Dick Reilly wants your vote for Mayor of Hamden.

The Quinnipiac alumnus graduated Larson College, the current location of Larson Place in 1958. Larson became Quinnipiac. He had just left the military, serving in Germany during the Korean Conflict, when he began his studies at Quinnipiac.

“Many of the professors were business people and so we got practical lessons,” Reilly said.

Attending a Hamden institute of higher learning was not anything abnormal for the current Mayoral candidate. In fact, not only did Reilly grow up in Hamden, but he played basketball in Hamden, attended a Hamden elementary school, and a Hamden high school; as well as, a Hamden college.

At Larson, he was President of his class in 1958, preparing him for his current ambitions to be mayor.

“I love Quinnipiac,” he said. To express his interest in the school, Reilly shows his team spirit by attending basketball and hockey games as often as possible.

In addition, Reilly is also on the Quinnipiac athletic advisement committee as he has been for the past four years.

“I enjoy the association,” which is like a “sound board,” Reilly said.

According to Reilly most members of the committee are like him, alumni. While at Quinnipiac, he was the advertising manager for the Quinnipiac Brave, the yearbook (now called The Summit). He played basketball as well.

“Hamden is my home, my roots are here,” Reilly said, as his reason for moving back to Hamden in 1995.

The “good old Hamden boy” decided to come back to Hamden to “remember the good years.”

According to Reilly, Quinnipiac is the biggest asset to the town of Hamden.

“While all campuses with students will have their problems, the Quinnipiac administration is top notch about solving and dealing with those problems,” Reilly said.

He also said that the Hamden Police department likes how Quinnipiac takes care of its social problems.

Reilly is running for mayor because of his adoration for the town. Moreover, he believes that his forty years of business experience will benefit Hamden.

“The mayor needs to be an astute business manager,” Reilly said.

His experience in business includes being a business manager in the waste management sector; as well as, being general manager at several waste companies. And while Reilly considers himself knowledgable in the business arena, he claims that he learned alot from his time spent at Quinnipiac.

According to Reilly, Quinnipiac allowed him to meet people from other walks of life and other parts of the country.

He said that he attended Quinnipiac just as school began to grow.

“Quinnipiac College opened its doors to veterans and welcomed us in with opened arms and treated us very well,” Reilly said.

The mayoral candidate believes that Hamden’s biggest problem is that there is too little revenue and too little industrial land to bring in big businesses.

“The road network is also poor,” Reilly said.

“I would try to get insurance companies and high tech companies to come in to Hamden because they do not need as much land to function as other industries do,” he continued.

Reilly believes that he deserves the vote because he understands the needs of Quinnipiac, supports the proposed athletic complex and enjoys going to games as much as possible.

He said that he always wanted to be mayor but could not fulfill his dreams earlier in life because of the family he was raising. Throughout his life, he distributed leaflets and helped to serve on several campaigns.

“I hope the students will consider me,” he said.

Current mayor Carl Amento could not be reached to discuss his feelings on Reilly’s plans to run for mayor.

If elected mayor, Reilly plans to continue supporting Quinnipiac’s sponsored events.