Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jonathan Katz, who's announced his candidacy running here for mayor
and Hamden a few months ago, and welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good morning, Vinnie. How are you doing.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I appreciate you coming on. I've got a daughter your
age and such civic mindedness at such a young age.
It's a wonderful thing to see. But I'm wondering where
it comes from. Are you just a Hamden guy who's like, man,
I love my town. You know, I listen to my
parents belly ache about this town. I feel like I
can do this. Were you always civic minded? Tell me
(00:31):
your story?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, so in Hamden. You know, Hamden's community extremely vibrant.
I've been part of it my whole life, my family,
we've been here three generations. Many other people can't say that.
And this is what I've always said, that Hamden's most
valuable asset is its community, because really it's the community
(00:53):
that raised me. It's a community full of good people,
you know, hard working families, people that are all trying
to make a life in the future here. And it's
that community that has done so much for me. And
that's where my passion comes from, because I know that's
who I'm fighting for now. The big issue in Hamden
is that we do not have a government that represents
(01:18):
the amazing community that has been built. So I'm running
because I want to lift up Hamden. You know, I
want to bring in this energy. I want to bring
in fresh ideas, a new generation of leadership and break
this ongoing status quo that it's politics over people. Because
with that, when we put the people at the front
(01:40):
of politics and at the front of Hamden's leadership, then
we can confidently say that the best days of Hamden
are ahead of us. They're not behind us. We're going
to change direction and we're going to break from the
same old tied thing that this town's been doing for
the past twenty seven years.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
You know, you're clearly not alone. It's the biggest field
in there. I read in the paper in at least
thirty five years, so there are a lot of few.
I think it's what does it break down to six
Democrats at this point and you're running as a Republican
and am I leaving anybody out? There's probably more names
(02:22):
are probably going to come to because having worked in
Hamden as long as I have since the late nineties,
it's become a second home to me. I've watched a
lot of changes here, most of them not very good.
Got to say, we've been doing stuff a bus here
in all that time which I watched. It's a great event.
It's still a great event. But the word community is key.
(02:43):
You know, first ten years it's madness. School buses. Kids
would come down from all the schools and form lines.
You probably did it yourself as a kid, and pass
the food along to it. And now you know, sometimes
it's in a parking lot that has security now it
never had security before, and it has security for a
(03:06):
good reason. So I think a lot of people are
feeling like we need a change here. Do you think
the Republican hurts or helps?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
This is what I see, and I'll be honest because
please people. And I've been out talking to thousands of people.
I've been out knocking on doors talking Republicans, Democrats, independent, unaffiliated.
And what people want is something that transcends party lines.
You know, when when times are good, you know, people
might go ahead and vote party lines. But at the moment,
(03:39):
people's backs are against the wall and I'm hearing what
they want, and what they just want is they don't
care about the D the R. They just want someone
that's going to represent the people, and they want someone
that's going to go in and what their agenda's going
to be is it's a people's first agenda. And what
that is is they want lower taxes. They want to
(04:00):
be able to keep the homes, the homes that are
the biggest investments of their lives. They want the town
to budget responsibility, responsibility, they want transparency from the government
and ultimately they want all of that so that they
can tell their kids that they can have a future
in this town, so that when their kids come of
age and they're looking, they can't look within ten square
(04:22):
miles and say, oh, I'd be better off going to
north Haven. I'd be better off going to Wallingford because
I can go there, get a bigger home, pay less
property taxes, have better educational services, and just have a
better quality of life. You know, That's what I'm fighting
for because I want to make a future for the
people that are here in Hamden and that for the
future generations that want to be here in Hamden. But
(04:45):
the government has made it so impossible for someone my
age to come and say, oh, yes, this is a
logical decision to raise a family here.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And again we're wrong with Jonathan katz Hamden lifer three generations,
and it's wonderful to hear there's still a lot of
that going on, not nearly as much as i'd like to,
and I mean all over you know, in new Haven.
Damn if I tried three generations as far as my
family's concerned too, but I bailed, and I bailed for
the very reasons you're talking about. It was new Haven,
(05:16):
nice part of new Haven, Morris Cove, but break in
started becoming commonplace. They weren't when I was growing up.
We left our doors open at night when we went
to sleep, unlocked in the winter. You know, Taxes, new
Haven taxes started to get It just became a place
I had to bail from. And you don't want to
(05:36):
because you want your kids to then grow up there.
So obviously your parents did something right because they passed
on to you a love of town. Do you care
to comment on any thoughts? And I don't want to
pin you down, but on Garrett bailing on this race,
do you have any thoughts as far as that's concerned.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah, Well, first let me say I love my parents,
I love my family. They've instilled a great love for
this town. We've been business owners. My uncle Mike Cats
many people know him from him to high school and
for running, for being a bodybuilder, running world Jimmy's by
the way, have to plug it. Have a fundraiser tonight
at the Playwright. Big Mike will be there six pm
(06:19):
for those people that want to come. Definitely stop by.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
But in terms of play right Playwright was my jam
for years here too, I mean the past tense it
I just haven't been in a while. Great food, love
the owner. I don't know if the owners shame the
same guy, great guy for a long time, same great food.
