Democratic Response To 2023 Fairfield 'State Of The Town' Address

The following is the Democratic response to First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick's 2023 State of the Town address. It was delivered on Monday during a Representative Town Meeting by member Liz Zezima, RTM Majority Leader:

FAIRFIELD, CT — Good evening. Thank you, Mister Moderator

My name is Liz Zezima. I’m the proud Representative for District 4 and RTM Majority Leader.

Thank you, too, to the many town employees, elected officials, volunteers, and Board and Commission members, whose service to Fairfield makes this Town a great place to live, work, and raise a family.

Thank you again to the voters of Fairfield for placing your trust in us to lead this body, the RTM, the BOE and the BOF. This speaks to our effective bipartisan governance, legislative, fiscal and
community priorities and the work we have done on behalf of the entire town. We reflect the values of our community, respect, inclusion, equality, and good governance. We also stand for good fiscal stewardship, economic development, investment in our future and strong public schools.

As Democrats, we believe in good government. We must work diligently, thoughtfully, and always in the service to the betterment of our community; this requires us to ask hard questions and
engage in public debate – a process which has produced significant savings for the taxpayer and an improved quality of life.

In addition to being focused on the financial health of the town, and delivering a return on the investment of tax payers, we have enacted legislation by creating ordinances that make life better for our community.

Like the creation of an Arts Commission and a ban on crumb rubber fill in our artificial turf fields. We are working on additional ordinances to create a Fair Rent Commission; an Ethics Blueprint
to ensure fair, transparent, and accountable government; revisions to further limit disruptive noise and light pollution; a Complete Streets ordinance increasing bike and pedestrian safety
and to better control traffic congestion; and Real Property Ordinance revisions.

We're forming an Energy Committee in response to the recently enacted utility rate hikes to pursue initiatives that will save Fairfield taxpayers money and provide environmental alternatives.

In response to the recommendations laid out in the Racial Equity and Justice Tax Force Blueprint delivered to the First Selectwoman over a year ago, the Democrats invited our Republic colleagues to create a Resolution that declares racism a public health crisis, following 28 other CT towns and the State in making this declaration. We were very disappointed that this measure failed along party lines. We will hold the administration accountable for other blueprint recommendations, including the establishment of a Permanent Commission on Racial Equity and Justice and to hire a Director of Community Justice and Belonging. While these recommendations are under consideration, we strongly urge the Administration to act on each of these items to ensure Fairfield is a community that identifies and eliminates racial and ethnic disparities. We fully support and endorse these findings and expect the Administration to adopt
these measures. It is what our community supports and what all in our diverse community deserve. As granted by our authority we will act on these recommendations as necessary to provide a framework that represents our collective values and our commitment to equality.

We have also faced several challenges and have identified ways in which aspects of town government are not working as they should. We not only expect these lapses to be fixed but in the last year of this term we are committed to working alongside the Administration and other town bodies to make sure our government is working effectively. The community should demand
no less and expects us to work in a unified bipartisan manner to deliver results and solutions.

Contrary to what we heard in the First Selectwoman’s address, campaign promises made to address the fill pile contamination issue and its aftermath have not materialized, and in fact as
demonstrated by internal audits and matters that have come before this body, we are disappointed to learn that many of the very measures promised to tighten controls, increase transparency and prevent any further abuses have not been enacted. Such as a new purchasing policy pending input from the Administration. In some ways we are more vulnerable now rather than further protected from harm and liability. Nothing less than the urgent attention to these lapses will restore trust in our government.

We do not yet have a final workable plan to remediate Penfield or the required transparency of negotiations with FEMA. We have called on the Administration to include the public in this process by holding a Town Hall meeting so we can make decisions together based on safety, sound financial investment and to prevent flooding of the beach neighborhoods. This process should include the use of a neutral mediator to ensure that the safest, fairest and most cost-effective remediation is developed that complies with the regulatory agencies. And one that best serves the needs of our community.

We are lacking professional job descriptions, ROI’s or return on investment analysis, as well as performance and participation metrics for many important positions and functions of town government. Most notable is a full accounting of the duties and responsibilities of the high priced Chief Administrative Officer role, the first of its kind in Fairfield. This is how we hold employees, volunteers and ourselves accountable. And account for your tax dollars at work.

We still don’t have a working hybrid system for remote meeting participation. This not only makes it hard to conduct business, but it makes public participation difficult. This does not reflect a commitment to transparency.

As required by our Charter, the process of appointing members to our Boards and Commissions is mired in partisan favor and erodes not only mandated party balance but leaves many residents out of what should be a transparent and fair process.

We call on the Administration to remedy this by being more inclusive and holding the process to the highest bipartisan standards possible. Our town government should reflect our community and be free from the overreach of favoritism and politics. And the process must be one of bipartisan inclusion on the BOS itself.

Many of our union contracts are more than a year past expiration and have not yet been renegotiated. Our Firefighters are now without a contract for over 500 days and their contract is in
Arbitration. Hard working union members, especially those who ensure our public safety, have a reasonable expectation that they will not wait for over a year, and sometimes two, to renegotiate
their compensation or provide necessary staffing. They should not be forced to work without a contract. In a time of high inflation, they do not see any adjustment to their back pay. We are taxing our residents to keep sizable sums in contingency funds to pay out lapsed increases. This is both unfair and inefficient. And a disregard for those who serve our community in various critical
roles.

We thank the members of the Charter Revision Commission for their hard work seeking to update and modernize our Town Charter. Fairfield voters rejected the final Charter Revision ballot item for one very simple reason. The multitude of changes were consolidated into one omnibus question that deprived voters of the ability to vote for those measures they agreed with instead of
an all or nothing option. This stands in sharp contrast to how other towns and cities in CT have conducted this important exercise, including our own past Charter revisions. A strong, engaged and informed bi partisan group came forward to insist many of the more unfavorable proposals be eliminated from the process.

Those efforts were successful, but the end product was not one the town could get behind. It lacked the many thoughtful suggestions made to include important changes not considered by the Commission. Much can and should be learned from this failed process.

We can and must do better in the next effort to revise our Charter in a way that strengthens our government rather than weakens oversight. Voters had a clear preference to keep the RTM at its
current size to preserve their democratic representation as well as provide checks and balances on the Executive branch.

Our commitment to citizens, voters, and taxpayers, as a body and as a party, is to govern effectively, solve problems, and provide a vision for our future as a town. Included in our priorities is economic development, transparent and responsive government, expanded services, improved quality of life, excellent and well-funded schools, and good fiscal stewardship.

We celebrate 75 new brick and mortar businesses in Fairfield. This stands in direct contrast to the politically tone-deaf gloom and doom messages about CT we hear from those who seek to inflate our challenges instead of celebrating our victories.

It is thanks to the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats that we have ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to provide so much value to the town of Fairfield with
numerous projects to show for this community investment.

Because of growing demand, we have a critical housing shortage and an affordability crisis. I call on the Administration to work on all affordable housing options for our present and future residents with a vision for making Fairfield an affordable option for young people and seniors who want to age in place.

We are blessed to have an engaged and thoughtful community that it is our honor to serve. We call on all of you to make your voice heard to the Administration on any of the issues I present to you tonight along with your own concerns and priorities. We are here to serve. And we want to do that in the most transparent and inclusive way possible.

We see Fairfield as the jewel of Fairfield County. And envision a bright future for all who choose to call this exceptional town home. Please join us in making Fairfield the best possible community to
live, work and raise a family. It does truly take a village. Together we can guide our town to become the leading example of success and prosperity.

Thank you for your time and attention tonight. And for the trust you place in us as your elected representatives and leaders.