
There is no greater honor than serving one’s community and one’s neighbors. It is an honor to serve Derby and utilize my education in finance and two decades in public finance to be your Treasurer. We have been faced with challenging times within the economy, state and nation, within our operating budget, how we handled a state grant, and within our local economy.
Success is achievable when people row together and work in a collaborative manner. I am proud of working with the Tax Board and its members, party affiliation irrelevant, the Board of Aldermen and its members, party affiliation irrelevant, as we recognized fiscal challenges, identified causes and worked together to develop and execute the road map to success with corrective actions.
It’s easy to campaign, and hard to govern. What I don’t accept, is that in a small city where we have a hard time getting people to run for office, some spend the days prior to the election attacking, saying things that aren’t completely accurate, discrediting others instead of promoting themselves, and telling half truths to discredit an opponent just for the sake of winning. They get personal.
Then, in a month after election-day, we have to work side by side and row together for the good of the city and all of our taxpayers. My Aunt Terry once said, ​“Rise above it!” So I will. Those who know the duties and responsibilities of the various offices and positions understand and respect that, and where mistakes were made, we identified who made them and when they were made and corrective action was taken.
As Treasurer, I have been part of good times and bad times financially in our City. We have seen five bond upgrades during my tenure, saving millions of dollars in debt cost. I have been a part of two downgrades, as well as the recovery and getting upgraded again. Today we are A+ rated, which is equivalent to Shelton. Three valley towns were all just downgraded one notch in the last three months.
I understand capital markets, how to navigate the indicators of success utilized by the toughest analysts in the world. We will achieve an upgrade again provided we continue to work together and execute the 8‑Point Plan I developed and presented to the Administration, the Board of Aldermen, and Tax Board. Working together to execute this plan is the key.
Our city’s main problem is a lack of economic development, and this goes back decades. We need to grow our commercial base so that as costs and budgets rise, we are not passing the burden of those increases on to the homeowners. In the last five years, the percent of annual taxes resting on the residential base has increased from 64% to 67%. It is unsustainable!
No matter what, we should work together to keep Derby respected in the investment community. We set a course, row together, navigate troubled waters and reach our destination. We strive for a strong fund balance, affordability, adequate funding and providing needed services. We have always prevailed in the end, and will again.
I am Keith McLiverty, and I am respectfully asking for your support and vote for City Treasurer.
The writer is the incumbent City Treasurer running for re-election on the Republican line.
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The deadline to submit election letters expired Oct. 31.