays the different voting districts in Hamden. The ninth district was the only district to go Republican. Graphic by Nick Slater.
“I think that was a nice message to the Democratic Town Committee saying ‘Look, it may not have happened this time, but change is definitely coming your way.’” he said.
He might not have gotten the win he was hoping for, but he wants to give the race another shot.
“I’m going to stick with it,” he said. “I’ve already kind of decided that in two years I probably will run again, but right now I just want to focus on what I can do to help the town as a resident.”
In the meantime, Kaye plans to continue spending his time helping Hamden. He said he has a lot of energy left to give to the community.
“I just turned 55,” he said. “I still have some years left in me and I have plenty of energy. I really did want to be the mayor so that I could use that energy to give to the community and really help the town, but I can still do that just as a resident, I don’t necessarily have to be the mayor to do that, and I’m going to continue to do that.”
Protesters standing in front of Mayor Curt Leng’s house, Smith Dr., Hamden. Photo by Bryan Proctor.
On a bitter cold Wednesday evening police cars circled the neighborhood as Hamden Action Now stood in front of Hamden Mayor Curt Leng’s house demanding that Hamden Police Officer Devin Eaton be fired.
Protestors shouted.
“Justice for Stephanie! Justice for Paul! Discharge the officer now!”
While Witherspoon wasn’t injured, 22-year-old passenger, Stephanie Washington, was seriously injured but survived.
Though Mayor Leng wasn’t home to see the protest, organizer of Hamden Action Now, Rhonda Caldwell, said he watched the group’s Facebook Live broadcast.
Eight different protesters took a turn with the microphone to give a speech.
“My message for the mayor tonight is that your police disturbed our neighborhood, Newhallville South Hamden, that’s my neighborhood,” said Laurie Sweet, a Hamden resident. “We are here to disturb yours.”
Laurie Sweet speaking in front of Leng’s house demanding justice for the police shooting that took place in April. Photo by Bryan Proctor.
Rodney Williams, Witherspoon’s uncle, showed up to the protest to express his frustration. Eaton was charged with a felony and a misdemeanor.
“If the state found enough evidence to convict him, not convict him but at least charge him, how is he still a Hamden officer?” Williams said. “Our family ain’t going to heal, the community ain’t going to heal, until this officer at least gets terminated.”
Rodney Williams said his family has been wronged by the mayor, the police, and the media. Left to right: Cassi Meyerhoffer, Kerry Ellington, Rodney Williams, Zach Carter. Photo by Bryan Proctor.
On April 16, there were reports of an attempted armed robbery at the Go On Gas Station. The suspect was said to be driving a red Honda Civic. Eaton and Yale officer, Terrance Pollock (who was not charged), investigated the reports.
Eaton pulled over Witherspoon’s car, and Pollock, arrived at the scene.
The two people in the car were later found to be unarmed.
In investigations, Eaton said he saw Witherspoon holding a gun in his hand, but an evidence report showed there was no gun in Witherspoon’s possession, or in the Civic. Hamden Police Commissioner, John Cappiello, stated in a press conference on Oct. 21, that the department will complete its internal investigation by Nov. 20.
On the day of the press conference Cappiello also announced Eaton was being put on unpaid leave from the department, and facing charges of first-degree assault (a felony), and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment. Eaton posted bail of $100,000.
Kerry Ellington, a Hamden Action Now activist, says she doesn’t agree with the town conducting its internal investigation.
“The city is giving us the excuse that it needs to do its own internal investigation, even though this officer has been charged with felony charges,” said Ellington.
After her speech Ellington led a chant saying,
“No justice, no peace, no racist police!”
Kerry Ellington said she doesn’t agree with how Hamden’s handled Devin Eaton’s case. Kerry Ellington (left), Zach Carter (right). Photo by Bryan Proctor.
A week prior to the protest at Leng’s home on Oct. 30, protesters walked down Dixwell Avenue holding protests signs and blocking traffic. They walked to Leng’s office demanding justice and action. Protesters said Hamden Police Department contracts state that there must be a hearing about an officer’s unpaid leave status 10 days after the leave is given.
> “We will not ever stop fighting for justice for your family Mr. Williams.”
— Caldwell
On Nov. 5, Eaton pleaded not guilty to his assault and reckless endangerment charges. He’s scheduled to appear in court again on Dec. 10.
