HAMDEN — Newly elected Legislative Council President Katie Kiely says improving communication — both within town government and with residents — will be a top goal as Hamden transitions to a new administration under Mayor Adam Sendroff.
The 39-year-old sixth-grade science and social studies teacher at Shepherd Glen Elementary School said she wants all councilors and administrators to understand the council’s role within town governance, and wants to ensure clear communication processes with voters.
“This is my personal goal and why it was so important to me to become council president,” Kiely said.. “A lot of the things that have been really making it hard for us to move forward between administration and council have been in large part due to the fact that we haven’t had clear communication.”
“That lack of communication has been due to a number of things, but mostly we don’t have a clear process for how we get information, who is in charge of what, and how we’re going to be able to really know and monitor what is, for example, in our current operating budgets and the committees that we have,” she added.
Kiely said she wants the council to be a one-stop shop of accurate information for residents who want to understand what’s going on in town government. She said communication between the previous council and outgoing Democratic Mayor Lauren Garrett was generally amicable, but disorganized.
“It was not always clear who should be communicated to, whether they had the right information and whether or not it circled back to the right council member who wanted to address an issue,” she said. “That’s what I think caused a lot of the problems.”
Kiely is developing standardized forms for council members to use when leadership is creating meeting agendas, outlining the questions they want answered and the information needed from department heads. The process will help ensure timely information sharing and, when necessary, department head attendance at meetings, she said.
Sendroff said he welcomes Kiely’s initiatives.
“We have had a lot of good conversations,” he said. “I look forward to working with her as we develop the new system for the benefit of everybody.
Kiely was elected president of the 15-member council by a 9-6 vote. Councilors Ted Stevens, Douglas Foley, Maurine Crouch, Adrian Webber, Abdul Osmanu and Sarah Gallagher opposed.
Kiely received votes from Republican council members Bob Anthony and Tom Figlar, the council’s only GOP representatives, plus new Democratic council members Grace Teodosio, Tameeka Parks, Jeron Alston, Sean Cardwell and Tasha Hunt. Osmanu also sought the presidency but supported Kiely when his attempt fell short.
Kiely succeeds former council President Dominique Baez, who was not reelected because she ran unsuccessfully for mayor.
Despite the Democratic majority and Sendroff being a Democrat, Hamden’s politics have occasionally been fractious with inter-party splits. Kiely said she and the council hope for the best relations with Sendroff’s administration but will not be shy about pressing it for realignment if it doesn’t conform to a substantial number of voters’ wishes.