Videos

Initiatives

Neighborhood Walking Tours

When I served as Community Development Program Manager for the Town, once or twice a month I would pour a cup of tea, power up my digital camera, and walk the blocks of one of the three Community Development Block Grant target zones. I firmly believe that walking is the only way to truly understand the assets and detriments of any neighborhood. The number of details missed at thirty five miles per hour can be staggering.

To this end, my office will sponsor Neighborhood Walking Tours to point out to me what they like, or may not like about their neighborhoods.

But that will not be the end. Participants will also have the opportunity to walk other neighborhoods. This is one way in which we can break down barriers between neighborhoods; by showing that most Town residents really want the same things for their families and showing that the Town's response to issues does not vary depending on the neighborhoods.

We may have many different neighborhoods, but there is only one Hamden.

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Mayor's Office For A Day

We all know that Hamden comprises many different neighborhoods. And while our great Town derives a great deal of strength from this geographic and social diversity, it can also give the impression that Hamden's government is isolated from some of its neighborhoods. It is time we end this. As Mayor, I will institute a policy of "Mayor's Office For a Day" in community churches, businesses, coffee shops, or any institution willing to open its doors to me and my staff. By bringing access to the Mayor directly to residents, I intend to bridge the gap between citizens and the government that serves them. In 2009, a great deal of work can be accomplished with a mobile phone and an internet connection. I will use the available technology to perform the necessary functions of government from within the very communities we service.

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Announcements

Scott's Announcement Speech

Thank you for taking time away from your families to spend time with me and mine.

Let me say this first: I love this great Town of Hamden, and ultimately, that is why I'm here today its certainly not because I crave attention or like talking about myself. I'm pigeon-toed. I'm painfully thin with gangly arms that make it impossible to buy an off-the-rack suit that fits well. My teachers at Putnam Avenue School would actually be gratified to see me speaking here at Town Hall because years of speech therapy corrected a lisp but left me with an odd speech cadence that makes a lot of people think I'm from some exotic location. But in spite of all of these flaws- and more that I'm sure will be pointed out over the next few months- I am here before you today because I love this great Town.

I'm a kid from Putnam Avenue. My father, rest his soul, was a Navy man for more than twenty years and he taught us that family means everything and that every one of us has a duty to something greater than ourselves. My mother, the workhorse, spent so much time checking in on us at Putnam Avenue School that they eventually gave her a job. Growing up, I shared a room with my big brother Craig, who is autistic, and in doing so, learned that not only are the specific needs of people in our community extremely broad and diverse, but that each one of us adds incredible value to the cultural mix.

Many of you know my sister Marion from the Whitneyville Post Office. She's the one that everyone likes, which means she's the one who should be running for Mayor.

And then there's Christina. The enforcer. Just a year older than I, she's the one who watched out for her awkward little brother. And every day after school we either stopped at the Whitneyville Branch Library or she taught me what she had learned in school that day, helping me to stay a year ahead of my classmates and really helping to inspire within me a love of information and a thirst for knowledge.

This is who I am and where I come from. This is what provided the background necessary to succeed at Cornell University, where I earned a degree in Government. This is why I have devoted myself to working for the public interest, be it as an aide in the U.S. Senate, a Program Manager for the Connecticut Policy and Economic Council, heading the Office of Housing and Neighborhood Development here in Hamden, or as Chief Administrative Officer for the Town. For sixteen years I have worked in constituent service and government problem solving. In that time I have focused on developing the tools that make government more responsive to citizen needs and institutionalize the practices that ensure that this is truly a government of the people, by the people, and most important, for the people.

I was brought up to be serious in my analysis, do my homework, and understand the details of developing effective public policy. A few months ago, someone here today took me by the elbow at an event and said, This town needs a wonk. In a lot of ways, that one statement put in motion the events that have brought us here today. Because friends, I am a wonk.

But there is more to making government work than knowing its peculiar ins and outs or being able to identify transferable best practices that can be applied here. Government needs an implementer, someone with the drive to see things through to their completion. Whether it be instituting creative mechanisms to procure our electricity-- which we have done to a total savings of more than $300,000 in less than three years-- establishing the very popular Farmer's Market, or coordinating the transfer of a vacant property to Habitat for Humanity so a hardworking family can move into one of our great neighborhoods, I have been effective in putting the right team in place to swiftly act in the best interests of Hamden's residents. I am a wonk, but Im a wonk that knows how to get things done.

It is clear, Hamden needs a progressive government professional. Someone with the will to put good government over politics and someone with the temperament to bring new civic participants to the table. In order to improve the efficiency of government service, we must rethink the way we set townwide priorities. When we talk about the budgeting process and fiscal management policies, we must refocus the debate to discuss not just on what we can cut, but on what we must preserve in order for Hamden to remain a top-tier community. Our libraries, parks, and schools; these are the places that helped make my siblings and I into the people we are today, and that I hope will be there for my two little boys, Max and Eli. We must preserve these services for the next generation.

We must also invest in the future by analyzing our infrastructure needs. We know from last summer that there is a tipping point in personal behavior when it comes to the cost of electricity and gasoline. We have to make sure that our neighborhoods are walkable and bikable; that they offer amenities that allow us, on occasion, to forgo the car in favor of a stroll to the store or to our place of business. We must invest in transit opportunities that will allow us to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly-changing transportation arena. The costs of playing catch-up in these areas will be tremendous for the communities who do not recognize that gas at five dollars a gallon has a real impact on the specific needs of local families. Not only will transit solutions serve the direct needs of our residents, but will help us court the right kinds of economic development that will serve to reduce the tax burden on all taxpayers, residential and commercial alike. We have to remember that targeted investments and smart environmental policy lead to cost savings, cost savings that occur year after year.

