The key issues facing Stamford, and how I would address them, include:

- Lack of fiscal responsibility

• Eliminate waste and hold those in City Hall accountable
• Ensure competent stewardship (trustees) of our pension and post-employment benefit funds, which lost $19.5 million in an up-market
• Prioritize capital projects and stop the use of bond proceeds as a slush fund

- High taxes

• Ensure that large commercial properties are assessed based on fair market value, as required by law, to reduce the tax burden being imposed on residential property owners. If the large commercial properties that are under-assessed and under-taxed had been assessed based on fair market value, then minimal-to-no tax increases may have occurred.
- Traffic congestion, over-development, and over-crowding
• Begin enforcing the existing zoning regulations and cease the practice of re-writing zoning laws to accommodate development projects
• Modernize traffic light systems to improve traffic-flow efficiency
• Inventory street conditions, prioritize areas of need and finally hold utility companies and developers to the highest standard of resurfacing after a dig

- Infrastructure issues

• Infrastructure planning and maintenance will be an ongoing process, not just something that is done prior to elections

- Residents feel that their voices are not being heard

• Establish a council composed of neighborhood organizations that will meet quarterly with the Mayor
• Engage with residents regularly and set a tone across City government that our residents come first

Short Term

• A government that places its residents first
• Taxes that are equitable, levied fairly, and do not overburden our residents
• Bond issues that are used only for long-term improvements that are needed, prioritized, and properly vetted, and that are issued only when projects are shovel-ready
• Immediately review the looming pension crisis and put into place management team that will reduce Stamford’s obligations, not add to them
• Strongly enforce the zoning laws on the books with a sensitivity to how it impacts our community
• Begin enforcing parking, zoning, and other regulations to halt the steady decline of our residential neighborhoods
• Crackdown on illegal and unsafe housing practices
• Engage in city contracts that are financially efficient and provide proper protection against all conceivable risks

Long Term

• Promote tourism and meet the full-service needs of the boating community by creating an active recreational waterfront with appropriate industrial services and support facilities
• Establish a vibrant and diverse downtown
• Residential neighborhoods free of congestion and overcrowding
• Upgrade City IT systems that drive operating efficiencies and cost-savings
• Preserve the culture and heritage of our beautiful city

Education
• Set high standards of achievement; ensure proper resources are available and provide frequent monitoring
• Make sure that repairs and capital projects are satisfactorily completed in a timely manner and on budget
Infrastructure
• Re-institute ongoing and regularly scheduled programs to maintain our city’s infrastructure
Traffic
• Promote the efficient and safe flow of traffic
• Eliminate traffic bottlenecks
Affordable Housing
• Enforce zoning regulations and provide adequate first response services to our residential neighborhoods, including the Cove, Eastside, Westside, Glenbrook, and Springdale to make them attractive, affordable, and safe

Quality of Life
• Enforce City land-use ordinances and codes to prevent overcrowding, illegal housing practices, parking violations, unbearable traffic, and unpermitted land uses
• Maintain the police staffing levels that are necessary to provide adequate police services

• Served on Stamford Zoning Board, an economic development commission, and a parking authority; served as a volunteer for Pacific House men’s shelter; coached the Stamford American Little League; served on the land-use committee of a religious institution; and was an officer of a town political committee