Protestors say a lack of justice by the Hamden Police Commission, and an insufficient show of remorse by Eaton continue to fuel their protests.
“You keep saying you’re waiting for the internal investigation to be completed before you can make a decision about the termination, but there is nothing in the union contract that says you have to do that. There is enough just cause to discharge the officer,” Cassie Meyerhoffer, professor of sociology at Southern Connecticut State University, said.
Cassie Meyerhoffer speaking to the crowd in front of Leng’s house. Left to right: Zach Carter, protestor, Justin M. Farmer. Photo by Bryan Proctor.
Protesters say they plan to show up at the Hamden Police Commission’s monthly meeting next Wednesday and will continue to fight until justice is served.
“We will not ever stop fighting for justice for your family Mr. Williams,” Caldwell said.
Rhonda Caldwell, organizer, speaking at the protest in front of Leng’s property. Photo by Bryan Proctor.
Dozier Shields says that he is satisfied with Mayor Curt Leng’s reelection. However, Shields hopes that Leng will lower taxes.
Curt Balzano Leng has been reelected as the mayor of Hamden, the Hamden Town Registrar of Voters reported on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Leng, running for the Democratic Party, won the election by a vote of 7,412 to 4,898 against his running mate, Republican Jay Kaye.
In a Facebook post that Leng posted on his page, Leng said, “Hamden, thank you so very much for your support (and) your trust. You can count on me, always, to have your back and to work to make our home town stronger and safer for everyone.”
Leng won eight of the nine districts, only losing District 9, and he will now continue his role until 2021.
For some Hamden residents, they were happy to see Leng back for another term.
Maria Topitzer says she was happy with the results of the election. She doesn’t have an issue in particular that she hopes to see change, but Topitzer preferred Mayor Curt Leng over Jay Kaye.
“I think (Leng) will do what he’s been doing, which I’m happy with,” Scott Blake, a resident of Hamden, said.
Others, like Eugene Cewe, wanted to see a new face in the office.
“Give someone else a chance,” Cewe said before the election results were released. “See what (Kaye) can do for the next two years.”
This will be the fourth time Curt Leng will be serving as mayor, while also being his third full-term in office. He began his tenure as Mayor of Hamden in May 2015 by winning the Special Election, followed by wins in the 2015 General Election and the 2017 General Election.
This map depicts which District voted for who and the winner from each one.
As for the other positions, Vera Morrison, who ran unopposed in the Democratic Party, won town clerk.
For the Councilman of the Districts, Mick McGarry (Dem.) took District 1, Harry Gagliardi, Jr. (Dem.) won District 2, Athena Gary (Dem.) was elected for District 3 and Valerie Horsley (Dem. 4) won District 4.
In addition, Justin Farmer (Dem.) was elected for District 5, Kathleen Schomaker (Dem.) won District 6, Michael Colaiacovo, Jr. (Dem.) was appointed for District 7, Kristin Dolan (Dem.) for District 8 and Marjorie Bonadies (Rep.) won District 9.
With the Hamden mayoral 2019 election between Democratic Mayor Curt Leng and Republican Jay Kaye taking place tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 5, voters will also be asked to vote for district council members, the legislative council at large and the board of education. Vera Morrison is running unopposed for town clerk.
The voting polls will be open between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. at various locations. The map below displays the voting locations and addresses of each district; you can also look up your voter registration here. For those who haven’t registered yet, you can do so tomorrow during the hours the polls are open at the Registrar of Voters office located at 2750 Dixwell Ave. Quinnipiac students can register only with a photo ID and evidence of address.
Take a look below for a list of the possible Democratic and Republican district council members with a description following each one.
Mayor Curt Leng is running for re-election against Councilwoman Lauren Garrett in the Democratic primary. The primary will determine who is going to run against Republican candidate, Jay Kaye. Find out where you can vote here. This article was originally published on Sept. 10, 2019.
Q: What was it that made you want to run for a third term?
A: Serving as mayor for four years seems like a lot longer term than it actually is and it gives you the chance to get a lot of things started and a lot of things moving but you need more time to really see them through. A third term would allow us to continue the financial stabilization we’ve been working on, some of the major buildings and infrastructure investments that we’ve been doing, and then some of the changes to the police department that have been really proven successful.
