Anita Dugatto, the Democrat trying to unseat Republican incumbent Mayor Anthony Staffieri, said the city needs to market itself more aggressively and target specific industries for true economic development.
Example — healthcare is a growth industry. Griffin Hospital and Yale-New Haven Hospital are near Derby. There are empty, non-residential properties off all kinds in Derby. The city should be going after healthcare jobs, among others, Dugatto said.
“Look at the Dworkin property (a shuttered car dealership on Seymour Avenue). Look at the empty space on lower Caroline Street,” Dugatto said.
The idea comes from Dugatto’s “economic plan for Derby,” a four-page document released by her campaign Oct. 11.
A copy of the document is at the bottom of this article.
The candidate said economic development efforts currently in Derby are closed off to the public, a strategy that hasn’t helped the city expand its tax base. A mayor needs to lead the way, present ideas and communicate, instead of shying away from public comment, Dugatto said.
“I hate when they say ‘can’t do.’ What do they mean can’t do it? How to giant places like New York City do it? We’re a tiny city. Why can’t the first level of the Derby parking garage be little boutiques that greet people as they come over the bridge from Shelton? We’re always told, ‘No, you can’t do it.’”
Mayor Anthony Staffieri dismissed Dugatto’s statements as politically motivated.
“It looks like my opponent is doing nothing but political grandstanding,” he said.
Dugatto is a dentist her owns her own practice on Elizabeth Street downtown. She also owns the building that houses her practice.
She said establishing a website is one of the first steps to making Derby “business friendly.” Potential investors must be able to get information about the city from an official website.
“Businesses that are start-ups or are relocating must be confident that the City will partner with them by creating a step-by-step guide to growing a small business in Derby,” her plan states. “That guide and process must be the main feature of the new City of Derby website.”
The fact it is 2013 and the city doesn’t use the web to aggressively market itself is embarrassing, Dugatto said.
In the redevelopment zone — the area of Derby between Route 34 and the Housatonic River — new, “attractive, higher density rental housing and condos,” along with retail, must be part of a plan to be successful, Dugatto said.
She said Derby needs to embrace the principles of transit oriented development and build off its strength — the city’s Metro-North train station.
“Building another ‘big box’ retailer with its back to the river is far off the mark,” Dugatto’s plan states.
The building department in Derby has traditionally been tough to deal with for merchants trying to do business in Derby, Dugatto said. While the city has a new building inspector, she is not convinced the city has become “business friendly.” Dugatto pointed to a recent New Haven Register article chronicling the fact City Hall has been targeting merchants who put signs outside their shops.
“The city needs to direct economic development. There needs to be more communication between businesses and City Hall,” Dugatto said. “We’re not here to punish businesses, but that’s what the motivation has been in Derby.”
Read Dugatto’s plan below: