West Haven Election 2023: Meli Garthwait Running For City Council

WEST HAVEN, CT — The 2023 municipal election is heating up in West Haven with plenty of races on the ballot.

Voters will head to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 7 and cast their ballots for the position of mayor, along with seats on the City Council, Board of Education and more.

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

Meli Garthwait, 51, is running for re-election to the West Haven City Council as a Republican.

Does your campaign have a website? If so, include the URL here.

https://www.facebook.com/melig...

What office are you seeking?

Council At Large

Education.

Katharine Gibbs College, 1993 Summa Cum Laude graduate Information Processing. WCSU, 1993-1997 attended general studies part time. FIT, Manhattan, NYC, 2001 Cum Laude graduate BFA in Interior Design.

What is your occupation?

Interior Design 20+ years and Realty 4 years.

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.

Tommy (42), Caleb (12), Liam (10) and my pups Rori (15) and Maia (5).

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No.

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

I am the current District 2 Councilwoman.

Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your reasons for running and your general views on politics and government. First, why are you seeking this office?

As Councilwoman R-2 this past term, I have been conquering blight, fighting illegal dumping, beautifying our shoreline, working to make our streets safer & collaborating with businesses to help them flourish. I am confident that district two is now looking better than it has in many, many years as I have worked tirelessly for our residents. I now want to concentrate my efforts on all of West Haven because there are so many areas that need my help. By proactively seeking these specific issues out that I am skilled at solving, I know that we can make our city shine brighter in all districts - not just district two.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is \_\_\_, and this is what I intend to do about it.

There are many issues that need addressing in our shoreline city. However, the ones I hear over and over from our residents are transparency and taxes. I spent several days pouring over this past budget pinpointing 25+ budget lines that need to be minimized. If elected, I will investigate them again and bring them forward during budget season. Transparency has been seriously lacking in our administration - even as of late, when the brewery lease was not put online until just a few hours prior to the public hearing. It was not until my back and forth communications with a few council members that the lease was then posted on the City's website. It should have been on the website a week prior to the lease hearing as that was what the public hearing was designed for. As I have demonstrated this past term, I believe in transparency and will continue to be attentive to that on all platforms as well as continue to hold my colleagues to be accountable for it as well.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Having only been here for several years, I have been a very active, boots on the ground individual who has enjoyed serving the people of West Haven through the many community service organizations I participate with. I am not afraid to roll up my sleeves nor make my voice heard especially if it is affecting our residents' quality of life or their wallets. I am tenacious and do not give up until I get an answer or solution. I believe in transparency and am not afraid to hold all my colleagues - regardless of party affiliation - accountable for their words and their actions even if this regrettably causes discord. I am not afraid to ask the questions that make others uncomfortable because those questions truly do need to be asked and answered for the good of our city and on behalf of the residents whose voices we represent. The Council should be comprised of those that question and reject when appropriate so that we do not have the same as we have ever had for the previous administrations.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way do you believe the current officeholder has failed the community?

While I personally like the incumbent very much, I am seeking this At Large seat because I feel she has not represented our residents' best interests. As very new council members, she mislead both me and our fellow Republican counterpart to believe we could make only one or two budget cut recommendations and that we just vote the budget through. Neither year that I served with her has she done any work to help find cuts in the budget. She let me and our other colleague down during both budget seasons. The taxpayers have suffered long enough and they deserve better than someone who just shows up and votes yes to everything that is placed before the council. It is time to have someone who puts the residents first and foremost before their own political aspirations.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

If elected, I plan to continue to push for the old Debonair Motel property to move forward through our process for redevelopment of the site as well as to begin going after other blighted properties within West Haven. I will also target other illegal dumping areas around West Haven and begin working on solutions for those areas. I will continue to again be very active on social media bringing the same transparency to the residents through that avenue. During my first term as Councilwoman for district two, I responded to any resident's issues across the city and will continue to do that this time around as well. I plan to again hold a monthly open office hour meeting either via Zoom or in person. If residents are responsive to these, I will continue them throughout my term. As always, I will be attentive, approachable and expeditious in responding to all residents' issues that they bring to me to resolve.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I was able to have 87-89 Washington Avenue torn down and the site cleaned up for the residents of district two. It was unsafe and had been falling down for over fifteen years and no one cared about the surrounding neighbors' quality of life. It took many months in advocating for this but eventually it was completed. I have been actively working on behalf of the residents in terms of parking and traffic issues by having commercial vehicles, non licensed vehicles and illegally parked vehicles removed from city streets. I work constantly with WHPD to resolve all sorts of issues beside traffic and parking. I call Public Works almost daily to have all sorts of issues resolved - ranging from removing illegally dumped items to wildlife that has been run over. I am active in helping to protect our shoreline and have participated in many different types of events for it as well as helping to protect our wildlife that inhabits it and surrounding it in our natural ecosystems - such as Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary. I am currently working on a rodent situation that has gotten out of control because of the deterioration of the old Debonair Motel site. I advocated for the Savin Rock Community School to have their playground renovated and a new painted playscape as well as covered area for the children to shelter during hot weather. I was able to resolve a street light issue on Altschuler Plaza thereby getting all but one of the street lights back on again for the residents. I collaborated with Vertical Church to bring in parishioners to volunteer with the Sandy Point Stewards to clean up the gardens at Sandy Point as well as a large clean up at Painter Park. I collaborated with United Illuminating to help Sandy Point Neighborhood Association with a clean up event on Earth Day that resulted in the Association receiving donations for each of their employees who volunteered their time for the clean up. I advocated for new paid parking and continue to advocate for paid parking on streets near our shoreline. I am highly communicative and regularly converse with residents no matter the time of day. These are just a few of the things that I have accomplished in my two years as district two's Councilwoman. Now that I have had two years to get my feet wet, I am ready to accomplish ten times more than that if the residents choose me as their next At Large Councilwoman.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

"Be Good". My grandfather gave me all kinds of advice. He was the only one I would ever bring my problems to. He was great at solving them and his solutions were always right on the money. I was so lucky to have been able to go to my grandparents' home, plop down on his den's sofa and tell him the latest issues I needed help resolving. I could quote all the different pieces of advice that he gave me throughout my lifetime up until he died when I was 40 years old. Yet, these two simple words "Be Good" (what he used to say to me whenever I kissed him goodbye) have had the most profound affect on my life. My grandfather was the roots of our entire family. He did many, many admiral things with his life and achieved more than most will ever hope to accomplish. What I remember most about him is that he had strong integrity, depth of character, was an executive for Sikorsky Aircraft and possessed an entrepreneurial spirit by opening his own part time alarm business on the weekends. The business opening was a result of a home invasion and the desire to share home security with others. He was also a Navy pilot who flew combat patrols during the Taiwan Straits crisis and made 99 carrier landings in his single engine attack jet. He had lots of stories from his Navy days, which were fascinating. His experience as a Navy pilot helped my grandfather locate both me and my brother when my estranged father kidnapped both of us from our grandparents' home. My grandfather flew planes and helicopters day and night for months in areas he thought we might be in until he found us in remote area of upstate New York. We were just five and six years old but I still remember the day he took us away from my grandparents' home (our dog Suki chased the car that he sped away with us in) and the day my grandfather burst into the log cabin with the police to rescue us. If it were not for my grandfather, I would have had a very different life and not a good one at that. I am so thankful every day for him and that's why I always try to honor his request to "Be Good". Everything I do, I do with integrity, kindness and courage to do what is right even if difficult because that is what he would want most for my life. "Be Good". These were the last two words he left me with before he died so they are sealed on my heart forever. Such simple words.. yet so profound.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am so proud and grateful to have been able to serve West Haven as the district two Councilwoman these past two years. I am hopeful to continue my journey as one of your At Large Council and ask for your support. I promise to work just as hard as I did in district two for all of West Haven. Now that I have two years of experience, I am ready to hit the ground running and get to work. Thank you again to district two for believing in the first Republican in 38 years and the first Republican woman enough to elect me to office!

Are you running for office in West Haven? Email vincent.salzo@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile on West Haven Patch.