By David Fortier
The few notable moments that occurred at the Bristol Municipal Forum held Wednesday evening involving council candidates came from District 3 Democrats David Landi and Mark Dickau, but for the most part participants toed the line with Republicans toting their accomplishments over the past two years and with Democrats looking to reestablish themselves as the force behind change downtown.
During the mayoral segment, incumbent Mayor Jeffrey Caggiano continued the same line, toting his accomplishments while Democratic challenger Scott Rosado attempted to point out gaps and contradictions in the mayor’s track record as he attempted to clarify his own talking points.
In the council forum, which did not allow time for rebuttals, Landi raised the issue of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) as a tool for local government to use to help with workforce development.
“We could have had job training, but the agreement was torn up,” Landi said, referring to one of the first acts of the council under Caggiano. The PLA, an agreement with local unions, aims to hire and train local people. It was in the original agreement with Downes+D’Amato for the city hall renovation project.
Both Democrats and Republicans said workforce development is a key to future success for the city.
in addition, Landi pointed out that the tax increase from reevaluation might have been handled differently.
“We could have done a lot to change that like phased in reevaluation, which wouldn’t kick the can down the road but would have kept them from being kicked to the side of the road,” he said.
The Bristol Municipal Forum, hosted by the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce headquartered here in Bristol and sponsored by Webster Bank, focused on economic development issues, so there were no references to the issues that have plagued the Republicans during this year’s campaign, especially those revolving around race, diversity and antisemitism.
The forum was held at The Rockwell Theater at the Bristol Artis and Innovation Magnet School, with an audience that filled the lower level.
The chamber’s Johnny Burnham, vice president, moderated the forum, relying on a timer to restrict comments. For the council members, comments were kept to 90 seconds, with opening and closing statements of the same length. Not all council members answered all questions. There were six total.
For the mayors’ forum, candidates had two-minute opening and closing statements, with each candidate allowed two minutes to answer a question, two minutes to respond and 30 seconds to rebut.
Dickau did challenge the Republicans on another early decision in their administration, the one dealing with bringing Wheeler Clinic headquarters downtown, a deal that had been originally developed with the previous administration but was shot down in one of the first actions by the new administration.
He then raised the subject of job growth, citing the examples of downtown Forestville where three restaurants have closed and there are many empty storefronts. He said this was not only the case for Forestville but the rest of the city.
The participants in the city council forum included, aside from Dickau and Landi, District 1 incumbents Sebastian Panioto (R) and Erick Rosengren (R) and Democratic challengers Andrew Rasmussen-Tuller and Kimberly Caron; in District 2 incumbents Jacqueline Olsen (R) and Susan Tyler (R) with Democratic challengers Morris “Rippy” Patton and Liza Salgado; and in District 3, incumbents Andrew Howe (R) and Cheryl Thibeault (R) with challengers Landi and Dickau.
In the mayors’ forum, Caggiano presented facts and narratives supporting arguments that he has made through the campaign–that projects did start under the previous administration, but his administration pushed things through to their conclusion. In addition, his administration has introduced new projects, making this administration a transformational one.
One of his major goals for the next two years is to bring 3,000 people to live downtown.
Rosado, who has been criticized by Republicans for not having a plan, presented pieces of his plan that would address workforce development and strategic plans, support for community policing, among others. A plan with his goals, however, was distributed to audience members.
Nutmeg TV will air the forum Sunday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. It can also be found on Nutmeg TV’s YouTube channel and Comcast Channel 5 or Channel 1070 and Frontier Channel 6060.
All TBE readers, supporters and donors
The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
- Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.
Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.