Election 2021: John Carlos Foxx, Enfield Town Council District 1

ENFIELD, CT — Democrat John Carlos Foxx, 53, is running for the Town Council District 1 seat in Enfield.

Occupation: Health, Life And Medicare Supplements Insurance Agent, Licensed In 21 States.

Family:
Youngest of six, Valerie, Patricia, Jeffrey, Katherine and Doreen.

Husband of Laura for 20 very happy years!

Experience: Enfield Revitalization Committee

Family in government: No

The single biggest issue in town is ______, and I plan to do this about it:

Civil Preparedness for extreme weather events. We have a great and informative page called the Enfield Emergency Management page on Facebook, but only has 1800 followers in a town of 44,000. We have the Everbridge Notification system, but what happens when the power goes out?

I think we've been very fortunate to this point, but I would like to see more activity preparing for this new normal of more and more extreme weather events. What I would do is proactively work closely with town and state agencies that we rely on the most for our safety. I want to do more to inform residents on what to do when faced with a potentially catastrophic storm system.

I'm concerned about this, and because I've seen how hard cleanup has been for elderly people with no resources through minor flooding events that have never happened in the past.

Critical differences between me and my opponents:

I'm not as experienced as Joe Bosco for one! I'm not as well known or popular as he is either and that matters more than anything in a local campaign. I'm asking people to trust that I will match his effort on the day to day operations and his responsiveness to the people in this district. I have thousands of clients in my insurance business and I understand why that level of service is important to people who depend on me.

The biggest difference may only be having an open mind on a bigger plan for our future. Enfield can be a lot more innovative on cost sharing projects with other towns now that the state has streamlined that process this year. We should address the amazing amount of blight that persists on commercial and private properties around town. This town shouldn't have so many dilapidated properties on main roads all over town and it looks like we're living with neglect in the neighborhoods and commercial areas and that problem needs to be addressed.

Accomplishments:

My work requires that I multi-task on an extremely intense level with large and small employers and their employees all over the country. I have police and fire departments, DOT barns, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and tradesmen and women as clients and they depend on me to help them navigate our country's complex healthcare system. I help Medicare eligible people find the best options for their health insurance and drug plans.

All of this requires ongoing education on everchanging insurance options in every state I am licensed in. My accomplishment is never having had a complaint about my work and insurance carriers feel confident in me to use my services on their most high profile and sensitive accounts. I bring a very high level of problem solving ability to this council seat which will result in solutions for many of our greatest challenges in the future.

Other issues:

We need to find other revenue sources other than property taxes, increasing fees and bonding. We need to pretend the money we get from the state doesn't exist when trying to achieve a zero budget. So much credit for fiscal soundness belongs to our town manager and assistant town manager and that's the truth! We're very fortunate, but there have to be more public/private initiatives to address our greatest costs as citizens and a town. We need to innovate our way out of ever increasing costs for waste removal, and sewage and utilities.

What else would you like voters to know about you?

I truly will not be partisan or be a party line vote. I think it's one of the worst things I've seen in over the last ten years. It shocks and disappoints me that it's happening on the local level. I'm a huge underdog in this race, but I don't think it has to be because I have a D in front of my name. Campaigning this year is a lot different in 2015 sadly, because I find more people are automatically defining my candidacy through the lens of our national political discourse. If I don't get elected, I understand why, but if you vote for me, please do it because you believe in my vision. I will be more visible in the neighborhoods and you will see more often than every two years during campaign season.

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