FIRST TIME FACING OFF
Three weeks until election, Valentine, Simmons go head to head
DARIEN — State Rep. Caroline Simmons and Bobby Valentine faced off in their first debate Tuesday evening as Stamford’s mayoral race enters its final three weeks.
The candidates opened the debate, hosted by the State Street Debating Society and held at The Waters Edge at Giovanni’s in Darien, by touting their qualifications.
Valentine, who is running as an unaffiliated candidate, said he has experience not only as a professional baseball player and manager but also as a restaurateur and as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University, where he oversaw a multimillion-dollar budget.
“I’ve done some things in my life, and when people have come to me and asked me (for) direction on what they should do, I often say, ‘Well, make sure your passion can match your skill set,’ ” Valentine said. “And my passion is for the city of Stamford, Connecticut. My passion is for the people who live here. And my skill set is one of leadership, of managing and of organization that I think sets me apart from probably anybody else who could be running for this office.”
Simmons, a Democrat who has represented a portion of Stamford in the state House since 2015, said her background includes working at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as well as the Stamfordbased nonprofit Women’s Business Development Council.
“These are serious times when we need a serious leader who has experience and a track record of delivering results for the people of Stamford,” Simmons said, adding that she is also a mother of two, and “like all hard-working parents across our city know, there’s nothing that is more important than creating a brighter and safer future for our children.”
William Hennessey, the society’s debate chairman, moderated Tuesday’s discussion, asking the candidates about Stamford’s relationship with Hartford, property taxes, public safety and economic development.
On a number of issues, Simmons and Valentine were largely in agreement. Both said a scheduled revaluation of Stamford’s residential and commercial properties should be postponed, as Mayor David Martin has requested. Asked about the police force, they said that diversity needs to be a priority in the officer hiring process, and both expressed support for a recent initiative in which a social worker has been “embedding” with the police department. With regard to economic development, they each said they would recruit more businesses to the city as mayor.
They also agreed that Stamford hasn’t received its “fair share” from Hartford.
Valentine contended that the city has “not had the proper delegation and the proper voices in Hartford” to secure the state funding it needs to rebuild its schools and infrastructure.
“I think that our delegates, I think that our mayor needs not only to have a loud voice in Hartford but has to have a voice that’s heard so that we get our fair share,” he said.
Simmons defended Stamford’s delegation, saying she and other members have worked to increase education funding for the city as well as get money for school construction and bonding for transportation projects.
“We’ve certainly made progress, but no question we deserve more funding,” Simmons said. “One of the
key things we need to continue to work on is to adjust the state formulas.”
Many of those formulas allocate funding based on grand lists — which list all the taxable property within the city — she said. Stamford has one of the largest grand lists in the state, but “so many people are struggling in our city, and our grand list doesn’t necessarily reflect the needs,” Simmons said.
“As mayor, it’s going to be tough work, but we can do it, and we need a leader who knows how to navigate the state Capitol, how to get things accomplished in Hartford,” she said.
For his final question of the evening, Hennessey asked the candidates to imagine it was the year 2025. What would be their proudest accomplishments from their first term as mayor?
Simmons said she would like to be able to say that her administration made major improvements to Stamford’s infrastructure, obtained state funding for school buildings and rid all the schools of mold, and made city government more responsive to residents.
Valentine said that after his first term, he would want Stamford’s fleet of municipal vehicles to be “ready to transition into being all electric.” He said he would also want to be able to say that the city’s school facilities had received “the attention that they deserve” and that businesses based in Stamford had helped fund improvements to parks and open spaces.
The Stamford mayoral election is Nov. 2.