Q: What were some of the projects that you wanted to see through to the next term if you were re-elected?
A: Two of them in particular, that we’ve got grant applications in the state and we’ve gotten word that we’re in the running and we’re very hopeful would be: Fire Station 2 and the Keefe Community Center. We’ve got about $4.5 million grant request in for renovations to add reconstruction to one of those buildings. And those buildings haven’t been touched in decades and are desperately in need of repair.
We have paved 45 miles of road in the last four years but we have a lot of roads that still need attention. I want to continue that paving schedule and sidewalk improvements to go along with them. So that our neighborhoods have more walkability with the sidewalks and we can save a few axles, where people are hitting our potholes.
On the financial end, we’ve been successful in negotiating every single union contract to include cost savings in health insurance Everyone in the entire town has switched over to a high deductible health savings account, HSA. It’s proving to save money. They’re actually showing medical costs savings. Medical in the budget is ⅕ of our town budget. So slowing the rate of increase of medical insurance impacts the towns annual budget by millions of dollars. And usually, for the past decade plus, the increases in our health insurance account that we expect each year, has been anywhere from 8%to 15%. This year it was 3 percent to 5 percent. So we’re finally actually seeing that impact of all the different unions moving forward with the health insurance program and showing some serious savings.
Q: What has been your biggest challenge so far?
A: Probably the same as any campaign. Just working to get your message out to as many people as you can and trying to be the actual person that directly talks to as many people as possible in town. And there is never enough time in the day to accomplish all those things.
Q: Do you think that during your two terms that you have been financially irresponsible?
A: No. We have very tangible improvements in our town finances and I’ll give some specific examples.
So, we talked about the union contracts. The union contracts are some of the largest drivers of your budget. The town’s pension plan, 10 years ago, was down to 9% funded. It was almost broke now, after a lot of reform efforts, and those reform efforts included some borrowing but the borrowing happened eight years ago and we’ve made eight payments on that borrowing. But beyond that we’ve been contributing higher amounts into the fund. In the last four years alone, we put in $64 million, which is more than double the length of time in the town’s history. So we’re putting more money in, the employees that we’ve negotiated with, that was the second part of the contract negotiations that was a big impact driver was the pension. We’re still working with the public safety union, but every other union on the town and the board of education side agreed to additional contributions into the pension fund and a reduction of the cost of living adjustment in retirement. Those two changes had an impact on our pension liability as a town, saving us approximately $25 million.
We look at our finances on a daily basis and that’s always the focus. The town’s mill rate is already too high and we need to do everything we can to hold it back. I did four budgets and in one of the budgets we did no increase, the first no increase budget in a decade. This year, I recommended a mill rate increase of three quarters of a mill and the council voted for an almost 2.5 times higher tax increase this year. Which would have pushed Hamden to 50 mills, 49.99. That would have been harmful to our residents. It was not necessary and it would’ve sent a bad message to anyone that might want to invest here, whether buying a home or investing to bring a business here. It would show that the mill rate is already high and yet you see excessive increases. It’s not a good way to market the town as a sustainable entity and we are a sustainable entity.
Q: Quinnipiac and Hamden have always had a rocky relationship. Why do you think that is?
A: It’s been up and down. There is a very small percentage of students that don’t behave like the rest of the students do and don’t behave in a way that a typical neighbor would on a typical neighbor street. You buy a house and you don’t expect there to be loud parties and a lot of people and a lot of traffic on any given night into late hours. I want to really stress that it’s a small percentage of the students and a small percentage of the off-campus housing. But it makes it very difficult for certain residents and certain neighbors in certain streets and it gives everyone that has an off-campus house a bad reputation. I know it’s not fair but that’s what tends to happen. So then because of that a lot of residents end up being very vocal in their opposition in different things that the university brings forward to our planning and zoning and other approvals.
So we’re really working hard. President Olian and I have developed a relationship. We actually went to Mikro like 15 days ago and just had a very casual, friendly, really productive conversation and we’ve had other, more formal meetings as well. And it’s bringing really fruitful things forward. The university is assisting us in addressing these off campus housing issues in a way I don’t think we have seen before and that’s very appreciated. The university is even more dedicated to putting resources into the town to help programs in three areas. They help kids, so after school programs that we’re working on that help our schools and last but not least, a program that we’ve been really expanding on that helps people that are in financial need.
