Mayor Stewart presents State of the City to Common Council

March 10, 2005

STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS BY MAYOR TIMOTHY STEWART, MARCH 9, 2005

I am pleased and honored to stand before you today to report on the state of the City.

A year ago, I presented my first State of the City address and in those remarks I indicated that the state of our City was not good when we looked at it from strictly a financial point of view.

Today, 364 days later, I can say that things are looking better but we still have a long way to go.

It is important that we all remember that there are no easy solutions to the problems that we face here in New Britain. These situations took a long time to develop and will take a significant amount of time to resolve. There may be some in our community who believe there are quick fixes or magic formulas to solve these problems but they are wrong. It will take creative planning and dedicated hard work to find real solutions to New Britain's problems.

We still have much to be proud of in our city: the best municipal park system in the state; an outstanding university in Central Connecticut State; two of the state's premiere hospitals....New Britain General and the Hospital for Special Care; the nation's oldest museum of American art which is nearing completion of its major expansion program; the New Britain Rock Cats who drew record crowds throughout the baseball season last year. All of these are major assets of our city and dynamic centerpieces of our community.

Since I addressed you a year ago on the state of the City, much has been accomplished to make our city even better. Let me list for you the positive accomplishments of the past year:

One thing I promised in last year's address was that I was committed to expanding New Britain's economic development efforts and I can tell you today that these efforts have had significant success.

Nearly 30 city-owned properties have been sold bringing in over $1.4 million and adding to our city's grand list.

Two of our city's oldest family-owned companies, Guida's and Dattco, purchased the old New Britain Machine property and today are in the process of expanding their operations in our city. This will mean jobs for residents and new tax revenues for New Britain as well.

Papa's Dodge has purchased the property on East Main Street that was once home to Stop and Shop and J.M. Fields and they are planning on developing the largest Dodge/Jeep dealership in New England. It will be an auto dealership the likes of which New Britain has never seen before.

The long vacant Hatch building has been sold to two young local entrepreneurs who intend to turn it into their corporate headquarters after completing a major rehabilitation of the building.

85 Arch Street is about to become Friendship Center supportive housing...another shining example of a partnership between the City and one of our outstanding community service organizations.

The new Price Rite supermarket has opened on Columbus Boulevard and has become a center of shopping activity in our city.

The Holiday Inn Corporation is in the process of completely upgrading the hotel on Bank Street and Columbus Boulevard bringing a first-class hotel to our city for the first time in decades.

The Central Connecticut Association for Retarded Citizens has opened a new state of the art facility to provide services for their clients throughout the Greater New Britain area.

And there are many other economic development initiatives in the pipeline. The former DMV property on West Main Street will soon be sold to a developer who will transform this eyesore into a revenue-producing site.

We are concentrating new efforts on marketing the former Fafnir site which is one of the most attractive locations in all of central Connecticut.

And we must not forget the former Pinnacle Heights property which we intend to turn into a major economic development initiative as soon as the state transfers the property back to us.

This past year saw the completion of many projects like our new state of the art water filtration plant that went on line in May of 2004, assuring the residents of New Britain the highest quality drinking water in the nation.

The spectacular new Willow Brook swimming facility opened on Labor Day weekend. This is an outstanding new water park that will bring enjoyment to thousands of city residents including persons with disabilities who have been denied access to this type of activity in the past.

We have substantially completed the renovations to Vance and Lincoln Schools and begun work on the renovation of Northend School which is the last school in the 20/20 renovations program, largely due to the collaborative efforts of the Board of Education and my administration.

We have begun the process to expand New Britain High School in order to relieve overcrowding and to improve the atmosphere in which our children learn. This will make a significant difference in the lives of all the students and faculty who make up our city's great high school.

We have also embarked on finding a new location to build a new police station....something that has been needed for many years. It is my hope that we will soon see a new headquarters for our police department in the center of our city, bringing our public safety operations into the 21st century.

Phase I of the Broad/Main Street upgrading has been completed and Phase II is about to begin.

The Corridor Study has been completed and a new, state-funded downtown economic development study is about to begin. It is my hope that these two studies will provide us with a roadmap for future economic growth and job development.

Next week, New Britain will embark on the much anticipated First Responder Program which is a cooperative effort between the New Britain Fire Department and New Britain EMS to provide faster and more efficient emergency medical assistance to our residents. In medical emergencies every second counts and the First Responder Program will reduce response times and save lives. In fact, the Fire Department's assistance has already shown dramatic benefits to the system.

Some of the more subtle changes in administration that have been accomplished over the past year have resulted in more efficiencies in service delivery to the citizens of New Britain.

Moving the Water Department billing offices to City Hall now allows many of our residents who don't like to pay their bills through the mail, to pay their taxes and water/sewer bills at the same time.

Relocating the Health Department to Hawkins Street has not only saved the City significant dollars but allowed us to move the Environmental Health Division into City Hall, something that has long been desired.

Many other changes in physical locations of departments have minimized communication problems and made our government more efficient.

The past year saw the retirements of several of the City's top administrators and the hiring of new individuals to replace them. We have a new Fire Chief, Public Works Director, Health Director and a new Assessor. Recruitment of a new Personnel Director is underway and recruitment of a Chief of Police will soon follow.

These changes in leadership have provided us with a unique opportunity to review policies and practices and to set a new management tone and direction for this City.

New Britain's Affirmative Action goal success rate is up, including two minority department heads.

Open government initiatives have provided new access to New Britain residents. Council meetings are now televised regularly.

As mayor, I have held monthly open office hours allowing hundreds of New Britain residents the opportunity to meet with me in person to share their concerns and express their opinions. The Board of Finance has hosted a public hearing on the proposed budget to gather public input into the budget process for the first time.

We have reduced our bonding authorizations by $33 million in an effort to improve New Britain's bond rating. This will lead to significant savings down the road as when we are required to commit millions of dollars to bonding the police headquarters and New Britain High School expansion projects.

And.......last but not least.............we have cut property taxes for our city's taxpayers. While it was not the tax cut that I had proposed....it was still a reduction in the mill rate.

I directed the Finance Board to be more active and dedicated in their efforts to find ways to save taxpayer dollars and, as a result, we have been able to trim spending and find creative ways of meeting the needs of our city.

And...........with a stronger commitment from the Common Council... we can cut taxes again this year. It is my commitment to the taxpayers of this city that I will do everything in my power to continue to provide tax relief for all residents this year and in the foreseeable future relieve us of the dependency we have on the State and Federal governments.

Let me conclude by saying that New Britain may not be the city we all wish for but it is a wonderful place to live and to raise a family.

It is a city that offers good schools, affordable housing, great parks and recreational opportunities, and a chance for people to come here and make a good life for themselves.

It has been home to hundreds of thousands of people who came to this country looking for a new home and a better way of life and it will continue to do that for all who share our dreams of a life of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to address you tonight on the state of our city and my vision for our city's future.

Working together we can and will build a better city for ourselves and for those who follow us. Let us build upon our successes and make New Britain a better place for you and me.

Thank you and may God bless the City of New Britain.