So that's I'm glad you plugged that.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, still still aim on He's amazing. But regarding Garrett
in everything, you know, I see it as as a
political move and across the the Democrats. You know, while
everyone is so focused on spending money and fighting amongst themselves,
I'm here fighting and spreading my message and telling people
how I'm going to create a better future for Handen.
(07:00):
You know, I listened to the Democratic Town Committee caucus
last night and there wasn't one candidate that didn't thank
Garrett for her service. And what she had done for
the town. Because you want to know what Vinnie, what
we're going to get. It's the same old thing with them.
It may not be Garrett, but it's surrogates of her.
(07:23):
It's what we've seen because it's the same politics, but
coming from different people. You know, they make promises, right,
they make the same promise every year that things are
going to get better, expand services, and we get levied
with more taxes, worse educational outcomes, more crime, and a
deteriorating future for Handen. So unless people want the same thing,
(07:46):
and it comes from people that are embedded in the system,
they've been on committees, commissions, they've received appointments, they've made
political deals before this election. Unless people want more of that,
there needs to be a fundamental change in Hamden politics.
And it was what I was talking about earlier that
people say they're going to transcend party to party lines
(08:09):
and that they want to work across the board because
they want someone that's going to reflect an agenda of
the people, that's going to make Hamden affordable, that's going
to make the government transparent. And I don't owe any
favors to anybody, right, I don't owe favors. I haven't
built these extensive political alliances over a long career of politicking.
The only thing I owe to anyone is to do
(08:33):
my job as mayor and put the people first in
my agendas.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
It says here, and this is the most important question
I am going to ask you, So be ready. It
says here, you want children to have the same access
to the opportunities that you enjoyed growing up in Hamden,
like hockey is one reference. So let me just I'm
going to bounce the name off you. You tell me
if you know the name Sean Okay, Sean Donnie Hugh.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Oh, I love, I love Sean.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Donnie tells me a lot about you, tells me a
lot about you. A great man, great man and another guy,
I mean, a love of Hamden, a lifer, a great family,
and the hockey community continues to thrive here. Uh So
I was sure that you would know him. I wish,
(09:26):
I wish you best luck. Will he be there tonight
at the play? Right?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I I did invite him. I'm waiting to see you know.
I hope that I But from talking to him, he
seems pretty favorable.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Speaking of darkness, I mean, I basically learned about darkness
from Sean Donnie, who, to be honest with you, I
love him.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Uh yeah, yeah, we need to. You know, the investment
in our youth is something that used to come because
and it starts way back at the main thing that
I'm focusing on his taxes in the budget right of course,
and the thing the thing is is that we have
unstable finances. We make budgets without audits. We base our estimates.
(10:10):
We may we make guestimates. I can't even say they're
estimates because they're guestimates. They're not really founded on anything concrete,
because there's no data to go off of that. And
you know, when you have those unstable finances, people look
for the easiest places to cut money from first, and
often that comes from youth initiatives and youth related things.
So my main thing is I want to stabilize our
(10:32):
finances because the first thing we should be investing in
is our younger generations. You know, they need to have
access to that mentorship, that mentorship like Sean Donnie, like
I had. They need to have access to opportunities, you know,
meaningful experiences, and because they don't, these don't only provide
them with an opportunity to get involved in a sport
(10:54):
or do an activity. It also provides them with people
that can serve as mentors for them well into the
future and really establish, you know, core values, especially for
those children that children that may not have such a
stable family life. So it's time that we put these
programs and not salaries and a community center and red
(11:17):
light cameras. You know, it's time to put the youth
at the forefront of our investment, because that's how we're
going to build a better future for the families in Hamden.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
You're fantastic, man. What'd you going on? Where'd you ham
Hampden High or Hamden Hall?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I So I went to I actually went to Notre
Dame Wedgehaven, Yeah and started and yes, yeah, yeah, And
that started because you know, my family, they when they
were first the third second generation, my mom and my dad,
when they were looking for places to go, you know,
they decided on Hamden because it had always been known
(11:55):
for this robust educational system, right, So they they started
out here and they established the roots and that was
their plan to bring me up through the and an
educational system. By the time that I was going to
high school, the educational system had deteriorated, deteriorated, that's what
you were talking about earlier. Yes, So we made a
(12:18):
thing and I studied, and I basically ended up going
to a Notre Dame for free, and I went on
and I gained a lot of educational experience there and
well into my college years. And that's when I'm bringing
back to help build within my hometown Notre Dame Grade
school
Jonathan Katz, who's announced his candidacy running here for mayor
and Hamden a few months ago, and welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Good morning, Vinnie. How are you doing.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I appreciate you coming on. I've got a daughter your
age and such civic mindedness at such a young age.
