Election 2021: John Santanella, Enfield Town Council District 2

ENFIELD, CT — Democrat John Santanella, 54, is running for the Enfield Town Council District 2 seat.

Occupation: Self Employed

Experience: None

Family in government: No

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

The economy. We need to jump start economic development in this community more than anything else. As I have said over and over again, Enfield is not friendly to business, not large business, not small business not any business. People just do not want to do business in Enfield. And everyone pays the price. My dream, would be for us to see within the next three years private development going back into Thompsonville, setting us on a course for a new Thompsonville where people can once again go to shop, socialize, and be entertained.

Critical differences between me and my opponents:

I think the biggest thing that sets me apart from the other candidates is that I am not a career politician who has spent years working the system and climbing the politics ladder hoping one day to hold elected office. Instead, I have been building businesses, creating jobs, and helping people live better lives. The other thing that I believe sets me apart, is that I am the only candidate with the ability, and knowhow to take on the economic issues confronting our town today.

Accomplishments:

For the past 11 years I have been committed to operating my own investment company that today continues to grow in size and scope. I came to establish my own company after being laid off from a corporate job I held for almost 15 years. It was the scariest and most rewarding time of my life. What I think this demonstrates most about me is my ability to take lemons and make lemonade. I have the confidence and stamina and strength to take on tough challenges and turn them into something good.

Other issues:

While we work on economic development, we also need to reduce spending. I have said in my campaign that I will work to eliminate wasteful spending wherever it exists in our town budget and throughout our community. This will mean either eliminating programs we cannot afford or rethinking how we have provided certain service and look for better ways to fund them. I will continue to work on consolidation of our fire districts and rethink the relationship between the Town of Enfield and the districts to better integrate our police, fire and EMS services. I also believe that Enfield should have a best in class school system. Our school department needs to maintain a high level of fiscal responsibility, ensuring that we are giving our children the highest quality education, improving our facilities, and supporting our teachers.

What else would you like voters to know about you?

I have laid out my positions on issues and what I believe I have to offer the community over the last several months. Members of the community who are interested in learning more about me and my campaign can go to www.johnsantanella.info or they can follow my Facebook page, John Santanella for Enfield, and to find out everything they need to know or reach out to me directly to ask questions.

To register for free Enfield news alerts and more, click here.