In Stamford, proposed charter changes drive voters to the polls on Election Day

STAMFORD — There are plenty of names on ballots in Stamford this year, but the biggest issue is a question about revising the city’s charter.

As voters slowly trickled into Stamford High School late Tuesday morning, dueling canvassers on opposite sides of a driveway near the entrance yelled out “vote no” and “vote yes.”

On one side was Jason Kyek, chair of the Yes to Stamford Charter 2023 political action committee. He said voter reaction to the charter revision was mixed, based on his interactions and observations.

“I think neighborhood by neighborhood it’s going to be a different turnout too depending on which neighborhoods are most impacted by development,” he said.

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On the other side of the driveway was Jon Gallup, representing the Stamford for Fair Government PAC, which urges voters to choose “no” in the election.

“With the ‘yes’ side, it’s the tail wagging the dog,” he said, arguing that the proposed changes to the charter revision would attempt to take power away from the mayor and put it in the hands of the Board of Representatives.

The charter lays out the framework and powers of city government. A provision within the charter requires a comprehensive review to take place once a decade. Among the proposals from the review were changes to the appointment process for boards and commissions to allow any member of the Board of Representatives to submit nominations for seats held by people with expired terms if the mayor doesn’t nominate her own candidates or her nominees are rejected, as well as expanding the reasons the Board of Representatives can hire outside counsel.

Additionally, the changes would require certain non-elected city officials to live in Stamford. 

Guy Bailey, a Stamford resident and previous member of the Parks and Recreation Commission, said he voted against the charter revision.

“I’m quite happy with the city of Stamford and how it has grown over the years,” he said. “I think it’s been positive, and I’d like to see it continue. 

Bailey moved to Stamford in 1971.

“It’s changed,” he said, of the city. “But, there’s nothing wrong with change.”

Angelica Durrell, a Stamford resident and the founder and executive director of Intempo, which provides music education to children of mostly immigrant backgrounds, also voted “no” on the charter question.

“I was reading it and I thought, it sounds good,” she said, of how the question was phrased on the ballot. “But at the end, I wasn’t sure about yes or no. I was worried about it raising taxes and if it takes away too much power from the mayor.”

Vivian Kyek, Jason’s mother, was one of the voters who showed up to cast a “yes” vote.

“They want to come in and tear down all the historical places in Stamford,” she said, of those who support the “no” side. “You’ve got to keep Stamford the way it is.”

The decision to hold the election on the charter question this year was also a point of contention. In a 24-16 vote, the Board of Representatives voted to hold the election this year. Under the current charter, the Board of Representatives must “endeavor to schedule the referendum on any proposed charter amendments or revisions to coincide with a general election at which either the mayor, state officials or federal officials are to be elected.” 

For voter Robert Klanfer, the decision to hold the election during a year without a major contest on the ballot was enough to make him vote “no.”

“I actually believe in democracy,” he said, giving his reason for voting down the measure. “That tells me immediately that the ‘yes’ people don’t care about rules. Just that alone tells me it’s a bad idea.”

District 11 Rep. Maureen Pollack said she had been outside her district’s polling location at First Presbyterian Church since 7 a.m. — save for a break to check on her kids. Pollack said she spent the day answering questions about the charter revision vote. Pollack is a member of the Board of Representatives’ Charter Revision Committee and in favor of voting “no.”

“Most of our constituents who are coming out to vote are saying ‘I’ve already made up my mind, and I know exactly how I’m going to vote,’” Pollack said. “The mass majority are saying no.”

Seated in the chair next to her, “vote yes” supporter Esther-Marie Giordano agreed that most people already made their decision.

“I think the turnout is good,” Giordano said. “I’m excited to see that they’re getting out and voting, no matter what position they’re taking. People are doing the research and coming out.”

At Julia A. Stark Elementary School — the polling place for District 7 — a group of supporters of the charter revision were greeting voters around sunset.

