{"id":794,"date":"2019-09-10T18:43:08","date_gmt":"2019-09-10T18:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2019\/09\/10\/2019910cgzw01lnk19l2rmdwg35io3yu0o094\/"},"modified":"2020-09-05T19:29:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T19:29:18","slug":"2019910cgzw01lnk19l2rmdwg35io3yu0o094","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2019\/09\/10\/2019910cgzw01lnk19l2rmdwg35io3yu0o094\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamden residents focused on making their vote count"},"content":{"rendered":"

Voters advocating for both Curt Leng and Lauren Garrett in Democratic primary<\/p>\n

By Peter Dewey<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Mayor Curt Balzano Leng has won the democratic primary against Councilwoman Lauren Garrett. He will now face republican candidate, Jay Kaye, in the November election. <\/p>\n

Hamden residents flocked to the polls at Miller Library on Tuesday morning to vote in the Democratic mayoral primary election between current mayor Curt B. Leng and challenger Lauren Garrett. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery vote counts,\u201d Donna and James Ferraro said after exiting the polls. \u201cEspecially in a small election like this where the turnout can be pretty light.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Donna and James Ferraro believe that everyone\u2019s vote matters in this election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The winner of the primary will be pinned up against Republican nominee Jay Kaye in the Nov. 5 general election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I had enough information on both candidates,\u201d Virginia Barker said. \u201cI read a lot, I go online and read a lot and we get the paper every day, so I\u2019m always reading the articles in there as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Miller Library was one of many spots voters could cast their ballots on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Voters coming in and out of the Miller Library on Tuesday morning were split in who they would\u2019ve liked to see get the nod for the Democratic party in Hamden, however, there was a consistency in the issues they wanted to see addressed.<\/p>\n

The town\u2019s taxes, specifically the property tax, was brought up by a number of voters. Financial issues and transparency has been something that Garrett has been pushing in her campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been working to bring transparency and accountability to our budgeting process in Hamden,\u201d Garrett said in last Wednesday\u2019s debate. \u201cI think we need to start having honest conversations with our residents about where we are at financially so that people can see when these types of high taxes are going to end.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, not all voters are convinced that there must be changes in Hamden.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I look at it like if it\u2019s not broke, leave it alone,\u201d Donna Ferraro said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we kind of went with the incumbent (Curt Leng).\u201d<\/p>\n

Julie Smith, who was the chief of staff for Leng, was also at Miller Library, voting and then campaigning for the current mayor. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s been some misinformation but overall I think [both candidates] were able to get their messages out,\u201d Smith said. \u201cPersonally, I think the town is moving in the right direction and we need to continue doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

During last Wednesday\u2019s debate, the question of the candidates credentials was another issue that was addressed. While Leng is looking for his third term as mayor, Garrett first won a seat on the Legislative Council in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly no disrespect to Mrs. Garrett, but I don\u2019t think she has the experience necessary to run [for mayor],\u201d Smith said. \u201cI\u2019ve seen first hand what it takes to run this town and I\u2019ve also worked with her on the council. While I know she is dedicated to the town, I can just tell you she doesn\u2019t have the experience yet to be able to run a town of this size.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, there are residents who feel that it is time for a change in order to fix things that they believe have been a problem for too long.<\/p>\n

One of those issues \u2013 Quinnipiac University and its students \u2013 gave Sarah Ruden a reason to vote for Garrett.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Sarah Ruden believes that a new mayor will help fix Hamden\u2019s problems with Quinnipiac University.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI think that Quinnipiac University is absolutely out of control,\u201d Ruden said. \u201cIn it\u2019s treatment especially of the Mount Carmel area. We need a new mayor who will take a harder line and actually protect safety and property of Hamden citizens. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t had that for our city government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both candidates spoke about the town\u2019s relationship with the university during the debates last week, stating that too many students live in residential neighborhoods. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a real challenge,\u201d Leng said<\/span><\/a>, as he explained that it is too easy for student housing permits to be renewed despite there being multiple violations. \u201cThe State of Connecticut needs to empower towns to be able to reject a permit renewal based on bad behavior. We can\u2019t do it now and it is really, really needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruden is hoping a change in mayor will help expedite the changes that haven\u2019t been made under Leng.<\/p>\n

Voting will continue throughout the day, with the polls closing at 8 p.m. <\/p>\n

\u201cI always vote,\u201d Barker said. \u201cEvery election. I feel it\u2019s a duty. Everybody needs to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Voters advocating for both Curt Leng and Lauren Garrett in Democratic primary By Peter Dewey UPDATE: Mayor Curt Balzano Leng has won the democratic primary against Councilwoman Lauren Garrett. He will now face republican candidate, Jay Kaye, in the November election. Hamden residents flocked to the polls at Miller Library on Tuesday morning to vote … Continue reading Hamden residents focused on making their vote count<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":795,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,142],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hamden","category-homepage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1865,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions\/1865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}