Last night the Bunker Hill Neighborhood Association held a Mayoral Forum, and Meet the Candidates night for its members. The evening was a wonderful opportunity for the residents of Bunker Hill to meet all of us running for office this year (41 of us by my count), and hear the thoughts of the Mayoral contenders on the city of Waterbury.
The most interesting part of last night was how disparate the candidates sounded. As I stood in the back of the room, I found that Commissioner Theriault sounded angry and confrontational for most of the event. Mayor Jarjura, on the other hand, seemed to be the only one mentioning anything positive about the city of Waterbury. While everyone's feelings are open to interpretation and debate, I feel it's appropriate to include some of the more memorable comments from the evening.
As I mentioned before, the Mayor attempted to strike a positive tone in his responses, while realizing that things are not perfect. The Mayor told audience members that the city needed to focus on the basics, such as Fire, Police, Public Works, Health and Education. The mayor also praised the fact that the city is on pace for a 96% collection rate in taxes, hasn't had to lay off a single city employee, and has had 8 balanced budgets. Admittedly, most of what Mayor Jarjura said was standard fare for a four-term incumbent seeking reelection.
Commissioner Theriault, however, took a negative and aggressive tone from the beginning. In his opening remarks he commented on how he'd "love to teach the Mayor a lesson". He then proceeded to take several pot shots at the City of Waterbury, saying that "some areas of this town are downright disgusting". Furthermore, at one point during the night he referred to his old neighborhood around Cooke St. as "a jungle", and warned people that “you can’t go there at night.”
I cannot comprehend how someone who claims to love the City of Waterbury as much as Commissioner Theriault does can say that his hometown is “downright disgusting”. I have lived in Waterbury almost my entire life, I realize that there are things in the city that need to be fixed, but I have never considered any part of Waterbury “disgusting” or “a jungle”.
The evening just reinforced for me just how stark the differences are between the so-called Independents, and everyone else running for office. Every time I’ve been out meeting the voters of Waterbury I’ve done my best to accentuate the positive, while recognizing that there are problems that need fixing. I’ve also stressed that the elected officials in Waterbury need to do their best to work together to fix whatever problems may arise.
The so-called Independents, however, rant and rave about how everything is wrong in the city, claim that everyone they disagree with is corrupt on some level and give the impression that everyone who can leave Waterbury should do so as quickly as possible. That’s not the way to govern.
Hopefully people agree with me, and will vote Row A on November 3.
