Hamden Election 2025: Adam Sendroff Running For Mayor

HAMDEN, CT — The 2025 municipal election is heating up in Hamden with plenty of races on the ballot.

Voters will cast their ballots in the Nov. 4 election for mayor and town clerk, along with seats on the legislative council and board of education.

Hamden Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Adam Sendroff is running for election as mayor of Hamden as a Democrat.

Campaign Website
https://www.adamforhamden.com

Occupation:

I am an Assistant Manager at Whitsons School Nutrition, where I have worked for the last four years on expanding the free and reduced-price meal programs for Hamden Public Schools.

Family:
I have a wife and two daughters. My wife is a teacher and my daughters are Hamden High graduates.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

Previous public office, appointive or elective:
I was elected to the Hamden Board of Education 3 times, and served from 2007 to 2017. I am a former Chair of the BOE.

Why are you seeking this office?
My roots in Hamden run 6 generation deep. This town shaped my values, gave opportunities to my family, and instilled in me a sense of community. Now I'm running because I want to help ensure that every current and future generation can build a life here too - not one where families feel pushed out by rising taxes or left behind by government. We are facing a moment of truth in Hamden. Property taxes are making Hamden unaffordable. At the same time, our town's finances lack clarity and direction. We owe it to ourselves and our neighbors to demand transparency, discipline, and courageous leadership to make the difficult decisions.

The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ____, and this is what I intend to do about it:
The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is affordability.

To alleviate the increasing unaffordability due to high property taxes, I am putting forward a comprehensive plan built around 5 key pillars:

-Controlling spending through an immediate spending freeze on all non-essential items until a line-by-line analysis of the operating budget is complete.
-Expanding our commercial inventory by retaining and attracting new businesses to grow the Grand List.
-Diversifying revenue sources to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
-Engaging statewide experts for advice and best practices.
-Getting the state to step up to fully-fund obligations and invest in infrastructure.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
The major difference between me and the other candidates is leadership and management experience.

I have over 20 years of experience in the private sector, working for the academic publishing company Taylor & Francis. As a publicly-traded company, there were high expectations to achieve goals. There, I managed teams of people, in the Connecticut, New York, and UK offices. I negotiated contracts and was responsible for multimillion dollar revenue and spending budgets.

I also have 20 years of experience in public service to Hamden, as a volunteer, an elected official, and as a municipal professional.

I started out on the Ridge Hill PTA when my daughters were little. I am a founding member of the Hamden Food Security Task Force, and the Chair of the Greater New Haven Emergency Food and Shelter Program Board.

I was elected 3 times to the Board of Education, spending a decade there. As a board member and the board chair, I was involved in hiring 2 superintendents and developing and overseeing budgets approaching $100M.

I was the Director of the Keefe Community Center for nearly 5 years, managing the 3 town departments at Keefe, including their budgets and staff. When COVID-19 hit I led the rapid transformation of the town’s human services into emergency management mode.

Also during COVID, I became chief of staff for 9 months, providing stability to the town, and working with every town department and Council leadership.

For the last few years, I’ve worked for Whitson’s, the food service management company for Hamden Public Schools, expanding the free and reduced-price meal program.

In 2022 I received the Community Advocate of the Year Award from the Hamden Chamber of Commerce.

To me, leadership starts with listening. My leadership style is collaborative, and I have a history of bringing people together and building coalitions and partnerships to address challenges. I have real-world experience in leading, managing, and getting things done in a bureaucracy. This is the approach I will bring to the Mayor’s Office.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?
I will also fix our broken finances. We have been without a Finance Director for about a year, and we are without audits for the last two fiscal years. As a result, our bond rating has been pulled. This is no way to run a $300 million enterprise. There are competing narratives about what our financial position truly is right now, and we need to find out the objective truth and from there be willing to make the tough decisions. I will address these interrelated issues by hiring a qualified Finance Director well-versed in municipal finance. The new Finance Director must be an effective manager and communicator, and will implement strict internal controls and procedures, such as monthly account reconciliation, to make sure we are never in this situation again. We also need to staff the Finance Department appropriately for the amount of work that is there. We can’t become mired in the day to day tasks, without working toward longer-term goals. Completing audits in a timely manner will be a priority.

Additionally, I will enhance public safety, tackle blight and litter, improve our schools, and address environmental justice issues in our neighborhoods.

I will lead with compassion, data, and partnerships.

For more information, please visit www.adamforhamden.com.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
My past record of success in the private and public sectors have uniquely prepared me to be Mayor. As previously described, I have over 20 years of leadership and management experience in the corporate world. Additionally, I have 20 years of public service experience to Hamden in various capacities. Specifically, I was on the Board of Education for 10 years and am a former Chair. My time on the BOE was characterized by low annual increases, student success, and high graduation rates. I helped develop and oversee budgets approaching $100 million.

As a municipal professional, I was the Director of the Keefe Community Center for almost 5 years. At Keefe, I was responsible for the 3 town departments there and the relationship with all of Keefe's partner agencies. While at Keefe we improved delivery of services, created the overnight winter warming center for those experiencing homelessness, and started the community garden.

I have emergency management experience. When COVID-19 hit I led the rapid transformation of the town's human services into emergency management mode. With the help of many partners we organized community testing, large-scale food distributions, and later vaccination events.

In these and other roles, I have a deep knowledge of local government, as well as experience leading and managing teams, and getting things accomplished in bureaucracies.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
The best advice anyone ever gave me is to follow the Golden Rule, to treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?
I will provide steady and effective leadership to the town. I plan on turning the page and changing the tone. I'd like to lower the temperature and encourage us all - regardless of political affiliation- to come together to collaboratively deal with our current challenges and to plan for our future. We are all in this together and the stakes are too high not to.

I'm running because I want results and to make a difference - for every Hamden neighborhood, every street, and every household.

See also:

• Hamden Election 2025: Jonathan Katz Running For Mayor
• Hamden Election 2025: Jameka A. Morrison-Jefferies Running For Mayor