Letter: Is Ansonia Development AWOL?

Taxpayers see a lot of ribbon-cutting photos and new announcements suddenly coming out of City Hall at election time.

Yet, Ansonia has seen very little in the way of new development projects over the last decade in our downtown area.

In the military, we have a term called AWOL. It stands for absent without leave,” describing a soldier absent without permission. AWOL accurately describes Ansonia’s lack of new development in the downtown business area.

In 2009 the city had $1.2 billion in taxable property. As of 2017, we had declined to $982 million. Compare that to communities across the state, and we are ranked 154th of 169 municipalities in tax base growth behind Seymour, Beacon Falls, Torrington, Thomaston, and 149 other cities and towns in CT.

City Hall seems oblivious.

Here’s an excerpt from a Valley Independent Sentinel article, dated August 2014, regarding vacant city-owned property on Main St.

Ansonia’s new corporation counsel, John Marini, blamed a small-town mentality on the city’s failure to attract a viable developer to the property. The city has to think big. We had to expand the scope of the search for investors,” Marini said. The search was always limited to the local pond if you will, and we always got more of the same.”

Three years later, in a Valley Independent Sentinel article dated May 2017:

The first deal approved Tuesday calls on Copper City Development, owned by local developer Jerry Nocerino, to pay the city $200,000 for the ATP (497 E. Main St.) and Palmer (153 Main St.) buildings.”

It appears that this administration has failed to advance beyond what John Marini described as that local pond and small-town mentality. What’s worse is that nothing materialized after the big campaign time announcement of new development in 2017. Now, its two years later and we have nothing. AWOL!

Where’s the big new commercial development we were promised? Massimino’s? That construction received several hundred thousand dollars in taxpayer money in the form of a forgivable loan to the Mayor’s brother-in-law. I like the pizza, and Massimo, the owner, is a great guy. I wish them all the success in the world. However, City Hall promised much more than this.

The lack of activity is hurting our tax base, and residents are forced to pay the price for this lack of development in the form of higher tax bills.

Ansonia needs a leader with honesty, transparency, and military tested leadership skills, a leader who believes Ansonia can do better.

My plan will include an innovative strategy that will unlock millions from the estimated $6 trillion in unrealized capital gains in American eligible for investing in Ansonia’s Opportunity Zone designation.

We will guide our volunteer Economic Development Commission to focus exclusively and aggressively on identifying or creating the fund structures necessary to receive these investment dollars. 

We will then work market these investment opportunities across the country.

When the development opportunities come, we will make sure that Ansonia residents get the first crack at the construction jobs and employment opportunities that follow. When we grow, we will grow together.

My team and I are ready for Mission Ansonia!

The writer is running for mayor on the Democratic line.

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