An Inclusive Litany

1/22/97

In Hamden, Connecticut, Mayor Lillian D. Clayman demanded that the license number that accompanied her new official car be changed from HN-69, a pairing of digits she regarded as sexually suggestive. When police chief John P. Ambrogio told her the number had been assigned to the city by the Department of Motor Vehicles years ago, but the mayor rejected that explanation, calling the number a "deliberate, vulgar, and sexist" attack by the police. The police chief replaced the plate, but said the mayor's behavior made no sense.