High expectations for Passero’s 2nd term

Mayor Passero says he has an experienced administrative team in place. There should be no learning curve in a second term.

I n about two weeks New London Mayor Michael Passero will take the oath of office for a second four-year term, becoming the first mayor to do so since city voters — with the strong backing of these editorial pages — opted to abandon the council-city manager form of government in favor of a directly elected chief executive.

Central to the argument in favor of strong-mayor governance is accountability. Rather than diffused among members of a council, with a city manager hired to oversee the bureaucracy, leadership is concentrated with the mayor. The buck stops there.

In asking voters to re-elect him to a second term, and in earning the endorsement of this editorial board, Passero made the case that he had set New London on a “trajectory of success.” Passero’s legacy as mayor now rests on whether, in this second term, that trajectory reaches its destination.

The Democratic mayor has much going for him.

On the strength of job expansion at Electric Boat offices in the city, and riding a new era of urban migration, this coastal city is seeing a boom in housing development.

Mayor Passero says he has an experienced administrative team in place to effectively manage city finances, build on the recent housing development, and provide city services. There should be no learning curve in a second term.

Voters handed him a City Council in full control of his Democratic Party. That could be an advantage or a liability. An advantage in that Passero can pursue an agenda without the stagnation partisan politics can cause. A liability if the council is only a rubber stamp and fails to provide the check on mayoral power that can save a mayor from making bad mistakes.

Though challenges remain, State Pier and the Port of New London stand on the precipice of conversion into a hub supporting a massive industry new to the United States — large-scale offshore wind power development. If the cards are played right, that could mean an influx of revenues for the city and substantial job creation.

Largely outside of the control of the mayor — but for which Passero can play a part in fiscal support and helping steer new school construction — is the city’s public education system. The overall performance of city students, as measured by standardized testing, continues to disappoint. But our confidence remains that the all-magnet-schools’ approach, by diversifying the student population and attracting greater state financial support, holds the potential for big improvements in student achievement.

What would a trajectory to success look like? It would mean substantial progress in renovating downtown buildings and filling vacant storefronts with viable and sustainable businesses.

It would include rising home prices, providing homeowners in New London’s working-class neighborhoods the equity to reinvest in their housing. And it would involve aggressive blight enforcement to discourage absentee landlords from failing to invest in their properties and drag down the values of homes around them.

In a second Passero term the city should expect to finally see substantial development in the Fort Trumbull peninsula; if not completed, then in the planning or construction phases. It’s long overdue.

All that should lead to some reasonable stabilization of the tax base, allowing residents and businesses to find their own stability to build on without being confronted with sharp property tax hikes.

It could be argued we are setting expectations too high. But when was greatness ever achieved by setting expectations low? For too long New London has been referred to as a place with great potential. A beautiful shoreline community with a deep-water port, historic downtown, diverse population and a transportation hub providing passenger and freight rail, ferry, buses and highway access.

Finally moving past potential to transformation into a more vibrant city is Mayor Passero’s challenge during his second term, a challenge shared by its residents and business community. Regardless of where one stood before the election, all should wish the mayor success in that endeavor.