Our physical infrastructure of roads and sidewalks must also be addressed. As someone who has pushed a stroller through every neighborhood in Hamden, believe me when I tell you that I know the condition of our sidewalks. Over the last three years we have poured literally miles of new roads and sidewalks at a cost of more than a million and a half dollars a year. But there is so much more to go, and unfortunately, this work is very expensive. I will promote a four-year plan to address every property currently on the list of damaged sidewalks.

We must also increase the cultural, social, and educational opportunities available to our families and seniors. Inspiring residents of all ages to acknowledge the value of lifelong learning is critical to our community health. Seniors must have transportation assistance to the Senior Center and the Center must be open. Our Summer Concerts, which attract tens of thousands of people, who also stop at local shops and restaurants, must continue. Our libraries must not only remain open, but also keep up with advances in information and technology, while maintaining a commitment to being user-friendly and accessible.

Of course, the commitment to preserving these assets comes with a price tag. But last night the Town passed a no tax increase / no lay-off budget while every Town around us either increased taxes or decimated the services that people come to count on. Hamden has proven that it can hold the line. We can continue this trend, but in order to continue, we have to be creative. We have to have a Mayor who truly understands how to govern in challenging economic times. A Mayor that is ready to govern from day one. We have to find ways of cooperating between municipalities and regions, and yes, even between the Town and Board of Education. We have opportunities for real savings by working together to take advantage of different skill sets in information technology and in facilities management as well as sharing of equipment and expertise. To start, we need only to clear the lines of communication.

One of the biggest, and most necessary expenditures, is trash pickup. I am proud to have led the Hamden negotiating team for a new contract at the Wallingford Energy-From-Waste plant and secured a contract provision stating that we will not be penalized for diverting more waste to recycling efforts. While some in Hamden are avid recyclers, we can do more. Every ton of waste that goes toward recycling as opposed to disposal saves us money while also helping the environment.

There are so many great things about Hamden, from the Brooksvale Fall Festival to the Cherry Ann Street Block Watch Association's annual party. But there are also long-standing critical issues that require seriousness and tenacity if they are going to be resolved. The State Street Tire Pond and the Newhall Remediation are two of the most troubling environmental issues in the State of Connecticut and the fact that they remain unresolved unfairly stigmatizes both neighborhoods. As a Town, we need to commit to implementing solutions that work so we can take these issues off the table once and for all, and in order to do that we need a team in place that understands the players and understands the complex histories and are ready to govern.

Friends, there are challenges and opportunities before us. There are assets and impediments. Hamden breeds champions; not only the Hamden High School Hockey Team, but just as important the Hamden High School Science Team, the Senior Center's Wii Bowling Team. It offers the opportunity for the finest education in America, the opportunity to compete athletically at a level not seen anywhere else. It offers drama and community theater. It offers places for spiritual growth and spaces for quiet reflection. This is the Hamden that means so much to me.

Just last night, my wife Mandi asked me a simple question about the future of Hamden: what is at stake, what is it going to take, and what do we have to do?

What is at stake is simple. The very things that make Hamden special must be supported. The Farmington Canal Trail. Playable fields for all of our youth sports leagues. The proposed children's museum at the Rectory School Barn. If we become small and insular, looking only at tax bills instead of the value of services supported by taxes, then we will decline into a shadow of the Town that drew us here in the first place. Outstanding fiscal management and great service delivery are not mutually exclusive, but we must commit to the process of priority setting and performance assessment to achieve the two goals. This is precisely what I did at the Office of Housing and Neighborhood Development and at the Connecticut Policy and Economic Council. We can and will be fiscally responsible and progressive in our programs at the same time.

How do we do all of this? What is it going to take? It takes you. Every one of you. A civic conversation where the people are silent does not work. It becomes an echo chamber, feeding on the same stale ideas and notions. We need intergenerational dialogue. We need every block of every neighborhood-- every single neighborhood-- to know that it has value, that it is considered in the decision-making process, and that it has not only the right, but a channel to air its grievances. I don't believe in campaigns because they end at eight o'clock on Election Day. I believe in movements. Movements transcend. To get to the place that my supporters and I envision, it is going to take a movement.

What do we have to do? This is the fun part. We have to go to www.jacksonforhamden.com and sign up to be part of this ongoing community conversation. You have to tell your story about what matters to you. When I organize a walk through your neighborhood so you can point out the things you like or do not like, you have to get your neighbors together and say, hey, this is a different way of doing business and we all need to participate. When the Mayor's Office For The Day opens at a local coffee shop or church or at the Keefe Center, you have to come out and tell what's really going on in your neighborhood. You have to set aside skepticism that local government is a closed loop and you can't possibly move it in a direction that makes sense to you. You can change local government in very significant ways. You have to take advantage of the information that is disseminated an information flow to out residents that I commit to increasing - and offer suggestions on how to improve transparency in a way that makes sense for you. You have to accept that good jobs and long-term residency are indicators of a healthy community. You have to know that our students need to be inspired, and that doesn't just happen in the classroom. It happens on the sidewalks and in the parks and in the stores and every time they encounter someone with a positive message and the will to pass on some piece of wisdom.

You have to dream big.

You have to join me and my team in being furiously optimistic, in knowing that this Town, this piece of earth, is worth fighting for, and you can't do that from your armchair. You have to know that there is no greater community than Hamden, Connecticut, because I do.

My name is Scott Jackson, and I am running for Mayor.

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