Stewart for State Senate Announcement Speech 1/7/11

I’m very proud and frankly a little surprised to be standing here today surrounded by my family, friends and supporters announcing my desire to run for the 6th District State Senate seat.

You might not know this, but my involvement in politics was unplanned. And I never intended to remain involved for so long. I still see myself as a kid from New Britain who went to work for the fire department and was lucky enough to work for the city and raise his family here.

It all started when my daughter was young child; there were some issues in her school that were not being resolved to my satisfaction- or to the satisfaction of a number of parents. We spoke to the principal, the superintendent and the members of the board of education. Eventually, I determined that the only way to get the outcome we wanted was for me to run for a seat on the board of education. And I won.

What’s ironic is that I still don’t trust politicians and I don’t want to be one.

But I guess I’m here today because I don’t want to stop fighting for the people who have entrusted me to represent them for so many years.
After the board of education, I ran for a seat on the city council because I felt that taxpayers needed a voice to represent their interest. I served two, two-year terms. And then I ran for the office of mayor and been elected four times.

As a board of education member, a member of the city council and now as mayor, I’ve been involved in difficult budget negotiations and a number of school renovation projects, including the state’s largest high school. So I understand the challenges that municipalities like New Britain, Farmington and Berlin face in their effort to provide their children with quality schools that deliver a first class education.
While on the City Council, I served as minority leader for three of my four years. Although I was in the minority party, as I am now, I was still able to build consensus and move initiatives forward that improved the quality life for residents of New Britain. I’m very proud of that.

As mayor, I was able to get New Britain’s fiscal house in order. We were we able to hold the line on taxes for six of my seven budget years, improve the city’s bond rating while other city’s ratings fell, introduce single-stream recycling, consolidate city functions and create other efficiencies to reduce costs to taxpayers. We also attracted millions of dollars in economic development to the city – more than was brought in for the previous 10 years. That effort includes businesses like Celebrations Foods where we are standing today. A project that cost $20million to build and has created over 350 new jobs to our city.
As a side note, Celebration Foods was recently bought out by the largest frozen food company in the nation so we expect continued expansion and additional jobs. And right next door to Celebration is Tenergy Christ water treatment, recently bought out by Nalco, which plans to expand its facility and workforce in New Britain.
What all these roles have given me is a view from the inside of government. Unlike most of the legislators serving in Hartford, I understand the challenges that towns like Berlin and Farmington and cities like New Britain face and what resources and support they need to be successful. If given the opportunity to represent you, I will challenge the status quo and ensure that your interests are served, not the interest of lobbyist and special interest groups.

I have also seen how unfunded mandates tie the hands of community leaders and make their jobs nearly impossible. If elected I would vote against every unfunded mandate brought to the senate that is imposed on the cities and towns of our state.
I also know how provisions like the minimum budget requirement prevents middle class communities like ours from getting education spending under control. Why should you have to keep spending the same amount or more on education if your enrollment, your grand list and your state funding are all going down? This makes no sense, and needs to be changed.

But I think my greatest attribute will be to bring common sense back to state government, particularly in the area of economic development. More than anything, our communities and our state need to expand their tax bases. We must attract more business to Connecticut and retain – or expand - the ones we already have. To accomplish this, we must change not only our policies, but also our attitude towards small and family-owned businesses. They are our life blood and our backbone. This state will not survive if these businesses are not given what they need to flourish. We must stop taxing and regulating them out of existence.

In New Britain, I am often called the Mayor who will tell it like it is, and I am extremely proud of that –even though that approach is not always appreciated. But I am also known as the mayor who always has his door open to his constituents. I’ll even answer the phone at 3 a.m., even though I’m not always happy about it.
For me, it’s about people, not politics. My agenda is you. My goal is to serve the voters, not myself, and to leave this community better than I found it.

So I hope that the delegates from Berlin, Farmington and New Britain will nominate me for the 6th District senate seat on Tuesday, and if I am given that honor, I hope the voters of our three great communities will select me to serve as their voice in the Connecticut state senate. I know I can make a positive difference in their lives.

Thank you all for coming out today and I look forward to continuing to work together to make not only New Britain, but Berlin and Farmington a better place to live and to work.