The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Meet the Legislative Council candidates for the Democratic primary
HAMDEN — Two slates of candidates will compete Tuesday in what may be the most contentious primary election of Hamden’s history.
“Row A” features the Democratic Town Committee-endorse candidates of mayoral contender Lauren Garrett’s slate.
“Row B” includes candidates on incumbent Mayor Curt Balzano Leng’s slate. Leng has held office since 2015, but did not earn the DTC endorsement this year and petitioned for a spot on the ballot.
Read on for biographies of the contenders, which are based on written responses to a New Haven Register survey each respondent completed.
Row A
Dominique Baez (incumbent)
Baez is a Hamden native with nine years of experience working for a nonprofit that develops free programming for unemployed Connecticut residents, she said. She is seeking a second term, she said, to continue to promote local economic development and to ensure developers hire town residents on project work forces, a requirement she successfully pushed to include in a recent town agreement.
Baez named fiscal stability and a lack of partnership as key issues facing Hamden. “As a councilwoman I have exercised patience and courage in the budget process, leadership in bringing jobs to Hamden residents and look forward to using my experience in partnership building to continue my work while welcoming stronger community input, beautifying our town corridors for economic growth and a healthier Hamden,” she said.
Kathleen ‘Katie’ Kiely
Kiely is a Hamden elementary school teacher and member of the Democratic Town Committee who believes Hamden’s main issues include property taxes, transportation opportunities and equity in resource allocation to town departments, neighborhoods and schools. She is running to strengthen the community she says allowed her to accomplish her dreams of having a career and owning a home, she said.
She wants to help solve problems “instead of just identifying them.” As a councilwoman, Kiely would engage with civil servants, promote policies giving all residents a voice, connect residents with government center and “implement ways to move a proactive agenda forward,” she said.
Cory O’Brien
O’Brien is oversees strategic partnerships as a program manager for Philips North America, he said. A former Hamden councilman, he got involved in politics because he realized Hamden needed “people who believed in transparent & honest fiscal practices,” he said
Asked to identify the town’s top three issues, O’Brien was unequivocal: “money, money & money,” he said, noting that Hamden’s tax rate one of the highest in the state. He suggested property taxes affect “lower income and minority residents disproportionally.” The former councilman said he would advocate for a “multi-year financial plan showing realistic projections and the town’s plan to address known increases” and for year-round “diligent budget management.”
Laurie Sweet
Sweet runs her own birth doula business and has been an active volunteer on local campaigns, she said, adding that she previously spent time on the board of a New Haven prechool and has helped house asylum seekers. The 2021 primary marks her second run for council, and she said she is seeking office again because the concerns she heard from residents two years ago have not changed.
The biggest issues facing Hamden, Sweet said, include taxes and debt, infrastructure and transparency. “I have spent hours listening to the concerns of Hamden voters, hearing about how they will be forced to move if taxes increase again,” she said. “I will be transparent, accessible, and timely in answering your calls, so that we can begin to tackle the issues facing our town.”
Row B
Richard Mutts
Mutts is the founding director of the Born Rich Foundation and the equity and inclusion coordinator at Wesleyan University’s Upward Bound Math and Science Program, he said. He is running out of “a life-long passion to serve others and provide community service” and to inspire others to “become agents of positive change.”
Mutts named “diversity of thought, inclusivity, and accountability” as top priorities and said promoting these concepts can help individuals bring their experiences to the table. As a councilman he would empower residents to get involved by educating them about the town’s infrastructure, collaborate “with families, schools and other agencies to formulate solution-based strategies and actions” and ensure “equitable opportunities for a diverse variety of residents to co collaborate,” he said.
Berita Rowe-Lewis (incumbent)
Rowe-Lewis holds a Master’s of Science in labor relations and human resources from the University of New Haven, she said, and has more than 30 years experience working in management positions at Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale University. She currently serves as the Legislative Council’s majority leader.
The councilwoman is seeking reelection to “advocate for the safety needs and concerns of all Hamden residents” and not because of “political or personal motives,” she said. To address her top three issues — public safety, education and debt — she would seek to establish a STEM high school in collaboration with the public sector, pursue pension reform, enhance “youth and community development” and engage stakeholders as a “critical component” of an “anticrime strategic plan.”
Kathleen Schomaker (incumbent)
Having served on council for six terms, Schomaker said, she is seeking reelection to maintain experience
on the town’s legislative arm. Currently council president pro tempore, she previously taught social sciences at Columbus College of Art and Design, spent six years developing environmental programs at Yale University and now works as Hamden’s sustainability coordinator, she said.
Her priorities include “managing for ecological, economic, financial and social equity sustainability,” “full inclusion of communities first in need” in all initiatives and fiscal management that helps the town control taxes and increase grant funding, she said. To find the best approaches to town issues, she would “focus on the quality of our civil discourse.”
Rachel Scolnic Dobin Scolnic Dobin was born and raised in Hamden and serves on the town’s Disability Commission. She is a
social worker for Jewish Family Service of Greater New Haven, where she works with “some of our community’s most vulnerable individuals and families” and runs an outreach program that “meets clients where they are and helps stabilize them with basic needs.”
Asked about Hamden’s top issues, she said the town faces significant socioeconomic disparities and needs “better avenues for connection to services,” adding that she would work to help ensure struggling residents’ have their basics needs met. She would tap into her experience organizing major fundraisers to develop programs that bring the whole community together, she said, and also use her networking skills to draw businesses to town.