Cheshire Candidate Profile: Jinks For Town Council

CHESHIRE, CT — The 2019 municipal election is heating up in Cheshire and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office.

Cheshire Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Jim Jinks, 47, is running for election to the Town Council in the 2nd District as a Democrat.

Are you running for office in Cheshire? Contact Vinnie Salzo at vincent.salzo@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Cheshire Patch.

Family:

Married to Marie Shannon Jinks for 20 years. We have three daughters and a son (Grace, 16; Maggie, 14; Ellie, 12; Henry, 10.)

Education:

Bachelor's degree in history, UCONN. Master's degree in public policy, Trinity College.

Occupation:

I have nearly 20 years of management experience in Connecticut-based, advertising services companies, including several years of running my own direct mail business. I'm currently a Vice President at Mediabids, a leading firm in response-based, print advertising.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office:

Two years on the Cheshire Planning & Zoning Commission. Two years on the Cheshire Youth Services Commission and two years as the Vice Chair of the Cheshire Democratic Town Committee.

The single most pressing issue facing our town/district is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

We need to initiate an effort toward a model of enduring prosperity for Cheshire. We can't build our way to solvency by continuing to expand on the periphery. We need to consider how we can add value and maximize the productivity of our already built neighborhoods and commercial areas. This means smaller initiatives like bike lanes and neighborhood streets that are more walk-friendly. This means looking at old commercial buildings and large parking lots and considering ways to add value to these properties. This means building on our strengths - our schools, our open space and our farms. If we focus on and maximize our strengths, we'll have a Cheshire where residents feel a stronger sense of community, where our small business community feels supported and thrives and we'll do much better at attracting people that want to live, work and play here.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

One big difference is my ''activist'' approach. I'll put forth ideas, bring people together and make things happen. I'll also focus on transparency and communicating extensively with Cheshire residents.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:

My big three are safer neighborhood streets, stronger schools and maximizing our rural, New England village character to boost tourism and the success of our small businesses.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Despite having a full-time job, a large and young family and while remaining active in coaching youth sports, I went back to school in my late 30s and earned a Master's degree in public policy at Trinity College. I graduated with honors and my thesis paper and project became a model for graduate students in the program (my project was to study the impact of rail trails on nearby residential property values and the focus area of my research was actually Cheshire.) But perhaps a better accomplishment to cite as evidence I can handle the job is my experience and success with Bike Cheshire, a community non-profit I founded in March of 2018. We started with a small community bike share and this year we've hosted large group rides, Bike to School rides and we're working toward opening up properties to mountain biking in Cheshire. We're aiming to make Cheshire bike-friendly and a destination for biking in Connecticut and we're making real progress quickly. In only 18 months we've won the ''People's Choice Award'' from Bike Walk Connecticut and the ''Healthy Living'' Award from the Cheshire YMCA.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Nothing beats the golden rule - ''treat others as you wish to be treated.''

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Cheshire is falling behind and is at a real disadvantage to our peer communities in New Haven County - Madison, Guilford, Woodbridge, Orange, Bethany etc. My focus is on engaging in a project of reversing our decline, improving our property values and capitalizing on our strengths.

Campaign website:

www.facebook.com/pg/JimJinksCT