Upon taking the oath for a fourth term as the city’s mayor, Anthony Staffieri stressed bi-partisanship — along with a concrete way the City of Derby can get some more cash.
“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,” Staffieri said during an inaugural ceremony Saturday at Derby High School.
“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.”
Note: Visit the Electronic Valley for more photos and video from Saturday’s ceremony.
In his inaugural address, Staffieri hit many of the notes he’s been hitting since first being elected in 2005, including the Sterling Opera House renovations and the downtown redevelopment zone.
The redevelopment zone is an area between Route 34 and the Housatonic River past the Derby-Shelton bridge that is ripe for new businesses.
The redevelopment zone has a solid and committed partner in Eclipse Development, which has conceptual plans to build a retail center there.
“(The developer) is putting together his financial package and is ready to move forward. And may I add, without any money from the Derby taxpayers,” Staffieri said.
Regarding Sterling Opera House, Staffieri said architects affiliated with Yale University have an interior renovation plan that is doable.
“There is no better way to enhance the activity of our downtown than having a theater attracting people to Derby,” the mayor said.
The mayor’s words about the Sterling Opera House are not just rhetoric. Efforts to breathe life into the theater are moving forward.
The Valley Community Foundation, which just moved from Shelton to Derby, is expected to announce Monday the creation of a fund dedicated to the Sterling Opera House.
The fund will launch thanks to money already collected for the opera house over the years by the Olde Birmingham Business Association (OBBA) doing business as Save Our Sterling. Both of those groups have dissolved.
Finally, Staffieri announced Saturday his desire to sell the East Derby Waterworks, seven miles of water pipes and a pump station the city has owned since 1971. Privatizing the waterworks will give Derby an influx of cash the city can use for anything from a demolition fund for blighted properties to a children’s playground at O’Sullivan’s Island, a field on the shores of the Housatonic River.
Staffieri, a Republican, faces a much different set of elected officials compared to his three previous terms.
The Derby Democrats now have a majority of the seats on the Board of Aldermen, the Board of Apportionment and Taxation and they continue to have a majority of the seats on the Derby Board of Education.
Ron Sill, a veteran community servant and a Democrat, was elected the new president of the Board of Aldermen. He replaces Ken Hughes, a Republican who still serves on the board.
Sill was previously the president of the Board of Aldermen under Mayor Alan Schlesinger. Sill was on the Board of Aldermen as recently as 2009, but opted to take two years off.
He said he’s happy to be serving Derby again.
“I hope all the members will take off their Republican and Democratic and independent hats and work together for the citizens of Derby,” Sill said.
