Op Ed: An option for Hamden, chafing under mayor Garrett

by The Albatross

The idea that Lauren Garrett will continue to rule Hamden is dispiriting.  The only thing we have learned is not to believe anything she says.  She is pathologically deceitful, extraordinarily shameless and disconnected; she has also wrecked the town, and should not hold a position of power.  Who will make Hamden great again?

We often cannot see what is happening before us.  Hamden is no longer a prime destination to buy a home, or live a prosperous life.  People are leaving in droves.  Hamden is also no longer farm country, not a town, not even a city.  It is certainly not a village, where everyone has face-to-face contact.  Hamden is a sprawling region at an impasse.  The divergent interests of this region make governing impossible. 

Anger simmers between parts of Hamden that are not on speaking terms.  There are a wide range of stakeholders; it’s hard to swallow the antagonism between these warring factions.  

Some people spent the happiest days of their lives in Hamden.  Their favorite memories may be of sipping coffee in the kitchen with a friend, or sitting in their favorite chair on the porch.  They may have considered themselves Ms. Hamden or Mr. Hamden, but now they feel exiled in their home town.

One side hates crime.  They hate paying taxes to feed a bloated government.  They want the foundations of American civil and criminal law upheld.  They protest loudly against the current regime, but they have been notably unsuccessful.  For them, Hamden is unrepresentative and does not reflect the will of the people.  Crime matters to them.  For folks with a vested interest in Hamden, the future is grim.

The other side, not invested, has a near-pathological hatred of the police and of freedom of speech.  They signal their virtue with lawn signs and flags.  They promote quixotic schemes and ignore crime, expecting exploited taxpayers to stay dutifully silent. 

Hamden’s social fabric is torn beyond mending.  There seems no bridging the gap between the different sides. A municipality depends on a shared understanding of the common good, but when the distance between viewpoints is far, and commonality lacking, ties cannot be formed. 

The common good is found only among those with similar values.  Elections can only go so far, to satisfy the common good of an electorate that has so little in common.

Hamden is an example of how people cannot come together and cooperate.  When each side demonizes the other, there can be no rapprochement.  And that’s okay.  Sometimes people in a marriage cannot overcome their differences—but they do not have to be trapped. Just as people divorce, so can municipalities.  Sometimes, there is no going back—right, Lauren? It might be better to get a divorce; if someone wants one, there is usually a serious reason.  Mayor Garrett herself knows that separation is sometimes the mother of happiness.

Albatross is saddened and shocked by the worsening living conditions.  Hamden has magnificent buildings, lovely shops, and inviting homes.  What happened?  We are not on our way to a better Hamden; but this tug-of-war needs to end.  Luckily, Albatross has one solution, a simple answer in plain sight: the separation of one thing into two things.  Or three things.  What the rest of the world is doing, Hamden can do as well.

For more than a hundred years, Finland was part of the Russian Empire.  Czechoslovakia used to be one country, now it’s two: the Czech Republic and Slovenia.  Armenia is a country whose borders have always been moving.  The U.K. left the EU and is no longer part of the Schengen Zone.  In 2014, Scotland had a referendum on independence from Great Britain.  While they voted to stay, the issue is not settled.

Borders are ephemeral for cities, as well as countries.  Drohobycz used to be a city in Poland; now it is in the Ukraine.  Springfield, Massachusetts was originally a Connecticut colony until it decided to emancipate itself.

Cities are also ambitious; like nations, they acquire fresh property to grow their tax base and increase power.  These geographic marriages are not as happy as they should be.  Annexation involves real people and can be a real torment.  

Buckhead County, Georgia, was a summer home destination; those homes became year-round residences.  In 1952, the city of Atlanta annexed Buckhead, and the citizens learned the price of annexation.  Seventy years of Atlanta rule have given Buckhead county higher crime, and higher taxes. Residents don’t sleep well at night.

According to the Associated Press, Buckhead residents maintained that Atlanta “wasn’t doing enough” about the rampant crime. The Daily Mail, a British paper, reported that residents were tired of seeing citizens suffer “gunshot wounds, home invasions, and murders.” 

In December, 2022, a 77-year-old grandmother, Ellen Bowles, was stabbed to death outside her home, during an attempted carjacking. Grown men wept at her funeral.

So a boon for Atlanta, spelled disaster for Buckhead.  The marriage was a poor fit.  The costs and risks of doing business went up; Buckhead residents chafed under Atlanta’s awful management.  Buckhead funded Atlanta as a huge tax base, yet had little governing power. Citizens could not hold Atlanta’s elite to account. Because Buckhead was consistently out-voted by Atlanta proper, it could be said they were ruled by a foreign government.  People dreamed of emancipation.

Along came Bill White, who ignited a resistance movement. Such a movement began in Hamden with Al Lotto. Buckhead would preempt further disasters by getting a divorce.  Under White, residents joined forces to form the Buckhead City Committee, a group that sought emancipation from Atlanta. 

The Buckhead Committee immediately encountered opposition, and in the first round, did not triumph.  Emancipation rattled the world of Georgia, infuriating Democrats and Republicans alike.  Thinking through emancipation, answering hard questions, was too difficult for Georgia.  With enormous condescension, Governor Kemp opined that it could not be done. The state government refused to rescind Atlanta’s sovereignty over Buckhead.  The proposal was voted down by the Georgia legislature, an abrupt and sudden failure, and an insult to the memory of Ellen Bowles.  

Money was the only question, but just as in a divorce, a financial settlement could have been reached through negotiation.  

Although Atlanta confirmed its grip on Buckhead’s money, Buckhead did not fail.  It is premature to say that Atlanta won.  One rarely succeeds the first time they try something. They take steps toward success.  This was the first time emancipation legislation advanced out of committee into the Georgia legislature.  Buckhead is refusing to accept what Georgia wants to impose upon them.  They will formulate new strategies.  They can prevail.

Emancipation is an idea, born of necessity.  Crime has taken a terrible toll on Hamden.  The Plaza is becoming a wasteland, and people are afraid to shop.  Hamden taxpayers pump money into their municipality, and don’t even get a good high school for the $100 million given.  If you believe that these obstacles will be overcome when a new regime comes to power, you are doomed to disappointment.  Voters are just pawns, to be used in elections. We were duped by Walter Morton.  And modest steps, such as winning a few seats on a board, take one nowhere.

It is not necessary for Hamden to remain one entity.  Borders are elastic; the line between Hamden and Cheshire is thin.  So is the one between Hamden and New Haven.  Hamden has not always existed.  It was constructed, and can be reconstructed.  Territorial concessions can be made.  Any student of topography can see that Hamden can readily be bisected. Or trisected. 

If we do not all have the same values, then we do not have to be governed the same way.  There is no sensible reason why people who have fundamentally different values cannot be sovereign on their own land.  It is entirely reasonable for people to wish to rule themselves.  Separation will bring euphoria and emotional relief.  

Lauren Garrett cannot silence and subjugate the thousands of people who dislike her.  She needs to get behind emancipation.  Emancipation opens up new avenues, new ways of getting things done.  Capital, goods, and people can still move.  A region does not have to be thrown into chaos, if it is carefully done. 

No one wants death dealt to a shopper at the Plaza.  No one in Hamden wants to suffer a fate like Ellen Bowles did in Atlanta. Let’s get to work.  There’s a lot to be done.