Jay Kaye, a manager for a private commercial company, is running against Democratic Mayor Curt B. Leng. Kaye doesn’t view himself as a “run-of-the-mill party candidate.” The general election is on Nov. 5, which will determine the next mayor of Hamden.
The Quinnipiac Republicans invited Jay Kaye to campus on Oct. 30, as an opportunity for students to ask him questions. (Credit: Alexis Guerra)
Q: Why did you want to run?
A: I personally felt that having been a registered Democrat for so long, I would always vote for who I thought was the best candidate. I didn’t necessarily just vote Democrat and usually, it turned out to be Republican because I’ve strong fiscal conservative ideals. As days went on and more people started to get involved, that’s when I made the commitment that I felt that I would be a very good candidate because for Hamden, in particular, I’m very centrist. I have very moderate social views. And strong fiscal, conservative views. And I thought that would be a nice blend to be able to relate to people in Hamden, particularly to people that weren’t Republicans.
Q: I read on your campaign page that you switched political parties. Can you speak about that decision?
A: I had to do that in order to run as a Republican. I certainly knew the ramifications of it, but I wasn’t concerned with that because I felt that my concern for Hamden far outweighed what party I was running for. I knew Lauren was gonna challenge Curt. And we had really looked at the political climate in Hamden and we knew that he was going to be challenged. Going to the legislative council meetings, you can see the displeasure with Democrats that were seated on the legislative council with the Democrat administration.
I do get a little frustrated when people try and use the party against me as opposed to doing what’s right for Hamden. I certainly am not trying to overthrow the Democrats. If every other person there was a Democrat, I would work just as well as if it was a Republican. Because that’s really not the point. The point is to do what’s right for Hamden, to use my experience to help Hamden.
Q: If you’re elected, what are you hoping to change about Hamden?
What I really would like to change at the very core is the relationship between the mayor and the legislative council. The legislative council is the fiscal authority for the town. They ultimately make almost all of the decisions as to where the money goes and where it comes from. So if you can’t cooperate with the legislative council, you’re already at odds. You’re already doing a disservice to the town. I’ve been to plenty of meetings where the administration being the mayor’s side and the council, they just argue — they don’t cooperate. And that’s one of the most important things that I would fix is letting know that the legislative council has someone in the administration that actually wants to work with them.
Q: Quinnipiac and Hamden have an inconsistent relationship. Why do you think that is?
Quinnipiac grew up here in Hamden just like I did and it was a very small, rural college. The (previous) president of Quinnipiac made a whole lot of progress growing the college very quickly. And I’ve kind of used the analogy of it’s like when a kid goes from being a kid to a teenager. You have those growing pains and you see all this rapid growth and all of a sudden they seem out of control and you’re fighting with them and you’re trying to hold them back. But in reality, you need to let them grow because that’s your job as a parent.
I’ve met people from the new administration, I’ve talked to them. What they did at planning and zoning the other night was really well received. The people on the Planning and Zoning Commission were almost speechless at how thorough, how honest, how open, the presentation (was). There were people on that committee that had been there for planning and zoning for 30 years, and they were like, ‘We’ve never seen this.’ So I think Quinnipiac deserves a lot of credit for taking that first step, even though it’s not the first step, but for delivering on what they said they would deliver.
Q: How do you plan on improving that relationship?
Just coming to campus, talking to students and talking to the administration. I know part of that plan is to have kids come on the campus, get kids to go to the games, just do whatever you can do to build that relationship. Specifically, I really would just want to be on campus more, have Quinnipiac kids be more in Hamden. Have them come to come to events, whether they’re volunteering, shopping, anything. It’s going to take a little bit at a time, but just getting it started is so important. And I have to thank the Quinnipiac administration for doing that.
Fortune CEO Alan Murray spoke at Quinnipiac University’s Mount Carmel Auditorium about the future of journalism, and how Fortune Magazine is raising its journalistic standards going forward.
Chief executive officer of Fortune, and journalist since the age of 9, Alan Murray, came to Quinnipiac University on Friday to discuss the future of journalism, the importance of facts in a functioning democracy and old ladies on Facebook.
“Look, I do believe that facts are the most important building blocks of a successful society,” said Murray, “The discovery of facts is the first step in our legal process, and an understanding of facts is critical to the democratic process. A common basis of factual knowledge is the key to our ability to work together in our communities, and in our nation.”
