The mayor recently sat down with The Valley Indy for a wide-ranging “Navel Gazing” podcast interview about the issues facing Derby.
Click play to listen to the entire interview.
Click here to listen to challenger Brian Coppolo’s interview.
This episode is sponsored by ValleyGivesBack.org, an initiative of The Valley Community Foundation.
Here’s a guide to the interview, which is roughly 45 minutes long:
2 minutes 17 seconds: Why run again?
Dziekan goes through his background — military service, 24 years as a Hamden police officer, and credits the late Tony Szewczyk for getting him involved in Derby politics.
10 minutes Dziekan comments on Derby’s business climate.
The mayor talks about what may or may not be going into the Big Y Plaza at 656 New Haven Ave.
11 minutes: What’s the most pressing issue facing the City of Derby?
Spoiler alert: Dziekan talks about the long-planned Route 34 widening project.
16 minutes: Shouldn’t there be four-year terms in Derby, given the challenges faced by each administration?
“Absolutely,” Dziekan said.
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18 minutes, 20 seconds The recent Derby budget crisis … was this the result of anything underhanded? Did the mayor order a “forensic” audit? Has the city made any personnel changes given the magnitude of the mistake?
(Note: the interview at this point mentions Dziekan’s former campaign manager, not his current)
Dziekan points out that fund balance information has traditionally been hard to come by in Derby, an issue he said he raised while first running for mayor. He points out that Derby has been advised by auditors for years to do a better job with bookkeeping, but his administration isn’t ignoring the problems.
He said the city is hiring a new bookkeeper, shuffling around employees in the finance office, and considering a new interim finance director.
“That’s what we’re shooting for, basically,” the mayor said.
28 minutes, 11 seconds: How is the mayor responding to people upset that the Derby Board of Apportionment and Taxation raised taxes this year?
Dziekan says that the price of everything needed to run a city goes up, just like the cost of running a household.
He points out the tax board had kept taxes flat for a few years in an effort to help residents.
But, at the same time, Derby’s operating costs were on the rise. It was an untenable situation.
The city couldn’t use a fund balance to stabilize taxes, so there was no choice but to raise taxes this year, Dziekan said. It’s painful, but Derby is taking the steps to restore its fund balance and get back on solid financial ground.
The real answer is economic development to grow the grand list and reduce the tax burden on homeowners, Dziekan said. He then lists several projects, such as a fuel cell on Roosevelt Drive, that are in the works.
Click play to listen to the mayor’s full answer.
32 minutes, 30 seconds: Economic development
When Dziekan took office, he hired Carmen DiCenso to work as a part-time economic development liaison. The mayor lists what DiCenso has been up to since the position was created.
36 minutes School regionalization?
Dziekan weighs-in on the discussion over whether the Ansonia-Derby schools can team to provide a better, less costly education for kids — and whether he’s hearing from Derby residents about the issue.
Election Day is Nov. 5!
The YouTube version of this audio-only interview is embedded below:
“Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast” is a weekly Valley talk show.
Music courtesy of The Bad Slugs.
In addition to being on YouTube and Libsyn, the Valley Indy’s “Navel Gazing” podcast is available on:
Pandora (find the app in your app store)
Click here for previous episodes.
