O’Brien launches run for mayor
NEW MILFORD — Tom O’Brien disagrees with the administration’s spending decisions and wants a chance to change the town’s priorities by running for mayor.
“I’m troubled by the direction our current leadership is taking the town,” said the Democrat, a carpenter and writer who ran for state representative last year. “I have a different vision for the town.”
O’Brien, 59, kicked off his
mayoral campaign at a fundraiser on Sunday afternoon.
That office is held by Republican Pete Bass, who won his first term in 2017 replacing Democrat David Gronbach. Bass has not yet announced his intention to run for re-election.
O’Brien said he plans to focus on long-term investments, including increasing funding for the schools and building recreational opportunities in town, such as the trail system and sidewalks to help attract more residents and businesses. He also hopes to increase the affordable housing options, especially downtown. He said because Republicans on the Town Council have continually cut the school board’s budget requests, the schools need to be better funded.
“It’s death by 100 cuts,” O’Brien said.
The schools were one of the main draws for his family when he moved to town 20 years ago and he said other families look at the schools first when deciding where to move. A real estate agent told him families are living in towns near New Milford so they can use its amenities but not send their children to its schools.
He said he has seen some of the technical and vocational programs disappear over the years and worries that was a result of budget cuts. He has made a living as a carpenter and said the town needs to invest more in the trades at the schools.
O’Brien was drawn to the town for its scenery, including the Housatonic River, the green and Candlewood Lake, which he said he plans to promote through increased recreational opportunities, such as the river trail.
Taking the lead on the trail was his first foray into local civic service. He had heard about a trail plan in the late 1990s, but nothing happened. He saw Sega Meadows as a way to revitalize the effort about a decade later. He now chairs the bike and trails committee and the New Milford River Trail Association.
“I had to do it myself and I don’t give up easily,” he said.
He has served on the Zoning Commission where he worked to have sidewalks installed along Route
7. He said not installing sidewalks when the road was expanded is one of the town’s biggest mistakes. There is now a discussion to use a federal grant to add sidewalks, but the $400,000 local match has caused hesitation.
“It’s astounding to me that our Town Council is still waffling on the $1.8 million grant for sidewalks,” he said, adding it’s a measure that will save lives.
O’Brien last year ran for state representative in the
67th District, which encompasses New Milford, but lost to Republican Bill Buckbee who won his second term.
“The last thing I ever planned to be was a politician, but sometimes you have to step up,” O’Brien said.
While campaigning, he heard from residents about the number of people who commute to the city and how to improve mass transit to make it easier, such as a commuter shuttle to the train stations or a better sidewalk or trail system for people to get places without needing a car.
He said not having to rely on a car could help make it more affordable to live in town because a car wouldn’t be needed. Adding affordable housing in town would also make it easier to live in town.
These, coupled with better school investments would encourage more residents and small businesses to come to town, he said.
He said hhe hopes to make government more efficient by sharing departments between the town and schools, such as information technology and streamlining the different methods for vehicle maintenance between various departments.
“I’m a liberal Democrat but I come from the background that you get things done or you get someone else to do it,” O’Brien said. “That’s how government should run.”