I will approach the position with an open minded perspective. This mindset will naturally steer me to actively listening to both residents and city workers to help come up with actionable solutions. The ability to listen to people with purpose is paramount to being able to truly represent them. I’ve been a renter, a home owner, and a proud parent of a public school student. These different life experiences allow me to see issues through different lenses and empathize with and understand residents. I will pair that with a collaborative disposition to effectively advocate for people and achieve results.

The overarching answer is quality of life but the most pressing issue I hear from people regardless of their political affiliation is Stamford’s infrastructure. I will advocate for allocation of the necessary resources to maintain and improve our roads, sidewalks, and other elements of our infrastructure. A strong infrastructure will support not only Stamford’s existing needs but also set the stage for smart and sustainable potential future development.

The Board Of Representatives does not have direct control over the long term plan as that is under the purview of the Planning Board and Zoning Board. The BOR can have influence by ensuring these boards are comprised of qualified people to allow for responsible and appropriate future development. Growth should go hand in hand with strong infrastructure and access to public transportation, and we should strive to keep the ethos of our unique neighborhoods. Future development does not have to come at the expense of quality of life. We should continue to investigate underutilized office parks as a potential solution.

While the Affordable Housing Trust Fund is a crucial tool in solving our need to provide viable workforce housing options it is not directly managed by the Board Of Representatives. The linkage fee was recently increased to 15% so we should wait to see how that impacts the fund before considering further modification. We should still move forward with investigating other potential funding sources including relevant grants and and exploration of public-private partnerships. Other options to consider include a change in the fee-in-lieu structure or perhaps a modest fee on short term rentals. My understanding is the distribution of funds is clear but all efforts should be made to ensure transparent proceedings to increase public trust and accountability.