Putting in the hard work
Kolenberg to step down as rep to spend year studying government corruption
STAMFORD — Steve Kolenberg, believed to be the youngest person ever elected to the Board of Representatives, is stepping down to move to England, where he has been accepted in a graduate program that examines how governments go bad.
He plans to bring his expertise back to Stamford after completing his yearlong studies at the University of Sussex in Brighton, said Kolenberg, a Republican who won a District 16 seat on the board when he was 20.
“It’s the only master’s degree program in the world dedicated to the study of government corruption — what constitutes it, how it originates, how to combat it, how the public sector intersects with business,” said Kolenberg, now 26. “I thought this would be something I could use to help people.”
He said he is inspired by his father, Bob Kolenberg, a former member of the Board of Finance. In 2010, the senior Kolenberg was among a handful of elected officials who reported that city employees were stealing scrap metal, selling it and keeping the money. Over time, the city lost what would have amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.
The whistleblowers were hit with legal challenges for exposing the scheme. “The civil servants involved didn’t like the oversight, and they attacked us,” Bob Kolenberg said after the scandal was settled in 2014.
Steven Kolenberg was in high school then. By the time he was a junior at the University of ConnecticutStamford, he was running for elected office.
One reason is that his District 16 representative, Sal Gabriele, who worked with his father to reveal the scrap metal scheme, was giving up his seat to run for the Board of Finance, where he still sits. The other reason is that the other District 16 representative was retiring.
“I thought it was a good opportunity,” Kolenberg said. “My campaign strategy was to knock on every single door in the district and talk to people about how I wanted to represent them.” It worked.
Rep. Mary Fedeli, R17, the board’s minority leader, said she was not surprised Kolenberg won.
“He went and met people in his district. He put himself out there,” Fedeli said. “When you put in the hard work, you reap the benefits.”
The average age on the board at the time was 57, nearly twothirds older than Kolenberg.
Still, it was the year of the young — Kolenberg’s District 16 counterpart, Democrat Matthew Quinones, now board president, was 27 when he won the seat. Brien Buckman, a Democrat from District 12, was 23.
Kolenberg said he wasn’t prepared for the scrutiny that comes with public service.
“When you’re in college, you’re allowed to make a few stupid mistakes,” he said. “But I couldn’t go to some parties. I had to be careful how I behaved.”
He was unprepared for the criticism.
“When you don’t vote the way people want you to, some of them come after you,” he said.
Fellow board members called him The Kid.
“I took a lot of time to learn how the board functions and get their respect, so I could work on policies like I was expected to do,” Kolenberg said.
The first ordinance he wrote concerned snow on sidewalks.
“You’re not allowed to dump on sidewalks, but there’s nothing in the code that allowed for enforcement of that,” he said. “Now it’s $75 per violation if you’re caught.”
He worked on another ordinance that says a vehicle may not be parked on a city street for more than five consecutive days.
“Cars and trucks and vans were left on the streets blocking traffic and driveways and clogging up neighborhoods,” Kolenberg said. “The ordinance has been very successful. I haven’t heard any complaints since it passed two years ago.”
He also worked to pass a ban on the use of disposable plastic bags, and on a resolution opposing installation of highway tolls.
His last act, which the board will take up next month, is a resolution supporting the people of Hong Kong in their fight for democracy.
“I think Stamford is a worldclass city, and it’s good to use our voice,” Kolenberg said.
It’s a hallmark of his generation, he said.
“We have a lot of opinions and we want to let people know what we think,” he said.
His time on the board has provided an education in governance, and traveling has educated him about the world, said Kolenberg, who has been to Borneo, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Easter Island and Armenia, where he gave a lecture on local government.
He’s made several trips to England, where his girlfriend, Ellen, lives.
“On the island of Borneo, I saw the effects of climate change. The Armenians have a strong relationship with the Russians, and I saw how their different cultures interact,” Kolenberg said. “People live basically the same life, just with a different approach.”
In 2014 while a student at UConn, he got an internship with the State Department and worked at the U.S. embassy in Berlin for three months. During that time, he continued to answer calls from constituents.
“I took my work on the board seriously,” Kolenberg said.
Fedeli said his resignation, like his win, is not a surprise.
“The Kid’s gotta do what a kid’s gotta do,” Fedeli said. “He wants to further his education and this is a great opportunity. It was great to have his perspective in the caucus. He worked hard for his constituents and helped other people in their campaigns. He will be missed.”
Kolenberg most likely will name his choice to replace him when he submits his resignation letter, Fedeli said. If not, the Republican Party will name a replacement. That person will keep the District 16 seat until 2021, when all representatives are up for reelection.
Kolenberg said he will be gone before the board’s Oct. 7 meeting.
“I grew up on the Board of Representatives,” he said.