The event titled “The Death of Truth: The Future of Journalism in the 21st Century” began around 2 p.m. at The Center Communications and Engineering, in a three-quarters full Mount Carmel Auditorium, for a discussion between Murray and School of Communications Dean, Chris Roush.
Murray, who says he’s been a journalist since the age of nine, gave an introduction to the crowd expressing the need for facts in society “Unfortunately, we live in a time when facts are under attack in lots of different ways,” said Murray.
From the beginning, Murray expressed he wasn’t interested in talking about the president and politics, but what he calls the ‘disturbing’ trend of the devaluation of facts in America.
“Unfortunately, we live in a time when facts are under attack in lots of different ways,” said Murray, “Let me say right up front, this is not going to be about President Trump. Yes, he has a peculiar attitude towards facts, but I think the problem we have as a society predates the election, and will continue long after he’s gone.”
Roush, the dean of the School of Communications, lead the discussion with Murray and asked him what things Fortune Magazine is doing to address issues of accuracy. “I think understanding that the values have to change somewhat and that people need to know that Fortune Magazine, like People Magazine, is committed to being right, more than it is to being first.”
What is Fortune magazine doing to address this issue? What are the standards that Fortune has, and what are they doing to make sure its readers understand that this is a credible news organization?
There are a couple of ways to answer that question.
One is just that in the age of 24/7 news organizations, all of us, have had a shift in priorities, and we explicitly tell our reporters it’s more important that you be right, than you be first. Because somebody who doesn’t care about right is more likely to be first. And then that’s a change from the days of print newspapers when you have a 24/7 news cycle, and you had enough time to do the adequate checking to make sure what you’re putting out is accurate. Sometimes you’d be on deadline and there’d be a lot of pressure, but it’s not the pressure you have now where every minute is madness.I think understanding that the values have to change somewhat and that people need to know that Fortune Magazine, like People Magazine, is committed to being right, more than it is to being first.
The second thing is one of the things that’s happened in the move from print publications to online publications is that there’s been a desperate search for eyeballs, because eyeballs are the way you get more ad dollars. I think that’s had a negative effect on all of journalism because the kinds of things you do to get eyeballs aren’t necessarily the things you would do to ensure the quality of the coverage. Being first helps you get more eyeballs. The google algorithm will treat you better, if you’re first. Having a sharp edge point of view will always get you more eyeballs than giving the straight take on the story. I think the desperate chase for eyeballs has caused a deterioration in journalism, including at Fortune.
What we are doing, in the midst of right now, is changing our business model. We will, in January, put up a paywall, we’re going to focus more on premium journalism, we will depend more on those who read us to pay for the journalism we do. That’s a good thing in terms of our focus because we’re going to be focused on producing news of a quality people are willing to pay for. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing for democracy because the only people who are going to get that news are going to be the people that pay for it.
> “That’s a good thing in terms of our focus because we’re going to be focused on producing news of a quality people are willing to pay for. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing for democracy because the only people who are going to get that news are going to be the people that pay for it.”
— Murray
Tell the Audience a little bit about what’s been happening at Fortune the last couple years, you’ve had three owners in the last two years, is that correct? What does that mean for the magazine?
Its been pretty wild. I joined five years ago just as Time Inc., the magazine company, was being spun out of Time Warner. That actually at the end of the day was a good thing, because what Time Warner had done is said ‘You, Time Inc., will continue to publish magazines, but we will let CNN handle online.’ so Fortune until five years ago, didn’t have a website. The Fortune web presence was part of CNN Money, and they said ‘We’re going to let Warner Brothers be our video outlet. So you can’t do video, you can’t do online, all you can do is print magazines.’ Which is effectively a death sentence. So it was essential to get Time Inc. out of Time Warner. That happened five years ago.
That was about the time I joined Fortune. We spent a lot of time building up our online presence, and when I became chief content officer I really focused on that. One of the things that had happened is there were 24 magazines at Time Inc. They didn’t talk to each other, so there were days, in 2017, I think it was 2017, Adele was at a concert and revealed that she had been asked to perform the Super Bowl, and she said ‘no.’ which was a huge story. We thought ‘How could somebody say no to performing at a Super Bowl?’ and at Time Inc. there were eight different stories written by eight different publications, on that Saturday, largely identical stories. So we weren’t taking advantage, at all in the digital world, of the scale of publishing a bunch of different magazines.
