David Kooris
STAMFORD — David Kooris won his first elected office, a District 6 seat on the Board of Representatives, the hard way.
The Democrat forced a primary, then earned support by knocking on countless doors in his downtown district.
It was 2013. Kooris sat on three influential board committees — Fiscal, Land Use and Transportation — but halfway through his term, he made another move.
In 2015, the thenBoard of Finance chairman, fellow Democrat John Louizos, announced he would not run again. So Kooris decided to try for the seat.
“There are a lot of interesting policy discussions that take place on the Board of Representatives, but where the money goes is a foundational decision. The rest kind of works around the edges,” said Kooris, who works as deputy commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development. “Board of Finance issues are the same, from a slightly different angle.”
There was another consideration for moving to the finance board — he and his wife had a toddler at home.
“The Board of Representatives is a bigger time commitment — one board meeting a month plus multiple committee meetings,” he said. “The Board of Finance is one meeting a month plus a rare committee meeting.”
Now, at 39, with that daughter in elementary school and a second in preschool, Kooris is seeking a second term on the Board of Finance.
The six members of the finance board hold office for four years on a staggered schedule. Incumbent Mary Lou Rinaldi is running again, but fellow Democrat Dudley Williams, elected in 2015, is not seeking reelection. Also vying for the three open spots on the finance board are Republicans Chris Woodside, Andrew Krill and Fritz Blau and Democrat Geoff Alswanger.
“We are at a very interesting moment in time,” said Kooris, who has an extensive background in city planning. “One of the biggest things we are concerned about, rightfully, is the state of our public assets — the road network, schools and other public buildings. We need to bring those facilities up to a state of good repair but do so in a way that doesn’t overburden taxpayers.”
He said finance board members have been discussing “ways to leverage the growth we’ve seen” to fund repairs without incurring too much debt.
“There’s been a lot of development, which people view in different ways. But I don’t know what we would do without all the revenue from the transfer tax and building permits that we’ve been getting,” Kooris said. “It will not last forever, and the dropoff is not too far out on the horizon. We have to prepare for a potential drop in the revenues that have buoyed us in recent years.”
By “prepare” he means “plan.” Kooris, a Fairfield native, holds a master’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania. He and his wife moved to Stamford after he began running the Connecticut office of the Regional Plan Association, headquartered in Stamford, in 2007.
He was director of the Bridgeport Office of Planning and Economic Development before taking the job with the state, where he orchestrates plans for capital projects, waterfronts, transitoriented development, reuse of brownfields, and more.
Kooris said his experience helps him on the Board of Finance because planning is key to formulating sound decisions on spending, borrowing, and setting tax rates.
“Local government is exclusively reliant on the property tax, so if you’re not maintaining the value of your land, then you’re dying,” he said. “Stamford is becoming the type of place where people want to be in the 21st century. Jobs will follow the people. We’re in that transition now.”
The city’s growth has to be managed effectively, and the finance board can help with that by providing resources now that “will allow us to make investments that will create the longerterm value we need,” Kooris said.