It's a wonderful thing to see. But I'm wondering where
it comes from. Are you just a Hamden guy who's like, man,
I love my town. You know, I listen to my
parents belly ache about this town. I feel like I
can do this. Were you always civic minded? Tell me
(00:31):
your story?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, so in Hamden. You know, Hamden's community extremely vibrant.
I've been part of it my whole life, my family,
we've been here three generations. Many other people can't say that.
And this is what I've always said, that Hamden's most
valuable asset is its community, because really it's the community
(00:53):
that raised me. It's a community full of good people,
you know, hard working families, people that are all trying
to make a life in the future here. And it's
that community that has done so much for me. And
that's where my passion comes from, because I know that's
who I'm fighting for now. The big issue in Hamden
is that we do not have a government that represents
(01:18):
the amazing community that has been built. So I'm running
because I want to lift up Hamden. You know, I
want to bring in this energy. I want to bring
in fresh ideas, a new generation of leadership and break
this ongoing status quo that it's politics over people. Because
with that, when we put the people at the front
(01:40):
of politics and at the front of Hamden's leadership, then
we can confidently say that the best days of Hamden
are ahead of us. They're not behind us. We're going
to change direction and we're going to break from the
same old tied thing that this town's been doing for
the past twenty seven years.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
You know, you're clearly not alone. It's the biggest field
in there. I read in the paper in at least
thirty five years, so there are a lot of few.
I think it's what does it break down to six
Democrats at this point and you're running as a Republican
and am I leaving anybody out? There's probably more names
(02:22):
are probably going to come to because having worked in
Hamden as long as I have since the late nineties,
it's become a second home to me. I've watched a
lot of changes here, most of them not very good.
Got to say, we've been doing stuff a bus here
in all that time which I watched. It's a great event.
It's still a great event. But the word community is key.
(02:43):
You know, first ten years it's madness. School buses. Kids
would come down from all the schools and form lines.
You probably did it yourself as a kid, and pass
the food along to it. And now you know, sometimes
it's in a parking lot that has security now it
never had security before, and it has security for a
(03:06):
good reason. So I think a lot of people are
feeling like we need a change here. Do you think
the Republican hurts or helps?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
This is what I see, and I'll be honest because
please people. And I've been out talking to thousands of people.
I've been out knocking on doors talking Republicans, Democrats, independent, unaffiliated.
And what people want is something that transcends party lines.
You know, when when times are good, you know, people
might go ahead and vote party lines. But at the moment,
(03:39):
people's backs are against the wall and I'm hearing what
they want, and what they just want is they don't
care about the D the R. They just want someone
that's going to represent the people, and they want someone
that's going to go in and what their agenda's going
to be is it's a people's first agenda. And what
that is is they want lower taxes. They want to
(04:00):
be able to keep the homes, the homes that are
the biggest investments of their lives. They want the town
to budget responsibility, responsibility, they want transparency from the government
and ultimately they want all of that so that they
can tell their kids that they can have a future
in this town, so that when their kids come of
age and they're looking, they can't look within ten square
(04:22):
miles and say, oh, I'd be better off going to
north Haven. I'd be better off going to Wallingford because
I can go there, get a bigger home, pay less
property taxes, have better educational services, and just have a
better quality of life. You know, That's what I'm fighting
for because I want to make a future for the
people that are here in Hamden and that for the
future generations that want to be here in Hamden. But
(04:45):
the government has made it so impossible for someone my
age to come and say, oh, yes, this is a
logical decision to raise a family here.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And again we're wrong with Jonathan katz Hamden lifer three generations,
and it's wonderful to hear there's still a lot of
that going on, not nearly as much as i'd like to,
and I mean all over you know, in new Haven.
Damn if I tried three generations as far as my
family's concerned too, but I bailed, and I bailed for
the very reasons you're talking about. It was new Haven,
(05:16):
nice part of new Haven, Morris Cove, but break in
started becoming commonplace. They weren't when I was growing up.
We left our doors open at night when we went
to sleep, unlocked in the winter. You know, Taxes, new
Haven taxes started to get It just became a place
I had to bail from. And you don't want to
(05:36):
because you want your kids to then grow up there.
So obviously your parents did something right because they passed
on to you a love of town. Do you care
to comment on any thoughts? And I don't want to
pin you down, but on Garrett bailing on this race,
do you have any thoughts as far as that's concerned.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yeah, Well, first let me say I love my parents,
I love my family. They've instilled a great love for
this town. We've been business owners. My uncle Mike Cats
many people know him from him to high school and
for running, for being a bodybuilder, running world Jimmy's by
the way, have to plug it. Have a fundraiser tonight
at the Playwright. Big Mike will be there six pm
(06:19):
for those people that want to come. Definitely stop by.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
But in terms of play right Playwright was my jam
for years here too, I mean the past tense it
I just haven't been in a while. Great food, love
the owner. I don't know if the owners shame the
same guy, great guy for a long time, same great food.
