Stratford Candidate Profile: James Simon For Town Council

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

Stratford Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Simon is running for the Town Council's Eighth District as a Democrat. He has professional experience as a college professor and dean, assistant secretary of the environment in the state of Massachusetts and political reporter for The Associated Press.

Are you running for office in Stratford? Contact Anna Bybee-Schier at anna.bybee-schier@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Stratford Patch.

Candidate responses appear as they were received and have not been edited by Patch staff.

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

Over reliance on property taxes. Stratford has fallen behind its neighbors in attracting new business and economic development in general, and this leads to sky-high property taxes and the town becoming less competitive.

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

My opponent is seeking his fifth term on the Council, and he has repeatedly raised taxes, led the fight to hire four (!) Registrars of Voters, and prevented the public from questioning Council members at Town Council meetings. I have not run for public office before, and I will bring a fresh perspective and my public administration experience to bear as we put all spending under a microscope, develop a marketing plan for the town, and then double down on attracting new business.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:

1) Having the Town Council serve as a watchdog on spending instead of a rubber stamp and automatically approving whatever an agency or board received in the preceding year.

2) Making sure public school spending -- which consumes one out of every two tax dollars -- gets down to the classroom and students instead of hiring more and more administrators.

3) Working with the Board of Education to conduct the kind of line by line, forensic audit of school spending that The Mayor promised but hasn't sought.

4) Opening the windows and letting people see and understand where their money goes.

5) Looking for ways to better inform taxpayers of town events and decisions.

6) Looking for green initiatives and sustainable development that could save taxpayers money.

7) Restoring Stratford's reputation; when I attended SHS in 1970, we used to laugh at Shelton and The Valley. No Longer!

My wife and I have lived in our Meadowmere Road home (near Boothe Memorial) for 22 years. After I retired from full-time college administration, our income dropped 75% and we are not sure how much longer we can afford to live here due to the unusually high property taxes. I have heard similar stories from dozens of people in the 8th District. We need a tough review of our budget to cut spending and a major increase in efforts to attract new business; only then can we begin to get property taxes reduced. The current Town Council borrowed money in order to balance the books in this Election Year without a tax increase. We all know what happens when you can't make the mortgage or rent in November and you decide to borrow from December -- eventually the bills come due. Stratford taxpayers should brace themselves now for a tax increase next year due to the short-sighted decisions by my opponent -- who is the Chair of the Town Council -- and those in the majority to borrow money to balance the books in this election year .

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

My experience as a university dean at two schools, supervising budgets and conducting tough program evaluations. (We should NEVER create a town program without first knowing how we will evaluate whether it is a success!) Helping to create the Master of Public Administration program at Fairfield University and teaching its very first class. My work in state government on environmental issues such asopen space protection and hazardous waste remediation (which is relevant to my working to get the AVCO / Stratford Army Engine Plant stabilized and back on the tax rolls).Never having run for office before, I will bring an outside perspective to the position (vs. the perspective of my opponent who is seeking his 10th year on The Council)

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Go after a job you like and you will never work a day in your life. I have enjoyed careers as a journalist, state government executive, public information officer, college professor, and Dean. I loved them all. I will bring all those experiences, all those lenses, to bear as I examine Stratford's issues and help decide what is in the town's short-term and long-term best interests.

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

Stratford has been very good to me and my family, and I have the time and the passion to give something back. I have a vision of Stratford as a diverse, bustling community where people are attracted by our Arts/Culture heritage (stemming from our Shakespeare focus), reasonably priced housing, great restaurants, proximity to NYC, and a government that prides itself on smart decision-making and looking to property tax increases as the last option instead of the first option. Our leaders would look outside the box for extra funding through state and federal grants, by using solar and other Smart Energy programs, and making sure school spending decisions are focused on the classrooms and the students. We would encourage town departments and boards to generate new ideas to enrich the town instead of just taking last year's budget allotment and doing the same as they have done in the past. And we would look for good ideas from any source, including from the other party, instead of only voting along party lines.

Aim Higher, Stratford!