There was another day that same year when two different websites, that were part of Time Inc., published an avocado banana nut bread recipe on the same day. Different recipes. They all had different technology platforms, and it was just crazy. So I spent a lot of time unifying the digital platforms of the 24 magazines, which helped get them a larger digital presence.
But then very shortly after I took the job, Time Inc. was up for sale. We spent a year in investment banking meetings talking to potential buyers of Time Inc., but most of them after closely looking at it said ‘Nah, this is a print magazine, see ya later!’ Finally at the end of that year, Meredith, which publishes Better Homes and Gardens, AllRecipes, and a number of service magazines largely aimed at women, purchased time Inc., and then very quickly said we’re not interested in Henry Luce’s most favored babies, the first publications of Time Magazine. Which were Time, Fortune, Money, and Sports Illustrated, so we’re gonna sell all those. Then we went back into the investment banking process for another year to sell Time, Fortune, Money, and Sports Illustrated.
Murray spoke to the crowd at Quinnipiac about the changing journalism landscape. He talked about how journalists face the constant threat of job loss, and media outlets tanking or being sold. He said “I don’t want to discourage anybody here, but if you can find any place in journalism that isn’t in the midst of constant disruption these days, applause to you. I think what happened among journalist was ‘Yeah, wow. Is this place even gonna be here in a year? But is any other place going to be here in a year?’ It’s no more disrupted than any other media organization.”
Fortune was ultimately bought in December. It’s a long story, I’ll finish up soon, I promise. Fortune was finally sold last December to a Thai billionaire by the name of Chatchaval Jiaravanon, who asked me to be the CEO, and we’ve spent the last eight to nine months carving ourselves out of the company we were in for 89 years, and setting ourselves up.
Big step towards independence on Monday. We moved into new offices.
Because of that uncertainty around Fortune and its future, how do you keep journalists from leaving to go to greener pastures and how do you attract journalists to work at the magazine?
I don’t want to discourage anybody here, but if you can find any place in journalism that isn’t in the midst of constant disruption these days, applause to you. I think what happened among journalist was ‘Yeah, wow. Is this place even gonna be here in a year? But is any other place going to be here in a year?’ It’s no more disrupted than any other media organization.
I mean, think about what we’ve been through in the last couple of years with the rise and the collapse of MIC, the millennial news organization, which a year before it collapsed was seen as the kind of answer that everybody should follow. I mean BuzzFeed has had its ups and downs. I think for those of you who want to go into journalism careers you need to have good seat belts because it’s not a smooth ride.
> “I mean, think about what we’ve been through in the last couple of years with the rise and the collapse of MIC, the millennial news organization, which a year before it collapsed was seen as the kind of answer that everybody should follow. I mean BuzzFeed has had its ups and downs. I think for those of you who want to go into journalism careers you need to have good seat belts because it’s not a smooth ride. ”
— Murray
How can I get my 79-year-old mother to stop reading Facebook for her news?
Yeah, I know what you’re saying. It’s really tough. I think you need to sit and have a conversation with her about the importance of facts and the importance of truth.
She doesn’t want facts she just wants to read what she wants to read.
If we’re going to survive as a society, I think we need to get beyond that, but I think your mother will probably be okay at this point, but the rest of us need to figure out a way to get beyond that.
Dean Roush sat down next to Murray to lead the discussion on the future of journalism. Roush amused the audience when he asked how he can stop his 79-year-old mother from reading her news on Facebook. “She doesn’t want facts she just wants to read what she wants to read,” said Roush.
Roush then opened the room for discussion,
Attendees picked Murray’s brain for approximately 30 minutes on everything from paywalls, to the possibility of there being one central organization everyone believes as factual,
Though Fortune is pursuing standards to improve its story’s truth and accuracy, some feel larger solutions are still out there blowing in the wind.
“People have certain beliefs, so anything that supports them, it makes them more comfortable,” said Don Everett, Milford, “I’m not sure what can be done about it. How do you reach people who are so involved in social media today?”
What Everett expressed relates to the issue Roush raised with his mother. No matter how much quality journalism is out there, they feel people will continue to go on social media and be surrounded by a bubble of information they find to be true.
