Enfield Candidate Profile: Town Council, District 1

ENFIELD, CT — Enfield's election season is heating up, and there are plenty of contested races with candidates eager to represent their town in November's municipal election. Enfield Patch asked candidates in the town council and Board of Education races to answer questions about their campaigns, and will be publishing candidate profiles each weekday as election day draws near.

Republican Joe Bosco is running for re-election to the Enfield Town Council, representing District 1. He is being challenged for that seat by Democrat Michael Ballard.

Names: Joe Bosco ("JB"); Michael Ballard ("MB")

Ages (as of Sept. 1, 2019): JB - unanswered; MB - 29

Position sought: Enfield Town Council, District 1

Party affiliation: JB - Republican; MB - Democrat

Family: JB -Married, 3 daughters, 2 grandchildren; MB - decline to share

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government: JB - no; MB - no

Education: JB - Enfield High School; MB - Enrico Fermi High School 2007, UConn - BA 2011, MBA 2017

Occupation: JB - Co-owner of Bosco Automotive Inc.; MB - Management Consultant

Previous or current elected or appointed office: JB - Councilor - Town of Enfield - District 1; MB - first time candidate

The single most pressing issue facing Enfield is:
JB - Misconception of high crime in Thompsonville Village. We are working on helping homes get back on the market and we know that the work to get the train station to stop, bus access and having a new blight commission have made some headway. I know what happens in one end of town, will be felt in the others.
MB - Climate change and the green transition. I have the most aggressive climate plan of anyone running for any office in Enfield this year. It is predicated on developing a Green Plan that will make Enfield the first Zero Carbon municipality in Connecticut. We'll do this by getting to zero emissions from the town's vehicle fleet over ten years, expanding the production of solar energy on public buildings and retrofitting them for energy efficiency, greening public spaces, and using the town's buying power to push suppliers to adopt green best practices. To reduce emissions from private vehicles and allow residents a choice for healthy, safe non-car transportation, we'll double the mileage of bike paths in town. For homeowners, we'll streamline the process to get solar installed on your property, which will save on bills and raise home values.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post:
JB - I know why I volunteer for this position, because I want to do more for Enfield and the people who live here. So I don't believe anyone who puts their name on the ballot would feel any different. Do I work hard and focus my attentions on keeping costs in check? Yes. Do I find ways to make change with little or no budget increase? Yes. Will other candidates work as hard as me? The current group of Republicans on the council do...so I would say Yes.
MB - I have a plan to create change in virtually every aspect of municipal government. In addition to my green transition plan discussed above:

• To address our employment crisis, I'm advocating building a resume bank to better connect job seekers to small and medium-sized businesses in town looking to grow and a Livable Wage Ordinance to make sure that any company getting public money isn't turning those funds into profit at the expense of our workers' economic security. To help our small businesses grow and increase new business starts, I'll be an aggressive proponent of adding municipal fiber internet upon resolution of the current legal challenges going through the courts.
• To make Enfield more accessible to those without a car, and to allow residents the choice of whether or not to own a car, I'm suggesting doubling the miles of bike lanes in town, expanding the number of buses and hours of operation of our Dial-a-Ride program to make it a viable option for all residents, and increasing mixed-use zoning to bring services closer to residents and vice-versa.
• We'll address educational opportunity by reducing class sizes, increasing support for teachers through personal development and student loan forgiveness, and building new opportunity pathways for students by developing internship programs with the town government and local employers and strengthening our relationship with Asnuntuck Community College, so students can take more college preparatory courses. We'll also make our schools emotionally safer for students by hiring more teachers of color to make sure our students have role models they can relate to and making school breakfast and lunch free to ensure our students are food secure and to eliminate a potential source of trauma for low-income students in our schools.
• As an intern with the town's Department of Development Services, I drew up the framework and pushed hard to implement a plan to marshal additional town resources to address blighted properties. But catching a property when it's already blighted is too late. As a member of Council, I'll increase the funds available and empower our existing committees of passionate volunteers to help keep struggling homeowners in their homes and up-to-date on their property maintenance.

Taken together, this aggressive package I believe will raise the profile of Enfield, making it a more desirable place to live and raise a family, causing property values to rise.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:
JB - Fiscal responsibility, partnership, innovation, forward thinking, creativity, management, adaptation, safety.
MB - I want to increase data gathered and information transparency to help residents be more informed about the success or failure of government in various areas. As a member of Council, I'll ask the IT department to create dashboards on the town website to easily share relevant data along this model: http://fortcollins.clearpoints...

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job:
JB - As the chairman of public works, my biggest accomplishment was getting the tipper barrel-recycling program running with no additional funds from our budget. I found a way and didn't cost any more money. We got the trucks we needed, the barrels and starting teaching the residents how to recycle. This program has saved the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and didn't increase the budget. After 5 years all the trucks are paid for and the service is fully implemented.
MB - Unlike most first-time candidates, I interned for the Town Manager's office and am already familiar with town departments, the budgeting process, and our competitive context with surrounding towns. Also, I have a record of bringing change to complex bureaucracies. As president of UConn's graduate business student government, I led the effort to get full-time, free-to-use mental health services to UConn's Hartford campus. I believe I can bring this same knowledge of how to cut through and maneuver around red tape to our local government, which has been stagnating for years in the face of rising challenges to our schools, our transportation network, and our local employment opportunities.

The best advice ever shared with me was:
JB - Don't ruin the family name. My Dad, Angelo Bosco
MB - unanswered

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions:
JB - I take the comments received by citizens when they stop by the shop or give me a call, very seriously and I work actively to answer every question and solve every problem. I know things can be done - I know things must be done - and I will continue to do my best to be sure things are done for the best of Enfield.
MB - If you share the same hopefulness I do, come say hi at one of our meet and greet events or contact the campaign through the email listed above (ballardforenfield@gmail.com).