Caggiano announces reelection campaign
Cites Bristol downtown progress as top priority
Bristol Mayor Jeff Caggiano, who took office amid a massive local Republican victory two years ago announced Wednesday evening that he’s running for reelection.
Caggiano told supporters at Main Street Pint & Plate that he wants to be mayor while 10 major construction or renovation projects in and around downtown take shape this year.
“Shovels in the ground will speak much louder than long-standing signs on empty lots,” Caggiano said.
In his first term, the longawaited downtown revitalization has made progress: Contractors are clearing the ground for Wheeler Health’s headquarters on the site of the former Bristol Centre Square mall, and Kindcare is completing its new 60,000-square-foot, fivestory assisted living center several blocks to the north.
He told the Courant that further advances downtown will be the measurement of his performance if he wins.
“The number one most important part of the scorecard is whether we’ve finally revitalized downtown: Our long-term fiscal stability, our future economic development, success with quality of life issues — they all depend on whether we bring back the heart of our city after 62 years,” he said.
“I truly believe we can grow the population by 2,000 or 3,000 people as we bring young people and keep the elderly and retirees,” he said.
A chief goal of fostering new downtown apartment complexes and commercial development is to create an atmosphere where young professionals want to live, and where elderly residents can afford housing when they downsize from single-family homes.
Caggiano was chairman of the
Republican Town Committee when he assembled a slate of GOP candidates for the 2021 election. Democratic Mayor Ellen Zopposassu and an all-democratic ticket won every seat on the city council just two years earlier, and even Republicans were surprised when Caggiano’s ticket completely reversed that with a GOP sweep in 2021.
Almost immediately, the new Republican council split and handed Caggiano a political defeat by rejecting the sales contract with Wheeler Health, a move that appeared to imperil a centerpiece of the downtown plan. On Wednesday, Caggiano told supporters that the vote was good for the city.
“Today is the anniversary of the vote,” he said. “We look back and see it was a historic vote on downtown revitalization for our city council. After more ‘no’ votes in the first few months of our administration as compared to the entire four years of the previous administration, we came together after an open debate, plenty of public input, and took what was a good plan in the Wheeler Health project and completely turned it on its head to make it a great project.”
Caggiano, 54, said the city will adhere to an eight-year limit on the terms of elected officials. During the last election, the GOP suggested Democrats would try to skirt that rule to protect their incumbents. In that campaign, Caggiano also promoted fouryear terms for mayors, but voters rejected it at referendum.
“The voters don’t fully trust anybody,” Caggiano said. “One gentleman told me ‘I like you, I’ll probably vote for you, but let me make the decision every two years. What if you stunk? We wouldn’t want to wait four years.’ “
As with many freshman mayors, Caggiano has spent most of his term on economic development. But at the same time, his term was uniquely difficult: Bristol was rocked by the shooting deaths of two police officers in October. The tragedy made national news and
ultimately demonstrated how the city of 60,000 is close-knit.
Caggiano and Police Chief Brian Gould became the face of the city at community vigils, the funeral for Lt. Dustin Demonte and Sgt. Alex Hamzy and testimonials for injured survivor Officer Alec Iurato.
“In this small town we all knew someone who was close with one of our three heroes, or maybe you know a family member, or friend of theirs, or know an officer who served proudly with them,” Caggiano told his audience Wednesday.
“This strong sense of community is the reason the loss was so very painful for our town,” he said.
“This horrible event changed our city, changed all of us, but one thing it didn’t change was the way the citizens of this city come together to take care of each other and work to make Bristol a better place. And that is what we must all strive for.”
Privately, veteran police officers give Caggiano credit for personally ensuring that the survivors of Demonte and Hamzy get the maximum possible family benefits from the city. He also backed the #Bristolstrong campaign that drew hundreds of homeowners to change Bristol’s appearance at night by installing blue lights on doorways, garage overhangs and lamp posts.