Everett believes this creates problems.
“They don’t have time to even think about checking what they hear, they’re processing and going on to something else,” said Everett. “I’m not sure what can be done.”
People in the Mount Carmel auditorium sat as Murray gave an introduction highlighting everything from how he got started as a journalist at 9, and what he believes the solutions are to keeping journalism accurate and safe in the future.
Although Everett felt some questions were left unanswered, one audience member was impressed by Murray’s appearance.
“I didn’t expect him to be so capable of answering questions,” said William Dean, freshman journalism major, Quinnipiac. “He was very quick on his feet, and I appreciated his ability to answer questions thoroughly, and interestingly. He kept the audience engaged, and you don’t normally expect that from a CEO of a big company.”
Discovering the steps involved in creating a dish that goes beyond the recipe
By Alexis Guerra
You’re sitting at a table in a restaurant. Your stomach is growling. You’ve had a long day at work. And you have just enough energy left to chow down on your food. That is, when it finally arrives. For the past several minutes you’ve been teased by platters of burgers, sandwiches, drafts of beer, you name it. Finally, the server pushes open the heavy double doors of the kitchen, with a tray in hand. You lock eyes, hoping that one of those white plates contains your next meal. To your satisfaction, they set the plate of steaming hot wings right under your nose.
Dig in.
Side Street Grille has been in business since 1996.
We’ve followed the journey from waiting to receiving your meal, but what happened before that and what separates the good from the bad in the restaurant industry?
If you were to pose these questions to Hamden’s Side Street Grille owner Dave DeNicola, he’d tell you it takes time and massive amounts of preparation.
Residents voiced concerns while Mayor Curt Leng was on the campaign trail
By Peter Dewey
Hamden Mayor Curt Leng is planning a new initiative, “Hamden fights blight,” to clean up abandoned and unsightly properties in town.
Leng, who mentioned this idea in a radio interview with the New Haven Independent on Oct. 3, said that he found blight was a common theme among resident concerns while campaigning door-to-door for the Democratic primary this fall.
“Residents talked about quality of life issues and improving the neighborhoods,” Leng said. “That ranged from street paving sidewalks, trees, traffic and blight. It is something that I have been interested in since I was on the council.”
The town has compiled a “hot-list” of seven properties that need immediate attention.
The locations given to the planning and zoning department include: 37 Stevens St., 922 Winchester Ave., 2038 State St., 293 Goodrich St., 891 Dixwell Ave., 635 Wintergreen Ave. and 560 Newhall St.
The old Hamden Middle School, located at 560 Newhall St., is one of the seven blighted properties on the town’s hot list. Mayor Curt Leng is making renovation of the property a priority.
While Leng said that the “hot-list” includes these seven properties, he said there are about 20 to 25 properties in Hamden that he believes will need attention.
“In the zoning world, we’re going to try something called ‘Hamden fights blight,’” Leng said. “It means that we’re going to be a little more aggressive attacking the blight list that we have, that we know about.”
Of the seven properties, Leng said there are five residential, one commercial and one town-owned.
The town-owned property is the old Hamden Middle School, located at 560 Newhall St.
“Leaving the school like that lowers the property value,” Shanelle Rudolph said. “The neighbors are upset.”
The middle school has been abandoned for several years after it was found to be built on top of a former toxic waste dump.
“I can’t remember how long its been (since the middle school has been abandoned) but it has been a very long time,” Mike Ortega, a member of the parks department, said. “I heard the talk of the town was turning the property into elderly housing or low income housing.”
Residents in the area have expressed concern with the fact that the abandoned property doesn’t represent their community well.
“I would like the town to hire people and come clean (the old middle school) up,” Anne Marie Cruz, a Hamden resident, said. “When (graffiti on buildings) happens at Yale, they clean it up the next day, because they don’t want to offend anyone.
“That’s the way we should think. There are very nice people from all walks of life living around here. There’s a lot of diversity and that’s what I think makes it nice.”
Cruz, who lives on Sheffield Street, said that she knows of another house abandoned there after the owners passed away. She said someone still cleans the property, but that it hasn’t been lived in for a while.
Leng was adamant that the crack down on blight will be used for places that are empty household or abandoned properties.
He also said that this will occur after attempts to contact and get the property owner to clean the property are not successful.
