Derby Mayor Anthony Staffieri was sworn into a fourth term Saturday morning. The following is the text of the speech he gave at Derby High School.
Staffieri’s Speech
Good morning.
Mayor DellaVolpe, Mayor Lauretti, I thank you for joining me today and wish to thank you for your friendship and the bi partisan relationship we have shared for the past six years.
I would like to thank His Honor, Joe Flynn, for being so kind in offering me the oath of office. Joe, your service to Derby, to our State of Connecticut and to the Judicial System has been extraordinary. You have set a standard of intelligence and impeccable honesty as a shining example for all of us to follow. You humble me with your presence.
To my dear friend, State Representative, Themis Klarides, who wore out shoes walking with me these last couple of months. I thank you for your spirit, your counsel, and of course, your shoe leather.
To those many volunteers who worked on my behalf during the recent campaign and Judy Szewczyk, who gave so much of her time, her intelligence and her creativity, I thank all of you. You amaze me.
To my sister Liz and my brothers Jim, Ezio and Aldo, I thank you. Family is everything to me and I am very lucky to be part of our family.
To my wife Diane and to my three sons, Anthony, Paul and Joe, your support and love has been and, continues to be, the high point of my life. I thank and love you.
The most sensational aspect of living in the United States of America is our wonderful ability to vote and elect those who will represent us.
The people in Derby have voted and we are now the elected officials selected to move forward, making the lives of Derby’s citizens better for today and into the future.
May I congratulate each and everyone of you on your successful campaign to serve the people of Derby.
May I also congratulate those who sought office but were not successful. Without your effort to gain elective office, our system of government would stagnate and lose its competitive nature. Your efforts provide the motivation for creativity, and a voice for what is best within our system.
In a campaign, we are either a Republican or a Democrat. Once the votes are counted, we are no longer party members but we are now elected representatives of the people.
We, as free minds, will differ on a number of issues but, the difference is not based on a party affiliation but on our vision of the future. We see enough partisan politics in Washington DC and in Hartford. The people of Derby deserve better and I believe they should receive better.
Join with me and lets begin moving forward in making Derby the very best. Let us disagree on minor issues but let us continue moving forward.
The downtown redevelopment is moving forward. In these tight economic times, to find a developer interested in the creation of a project has not been easy.
I believe we have found one. His plans are creative and practical. He is putting together his financial package and is ready to move forward. And may I add, without any money from the Derby taxpayer. This project will provide tax revenue to the City and many jobs for our citizens unemployed or underemployed.
We own an asset called East Derby Water Works built in 1971. We receive no value for our ownership. I want to sell East Derby Water Works and use the one time revenue for one time improvements to our City. Once sold, it becomes a taxable piece of property thus we will receive ongoing revenue from the sale.
With this one time revenue, we can protect the future of our city by putting some money into our fund balance.
We can also purchase one time items, whether it be modern vests for the protection of our police officers or new breathing devices for our volunteer fire fighters. The City Hall computer system is getting old and the expenses to keep it running are increasing dramatically. We can save our citizens tax dollars by replacing the system.
I would like to create a demolition fund so when a building is substantially blighted and the owners have abandoned the property, we have funds to purchase and demo the building. This will greatly enhance a number of neighborhoods within Derby and create opportunities for people to buy the property, build decent housing and attract more people to our city.
We need to consider items such as visiting team bleachers at Ryan Field, a public park for children on O’Sullivan Island, and other recreational activities like tennis courts.
The sale of the water company asset would allow us to investigate the above items. All in our effort to make our city a better place to live.
I wish to aggressively seek public and private funds for the Sterling Opera House. We now have a realistic plan for returning the Opera House to a functioning theater.
There is no better way to enhance the activity of our downtown than having a theater attracting people to Derby. Our restaurants, our shops, and our people will all be the beneficiaries.
Construction of our Greenway Phase III should begin shortly which means we need to get started on planning for Phase IV which will be the connection to Orange.
Our road into our new industrial park will be completed shortly. We must now prepare bid packages and review development plans to decide what best idea will suit Derby. Which proposal will produce the greatest amount of tax dollars and which will produce the greatest number of jobs for our citizens.
Finally, there has been much discussion about helping our senior citizens and how they pay their property taxes. There are a number of directions we can follow including the Four payment system, a tax freeze program and other ideas I have been investigating. Many cities throughout Connecticut have come up with creative solutions to help their older citizens living on a limited income. It is time for Derby to be creative.
I believe, by working together, we can solve any problem we are confronted with, we can move Derby forward into a bright future, and we can make Derby a better place to live, a better place to work, a great place to raise a family and a great city to retire.
All it takes is working together.
Join me and lets roll up our sleeves and get to work.
The voters deserve nothing less.
Thank you
