Perspective: In their own words, the candidates for mayor of New London make their case to the voters.
Molding a city that works for everyone
My name is Frida Berrigan. I’m running for mayor of New London because I want to make life better for every struggling family in our city.
When only 3,300 out of 16,000 registered voters cast ballots — as they did in the 2015 mayoral election — democracy fails. I want to change that.
Our city is poor and working class. In my neighborhood, I see good people working tirelessly to barely get by. As mayor, I would be committed to making life easier for the one in three of us who live in poverty by working with the state to eliminate the car tax, making Ocean Beach free to New London residents, supporting an increase in the minimum wage and ensuring that all city employees earn a living wage (which is $19 per hour in Connecticut). And, I will fight to ensure that the wind power industry, about to set up shop here, hires New London people.
Our young people and their school system have been disinvested in for years because many city leaders send their children to private schools. If I were mayor, the school budget would increase, building maintenance would be supported, and a non-lapsing fund would be established. Also, in listening to my neighbors, I am hearing how much it hurts that city youth don’t have a community center — that will change when I am mayor.
New London has the only Center for the Blind in Connecticut, yet our sidewalks and crosswalks are unsafe for people with limited sight. Even in neighborhoods with newly paved sidewalks, people in wheelchairs or using canes are often forced to navigate around trashcans and other impediments. As mayor, I will prioritize the needs of people over cars, improve public transportation, and support investment in Public Works, the guardians of our city’s most basic needs: trash, recycling, plowing, utilities, building maintenance. I will direct the creation of a 100-year plan to address flooding and prepare our waterfront community to survive and thrive in this era of climate crisis.
Raising revenue to pay for essential services and fund employee pensions is a constant challenge. Just 10 years ago our pension fund was funded at 98 percent, and now it’s down to 57 percent. This is troubling. Only 34 percent of us are homeowners, the lowest rate in the state. I am committed to increasing homeownership and incentivizing, not penalizing, property improvements. I’ll explore innovative tools used by other municipalities, such as recouping a percentage of state taxes collected from local businesses and negotiating voluntary payments from property-rich nonprofits, to help defray the cost of municipal services. Lastly, New London receives Payment in Lieu of Taxes for state-owned properties, however, the PILOT payments are far less than the 70 percent set by statute. We deserve our share.
New London is a multicultural, multilingual community, and our city government lags in being accessible to everyone. I would prioritize the hiring of people in all departments who live in New London and speak Spanish and Haitian Creole. Under my leadership, we will celebrate and unite all the vibrant communities of people who live here.
On Nov. 5 you get to cast your vote for the next leader of our city. If you want more for your family, for your kids, for your neighbors, and for our community, I’m asking you to give me a chance to try approaches that haven’t been tried before.
If I am mayor, the people of New London will be at the center of my leadership and vision for economic, cultural, environmental and socially just development. For you and for your family, I’ll work to create real systemic change.
On Election Day find box 1E, fill in the bubble and write-in “Frida.”