They included Board of Representatives Majority Leader Nina Sherwood, D-8; Christina Strain, a Democratic candidate for city representative; and Michael Battinelli, Strain’s Republican opponent and a member of the Stamford Neighborhoods Coalition, a group that has been critical of development in the city.

“It’s very important if you want a louder voice in city government to vote ‘yes,’” Sherwood said to some voters. “Money and power (are) telling you to vote ‘no.’”

Meanwhile, Mayor Caroline Simmons’ father, Steve Simmons, was also in the school’s parking lot speaking with voters while holding a “Vote No” sign. Steve Simmons declined to comment. 

Members of the “Yes” camp who were at the school shouted out to voters that Steve Simmons lives in Greenwich, not Stamford.

At one point, Sherwood called and put fellow District 8 Rep. Anabel Figueroa on speakerphone to chat with voters in Spanish. Figueroa, a Democrat, is also a state representative for Stamford.

Signs at the polling place urged voters to “Vote yes to save the Glenbrook Community Center.” The mayor sought to sell the closed community center building so it could be redeveloped into an affordable housing complex, but the proposal didn’t have enough support on the Board of Representatives to go through.

Sherwood said any plans for the property need approval from the Planning Board, whose members all have expired terms. The board gave a thumbs up to the property’s sale in 2022.

Allowing a developer to purchase the property would be a “harder sell” if people who were “accountable to the public” were serving on the board, Sherwood said.

The charter revision would let members of the Board of Representatives nominate candidates to boards and commissions like the Planning Board under certain circumstances.

Stamford Republican Town Committee Chair Joe Andreana was at the school as well, urging voters to vote for Republican candidates.

“This election has actually made me very proud of Stamford,” Andreana said, pointing out that people took time out of time out of their days to show up and vote.

He declined to comment on his position on the charter revision.

State Rep. Hubert Delany, a Democrat who succeeded Caroline Simmons as the representative of the 144th District in the state House, later came to the polling location bearing a sign for Democratic candidate for constable Tiffany Pippins. Delany said he personally voted “no” on the charter question.

The sunset tinted the sky pink over South End high-rises on Tuesday evening, as voters decided whether Stamford should tamp down the very type of development that has remade the peninsula.

Crowds cycled in and out of Lathon Wider Community Center around 5 p.m., seeing a modest increase as the workday came to an end. Canvassers shouted last-second charter revision pitches to voters as they walked into the polling place.

Charter was the big draw for the South End residents who turned out.

Ronnie Minkoff, 32, voted no. She said that she’s happy with the job Simmons has done, and she worried the proposed changes would hamper development in the city.

“My understanding of what the charter does is it doesn’t want us to have more development, or to go through a stricter process,” Minkoff said. “I’m not saying I agree with all the high-rise buildings being put up, but (I support) more development, more opportunities for people to find places to live.”

However, others said it’s time for a change. Danya Alkhatib, 31, said she feels the city may be growing too quickly.

“Growing up, (Stamford) felt more like suburbia. And now it’s much more city feeling, especially the traffic. A lot more people,” Alkhatib said. “When you’re surrounded by it, you’re much more aware of how quickly everything is going up.”

Around 6 p.m., most of the traffic at the Yerwood Center, one of the West Side’s polling places, was actually for a youth swimming practice. 

The trickle of voters who showed up said it was important to exercise their right, and to weigh in on the city’s proposed charter revision.

Marie Valboun, 52, voted yes in part, she said, because of the mayor. Valboun said middle-class families like hers are struggling to pay for housing on the West Side. 

“Rent is so high. We cannot live in Stamford anymore. Even to buy a house, it’s like $500,000 to $600,000. The middle class … we’re struggling to live. They don’t even care,” Valboun said. “I don’t know what she’s doing there.”

Joel Dongallo, 54, said he doesn’t foresee much changing in Stamford, whether or not the charter revision passes. But he voted no, saying that any adverse impacts would ultimately fall on lower-income people and communities of color, like the West Side.

“The system is still broken but you need to make a difference,” Dongallo said. “The one who doesn’t make a difference is the one who doesn’t vote.”