Hamden residents are also eager for the town to clean up a property on 922 Winchester Ave. (shown below).
“It looks bad in the area,” said resident Veronica Gram, referring to 922 Winchester Ave., another hot-list property. “If they could fix it or break it down or sell the lot or something. It looks terrible, it’s not good at all.”
According to Leng, one of the properties on the list, located on Goodrich Street, is partially in Hamden and partially in New Haven. It used to be a three-family house, but the town now has new plans if they are able to seize it from the previous owner.
“The one on Goodrich is 40% New Haven, 60% Hamden,” Leng said. “It is being foreclosed by the City of New Haven and (Hamden) is already in the process of doing it on our side as well. Once we get a hold of it and control of the property, we are going to hand it over to the Hamden Economic Development Corporation.”
“When we get control of it we are going to knock it down,” Leng told the New Haven Independent. “This has been an eyesore for a long time. It’s been empty. There was a fire many years ago and I believe it is something that you can’t occupy anyways.”
The Department of Planning and Zoning states on its website that residents with complaints about blight need to fill out a form in order to trigger an inspection.
If a violation is found, the staff will work with the property owner to resolve the problem.
“The goal of ‘Hamden fights blight’ is to be more proactive,” Leng said. “Right now, we receive the complaints. What I would like to see us do is to do two streets per week of proactively going out and inspecting. It’s a really simple concept, but we haven’t done it up until now.”
It was a typical Saturday night at Rutgers University when one college kid stumbled home in need of a late night snack. After randomly combining unique ingredients into a sandwich, he realized how delicious this “fat sandwich” was and decided to share it with other college students.
This started a fat sandwich wave that hit Hamden in November of 2018 when Mario Nicolaides opened Fat Wedge U on Whitney Avenue.
The concept for Fat Wedge U began when Nicolaides took a trip to New Jersey with his friends for a fat sandwich. After a few years and various jobs, Nicolaides opened a fat sandwich shop in Connecticut.
“My partner and I grew up in the restaurant business and we saw this concept and we added our own flare to it and took it a step further,” Nicolaides said.
The handwritten specials at the entrance of Fat Wedge.
Wedged in between a liquor store and a nail salon, the restaurant has a seemingly ordinary external appearance.
However, when customers pull open the door, they are met with a vibrant red interior with aesthetically hand-written specials written by Nicolaides’ wife.
Nicolaides can be found behind the counter helping customers and making food. With each new customer to pull open the door, he greets them with a smile and a friendly conversation.
The menu, while containing some seemingly normal plates like burgers and fries, primarily consists of sandwiches, wraps and burgers that are loaded with ingredients like mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders, onion rings and mac & cheese bites.
“As far as the ingredients, we sample around and see what goes good with each other even if something sounds crazy, it might end up being really good,” Nicolaides said.
Besides the widespread toppings, each sandwich also has a distinctive name.
“Most of the names are from people that went to school, the different locations we went to,” Nicolaides said.
There are some interesting names for these subs like the Fat Crispy Cozz, which was named after a girl at Southern Connecticut University, while others like the Fat Blunt and the Fat Bitch are simpler yet outrageous names for a sandwich.
While most locals don’t seem to mind the quirky sandwich names, it has proved to be a possible roadblock for Nicolaides and Quinnipiac University.
Q-cash, which is a way for students to pay for laundry and supplies at the bookstore, started expanding to local restaurants and stores in Hamden popular with students. However, the university isn’t interested in doing business with Nicolaides.
“They didn’t really give us a reason,” he commented. “We assume it’s because of the names of the sandwiches and we told them we would change them but they don’t want to do business with us.”
Nicolaides working the register at Fat Wedge U.
When the university was asked about why it was reluctant to do business with Nicolaides, the university said it had no comment.
Despite this slight setback, students and locals seem to enjoy the sandwiches, according to Nicolaides.
“One sandwich could easily fit two meals, and for what you get it’s a decent price,” Andrew Dixon, junior international business major, said.
Around lunchtime, first-time customers casually stride through the door and Nicolaides smiles and hands them a menu. “First time here?” He asks a daughter and her dad excitedly.
They both nod and he smiles. Here comes his favorite part of owning a fat sandwich shop: customer’s reactions.
“Seeing people’s reaction is probably the most rewarding part of it all,” he said.
