Some questions for Mayor Simmons

Some random questions from the past few months …

During Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons’ trip to the Hague for the Strong Cities Network’s Transatlantic Mayoral Dialogue in November, she said domestic terrorism and mass shootings are the biggest threats facing American cities. She then said how Stamford, faced with an increase in hate crimes, hired a diversity, equity and inclusion officer and adopted a “zero tolerance” for hateful behavior.

Where’s the data to support this increase in hate crimes she speaks of? And specifically, how is the diversity officer combating this? Does this zero tolerance for hateful behavior include her race-baiting from the Glenbrook Community Center kerfuffle?

Bigger picture — what from her Department of Homeland Security experience has the mayor brought to Stamford to combat this threat of domestic terrorism? Or was that statement in the Netherlands another instance — like Chicago — of the mayor tailoring her message to her audience?

Or is the biggest threat to Stamford the lack of affordable housing?

In an opinion piece in August last year, the mayor said “there are few subjects more important to Stamford right now than affordability.”

So where are we on this? Since her Glenbrook Community Center failure, there has been no affordable housing plan promoted publicly, whether in the media or on the mayor’s social media platforms.

During a housing forum in September, the mayor claimed there has been a lot of opposition in Stamford to affordable housing plans, saying “we have to make sure the process is inclusive.”

So are there meetings with “stakeholders” over where affordable housing will be? What are the parameters of the mayor’s affordable housing plan? The mayor’s social media outlets show ribbon cuttings and the like, but mention few substantive outcomes or policy initiatives.

At the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in January, mayors throughout the country listed many obstacles to affordable housing. Mayors said they can’t solve this alone; they need everyone at the table. Is this happening here? Has that outreach been made, or are we waiting the next mandate from City Hall? The Glenbrook failure is a lesson that the mayor can build upon.

In July, 2022, the mayor acquired a slot at the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. The yearlong program provides mayors with the leadership and management tools to tackle complex challenges. Nearly 90 percent of previous attendees said the program improved their leadership capabilities. How is the mayor using the skills learned in this prestigious program? How is Stamford benefiting from this?

Mayoral supporters will point to her accomplishments, but after a year, there’s nothing that can be called transformative. Does the mayor have something she can point to as a legacy-defining accomplishment? Her social media promotes the usual ceremonial and campaign-like appearances, and the PR-heavy language in her staff’s media comments provide only pablum. It’s just window dressing — we need to see if anyone is behind the curtain.

P.S.: The mayor had a good video announcing that the Stamford government website is available in multiple languages. They may want someone to make that promotional video available in a couple other languages besides English.

Carlton Christopher is a resident of Stamford.