Platform

I have been accused of running for Town Council due to “sour grapes” with the Republican Party in town. This is rather funny, since I originally asked for the party’s nomination for an at-large seat. I guess that would mean that the impetus for me running for town council was there in the first place. As I have made quite public, my reason in running in the 1st District as opposed to at-large was originally made because at the time, Joe Bosco was running unopposed. With the entry into the race of Tom Barry, I suppose I could have withdrawn my name. But, after speaking to people in the district, I decided that there was enough reason for me to give it a go as an independent.

That brings me to the reason I am running. As a former Republican and a member of the board of education, I am proud of my record as a board member. While none of us ran in 2007 to move the district backward, or even to tread water, the current economic situation that we find ourselves in came as somewhat of a surprise to all of us, especially the depth to which the economy dipped. The fact that we were able to keep many programs and services in the district intact is a testament to the hard work that all of us did as board members. I would guess that a majority of us are not happy with where we are at, but at least we didn’t have to gut the system.

The current tax base in Enfield is supported primarily by homeowners. If one takes a ride around town, there is a glut of unoccupied buildings. Both Hallmark and Lego, two of our biggest employers have significantly cut their presence in Enfield. The Enfield Square sits with a number of vacant stores, as do our other shopping centers. The industrial park has a few empty buildings as well, some of them for a fairly long time. District 3 has vacant warehouse space, and we have a lot of undeveloped land in District 1 between Oliver Rd. and Post Office Rd.

We need to market Enfield as a good place to do business, both in word and deed. We need to make a strong effort to attract businesses to town by being business friendly. Unfortunately, the State of Connecticut isn’t doing us a lot of good in that regard, with punitive tax rates for businesses locating in Connecticut. It is fairly well documented that Connecticut is not a good place to do business. That is why we in Enfield need to take the lead in attracting businesses to town through incentives. Enfield has a lot to offer. We have a major rail line running through the west end of town; we have the Scitico spur that is being redeveloped, which could take rail traffic into the Moody Rd. corridor; there is Interstate 91, the main north/south thoroughfare between Canada and New York City; and we have Bradley International Airport, a scant 10 miles away. Enfield is a very attractive location, halfway between Springfield and Hartford. We should be taking advantage of that. Perhaps we could also use a business to assist in sponsoring a recreational area in the east end of town. District 1 has little if any recreational areas spare the schools. Getting a business to help develop an area, such as the former Mancuso Complex on Town Farm Rd. in exchange for incentives could possibly be a win-win situation for the town. Just an idea, but worth exploring.

Public safety is something that is near and dear to me. As a retired police officer with 28 1/2 years of service to the Town of Enfield, I know what obstacles the town faces, especially the Thompsonville area. There are people who feel that putting a plethora of police resources into downtown will solve the economic problems that plague this area. Unfortunately, it isn’t this easy. Yes, a large police presence does act as a deterrent, but only when the police are actually down there. I can guarantee you that if you arrest one drug dealer, there is another one ready to take his or her place.

There is a rather famous study in police work, called the Kansas City Experiment. While this took place in the early 1970′s, I believe the same holds true today. What this experiment did was take three districts in Kansas City and varied patrols within these districts. One district received no routine patrols, the second received normal patrol levels, while the third received two to three times the amount of patrols. The result of the experiment was that there was no difference in of crimes among any of the districts, including robberies, burglaries, auto thefts, and so on. So what does this tell us? Community policing as an entity in Enfield has not been in place for a long time. According to the Department of Justice, Community Policing is supposed to be a three component  program:

1. Community Partnerships
   Collaborative partnerships between the law enforcement agency and the individuals and organizations they serve to develop solutions to problems and increase trust in police.
2. Organizational Transformation
   The alignment of organizational management, structure, personnel, and information systems to support community partnerships and proactive problem solving.
3. Problem Solving
   The process of engaging in the proactive and systematic examination of identified problems to develop and rigorously evaluate effective responses.

The community needs to address the quality of life issues that lead to establishment of conditions which proliferate crime. Blight, abandoned buildings, abandoned cars, broken roads and sidewalks, and issues such as this create an atmosphere that leads to a sense of apathy among residents. It is vital for the community to partner with the police, not just in meetings but in action in order to proactively eliminate the conditions which breed crime. You cannot have police acting in the capacity of “community police” and an enforcement unit; the two are polar opposites of what true community policing is supposed to be. Police cannot develop a “partnership” on one day and be out doing aggressive enforcement the next. It makes no sense.

In conjunction with the above, the town needs to address the issue of absentee landlords more interested in profit than in the community. Continuing incentives to purchase homes in Thompsonville and open businesses down there should be continued. We have a wonderful resource in the Connecticut River and this should be utilized as a magnet for downtown development. Only then can we turn the corner in Thompsonville and restore it to its once vibrant heritage that was gutted by Urban Renewal, an anomaly if there ever was one.

Unfunded mandates continue to impact local municipalities, especially where the school budgets are concerned. No Child Left Behind, which was well-intentioned in theory has severely restricted and tied the hands of our teachers and school administrators. Testing mandated by the State of Connecticut has also put teachers in the position of having to devote an enormous amount of class time to “teaching to the test”, instead of concentrating on the basics. As a town councilman, I will lobby our State Representatives, State Senator, federal legislators to roll back the mandates that are breaking the backs of municipalities. I will also lobby to change the way we fund municipal government through the use of property taxes. This places an unfair burden on homeowners. We must look into new and creative ways to raise revenue.

Consolidation of town services is another way to save money. Redundancy in government is something that has been addressed by this and previous town councils, and this should continue. The town must collaborate with other towns in order to see if consolidation of services on a regional level is practical in order to save money and increase efficiency. Areas where this might be practical are human resources, building department, and limited areas in law enforcement. The fire departments, while not a town service, also should bear some  scrutiny to see if there is room to more efficiently provide this service to our residents.

Lastly, I would like to improve the morale of town employees. While this has improved under Matt Coppler, I believe there is still room for improvement. It is difficult to expect exceptional customer service from town employees when they themselves do not receive good “internal customer service.” Town management personnel should be required to be evaluated by their subordinates as part of a self-evaluation of their supervisory acumen. Some might say this is turning the “asylum over to the inmates”, but in areas where this has been done, most employees are extremely fair in rating their supervisors. Likewise, I would like to see the town re-implement the old “Customer Care” program for internal customers, i.e. employees. This was a nice program started by former town manager Lou Hayward and I believe the town employees appreciated the effort.

I am sure there will be many more projects to undertake once in office, but I feel the above are a good starting point. I look forward to helping with the implementation of these programs when elected to the town council.