Meet the candidates for Ward 2 Aldermen; Kevin Kosty and Bryan Lizotte
Our candidates were asked questions by the Shelton Herald, you can read their responses below.
Bryan Lizotte (D)
Work - Former medical technologist at Griffin Hospital in Derby; ·owner of an entertainment/magic business in the Valley area for 34 years; owner of the Shelton Gift Boutique in downtown Shelton.
Community - Lifelong Shelton resident; former member and officer of the Shelton Jaycees and the Derby-Shelton Rotary Club; former co-editor of “A Pictorial History of Shelton;” former chairman of Shelton’s Bicentennial Committee; served as one of the founding organizers for the now annual Shelton Day Festival.
1. What are the major challenges facing the city now and in the coming years and how would you handle that challenge?
One of the major challenges in the city right now is the unattractiveness and congestion downtown. A city’s downtown is the gateway to the city and should be inviting. Several business owners and I have added flowers to brighten the area. But the parking challenges have to be addressed, instead of being ignored. There is also a lack of police presence downtown. There are many residents living on Canal Street East that have no easy access to the downtown restaurants and businesses. Sidewalks are in terrible shape, and some are impassable and need to be repaired.
2. What are your primary goals if elected?
I want to make downtown Shelton a destination. We have some great restaurants and businesses, but we need more. We must make parking easier for everyone especially the handicapped. We need to find parking for residents and business owners and business employees, so they don’t have to park on the street. We need street parking for patrons of businesses. We have to make the sidewalks safer and walkable. We need to have a police officer downtown, to make people feel safer. We need a safe, lighted walkway from Canal St. East to the downtown. The Board of Education needs to be better funded. We can do these things by auditing the city departments, stopping waste and shifting funds where they are needed.
Kevin Kosty (D)
Work - Trainer and technical support specialist at a scientific instrument manufacturer in Shelton.
Political - Currently serving first term on Board of Aldermen
Community – A 15-year resident; volunteer work events for the Boys & Girls Club, Adam’s House, Trail’s Committee and other organizations
1. What are the major challenges facing the city now and in the coming years and how would you handle that challenge?
Shelton faces major headwinds in our budget. The healthcare accounts for City and School employees were severely underfunded and we’re facing multimillion-dollar shortages. We need to do a better job addressing shortages and realistic planning for costs, and a rainy-day fund, in our budget. The answers provided by the administration and my republican colleagues during the budget season was “let’s wait and see.” That will only lead to tax increases they’ll likely try to blame on someone else again, just as they did when they wrongly sued the Board of Education a few years ago.
In addition, we still have the possibility of multiple settlements from the multiple arbitration rulings against the Lauretti administration of treatment of our City employees and police officers that will cost us money. We need strong ethical oversight to stop any further attempts at coercion, discrimination, and anti-union activity in City Hall. And that further construction development is fair with equitable opportunity for all.
We also need to address public safety and the lack of parking downtown. We need our downtown businesses to flourish to help keep our taxes low and give our residents a downtown district that inspires pride and will attract out-of-town customers.
2. What are your primary goals if elected?
Keeping our taxes low. We need to build transparency into our budget so that our citizens know they’re getting the best deal possible. That will also make it easier for us to find savings we can redirect to better fund our schools, develop a long-term plan for infrastructure upgrades, properly pave our streets (there have been a lot of complaints of chip seal aggregate stones in people’s yards and drainage problems created this year), and taking better care of our public parks. There are a lot of young families in Ward 2 and one of their most frequent complaints is they feel they must go to other towns to find nice parks for their children. That’s a major hit to the pride we should all have for our City and our sense of community. When pride in a community is low it attracts crime. Towns with beautiful public spaces, nice parks, and great services have lower rates of crime not from spending more on police, the atmosphere created discourages it.
We also need to address the lack of affordable housing for both seniors and middle-class working families. A strong middle-class brings a strong economy, successful small businesses, and lower taxes.
