Where I Stand
I'm running to protect what makes Hamden worth living in, to continue Wayne Marshfield's work, to support local businesses, and to make sure every resident can see and take part in what their town government is doing.
What follows isn't a wish list. It's the discipline I bring to everything: show up, stay informed, and make every dollar and every decision count. Every item below is something a resident could check up on a year from now.
Government works best when people are part of it. Town decisions, and the records behind them, should be easy to find and follow, and the supervisor should be easy to reach.
Post agendas, minutes, and budgets online in a single, searchable place, not scattered PDFs or paper-only files
Bring a proposal to the board to record or livestream meetings, so people who work or have mobility limits can still follow along
Send a simple monthly update, by email and on the town website, summarizing decisions, spending, and upcoming votes
Keep an open door: a standing invitation to call, email, or bring any concern directly to me and get a real answer
01 Transparency & Open Government
02 Fiscal Responsibility
Publish a plain-language annual budget breakdown showing where every dollar goes, and post the adopted budget itself online where residents can actually find it
Actively pursue the state, federal, and watershed funding that exists for towns exactly like ours: roads, broadband, flood work, and community facilities
Keep the pressure on Washington for federal disaster reimbursements Hamden has been owed since 2018, working with the county and our representatives in Congress until that money comes home
Make sure any large project that comes to Hamden pays its fair share to this town, in writing, before anything is approved
Pursue joint purchasing and shared services agreements with neighboring towns and the county, working with our highway superintendent and department heads, because Hamden should never buy alone what it can buy with its neighbors
Audit recurring contracts, fees, and leases annually and end renewals that no longer serve the town
Preserve the relationships this town has built with the county, neighboring towns, and state partners over the years, while building new ones, because a small town gets further through partnerships than it ever does alone
Fiscal Responsibility isn’t just about cutting costs. It’s about making sure Hamden never leaves money on the table. I’ve spent fourteen years managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and finding margins in tight numbers.
03 Infrastructure & Daily Life
Roads, drainage, and connectivity shape daily life here more than almost anything else town government touches. They deserve a clear, public plan.
Work with the Highway Superintendent to map and prioritize the worst roads and culverts, and publish the repair plan so residents can see it
Push to close the remaining broadband gaps on Hamden's back roads and hollows, continuing the county's work with our local providers
Advocate for better cell coverage through the state and watershed programs now targeting our region's dead zones, because in a rural town, coverage is a public safety issue
Work with the county Soil and Water Conservation District and watershed stream programs to identify flood-prone roads, culverts, and drainage along the West Branch, and line up mitigation funding before the next high water, not after
04 Land & Community Stewardship
Hamden's land and character are worth protecting. Clear, predictable rules serve landowners and the town alike.
Back the Planning Board in setting clear, predictable review standards, so landowners know what to expect
Help farm and forest owners tap the conservation, easement, and forestry programs available to them, including through the Watershed Agricultural Council, so families can afford to keep their land open
Build the town's links page into a plain-language guide to the money already available to Hamden homeowners, from watershed septic reimbursements to well and energy efficiency programs, so nobody misses out because they didn't know
Protect Hamden's watershed and conservation-easement land from commercial-scale solar and industrial development, and defend the permanence of the protections those easements were meant to guarantee
Push the town to set clear siting rules for large projects, battery storage, data centers, and industrial solar, ahead of time, so Hamden decides its own standards instead of reacting to each application after it's filed
05 Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Use the town's website, newsletter, and monthly update to promote the food pantry, senior services, and county programs, and help them find the grants and volunteers they need
Create a welcome packet for new residents covering services, recycling, permits, and contacts
Back youth and senior programming, so this is a town people can grow up in and grow old in
Work with neighbors, local artists, entrepreneurs, and community groups to launch an annual town tradition: a road race, a harvest/art festival, or a covered bridge day or the Hamden Covered Bridge, volunteer-run, sponsor-supported, and at almost no cost to taxpayers
Hamden runs on the people who show up: the volunteer firefighters and EMS crews who answer our calls, the food pantry, the neighbors who check on each other. Town government can't replace that, and shouldn't try. Its job is to back them up and make it easier for the next person to pitch in
That's the plan, all of it, in plain sight. If something on this page matters to you, hold me to it. If something's missing, tell me; the best ideas in this platform will come from the people who live here. I'm asking for your vote on Tuesday, November 3, and I'm asking to earn it the same way this page was written: openly, specifically, and one conversation at a time.