So that's I'm glad you plugged that.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, still still aim on He's amazing. But regarding Garrett
in everything, you know, I see it as as a
political move and across the the Democrats. You know, while
everyone is so focused on spending money and fighting amongst themselves,
I'm here fighting and spreading my message and telling people
how I'm going to create a better future for Handen.
(07:00):
You know, I listened to the Democratic Town Committee caucus
last night and there wasn't one candidate that didn't thank
Garrett for her service. And what she had done for
the town. Because you want to know what Vinnie, what
we're going to get. It's the same old thing with them.
It may not be Garrett, but it's surrogates of her.
(07:23):
It's what we've seen because it's the same politics, but
coming from different people. You know, they make promises, right,
they make the same promise every year that things are
going to get better, expand services, and we get levied
with more taxes, worse educational outcomes, more crime, and a
deteriorating future for Handen. So unless people want the same thing,
(07:46):
and it comes from people that are embedded in the system,
they've been on committees, commissions, they've received appointments, they've made
political deals before this election. Unless people want more of that,
there needs to be a fundamental change in Hamden politics.
And it was what I was talking about earlier that
people say they're going to transcend party to party lines
(08:09):
and that they want to work across the board because
they want someone that's going to reflect an agenda of
the people, that's going to make Hamden affordable, that's going
to make the government transparent. And I don't owe any
favors to anybody, right, I don't owe favors. I haven't
built these extensive political alliances over a long career of politicking.
The only thing I owe to anyone is to do
(08:33):
my job as mayor and put the people first in
my agendas.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
It says here, and this is the most important question
I am going to ask you, So be ready. It
says here, you want children to have the same access
to the opportunities that you enjoyed growing up in Hamden,
like hockey is one reference. So let me just I'm
going to bounce the name off you. You tell me
if you know the name Sean Okay, Sean Donnie Hugh.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Oh, I love, I love Sean.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Donnie tells me a lot about you, tells me a
lot about you. A great man, great man and another guy,
I mean, a love of Hamden, a lifer, a great family,
and the hockey community continues to thrive here. Uh So
I was sure that you would know him. I wish,
(09:26):
I wish you best luck. Will he be there tonight
at the play? Right?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
I I did invite him. I'm waiting to see you know.
I hope that I But from talking to him, he
seems pretty favorable.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Speaking of darkness, I mean, I basically learned about darkness
from Sean Donnie, who, to be honest with you, I
love him.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Uh yeah, yeah, we need to. You know, the investment
in our youth is something that used to come because
and it starts way back at the main thing that
I'm focusing on his taxes in the budget right of course,
and the thing the thing is is that we have
unstable finances. We make budgets without audits. We base our estimates.
(10:10):
We may we make guestimates. I can't even say they're
estimates because they're guestimates. They're not really founded on anything concrete,
because there's no data to go off of that. And
you know, when you have those unstable finances, people look
for the easiest places to cut money from first, and
often that comes from youth initiatives and youth related things.
So my main thing is I want to stabilize our
(10:32):
finances because the first thing we should be investing in
is our younger generations. You know, they need to have
access to that mentorship, that mentorship like Sean Donnie, like
I had. They need to have access to opportunities, you know,
meaningful experiences, and because they don't, these don't only provide
them with an opportunity to get involved in a sport
(10:54):
or do an activity. It also provides them with people
that can serve as mentors for them well into the
future and really establish, you know, core values, especially for
those children that children that may not have such a
stable family life. So it's time that we put these
programs and not salaries and a community center and red
(11:17):
light cameras. You know, it's time to put the youth
at the forefront of our investment, because that's how we're
going to build a better future for the families in Hamden.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
You're fantastic, man. What'd you going on? Where'd you ham
Hampden High or Hamden Hall?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
I So I went to I actually went to Notre
Dame Wedgehaven, Yeah and started and yes, yeah, yeah, And
that started because you know, my family, they when they
were first the third second generation, my mom and my dad,
when they were looking for places to go, you know,
they decided on Hamden because it had always been known
(11:55):
for this robust educational system, right, So they they started
out here and they established the roots and that was
their plan to bring me up through the and an
educational system. By the time that I was going to
high school, the educational system had deteriorated, deteriorated, that's what
you were talking about earlier. Yes, So we made a
(12:18):
thing and I studied, and I basically ended up going
to a Notre Dame for free, and I went on
and I gained a lot of educational experience there and
well into my college years. And that's when I'm bringing
back to help build within my hometown Notre Dame Grade
school
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