O’Brien eyes run for mayor in ‘19
I am going to spend the next few months talking to residents and exploring the possibility of running again for the Office of Mayor, a seat I held from 2013-2017. Why would I seek to run?
The answer is simple: West Haven is too great to give up on.
When I close my eyes and picture where West Haven could be in 25 years, I see a city with a strong commercial base and reasonable taxes; a city with low crime, clean streets, where visitors from around the state flock for our festivals, concerts, beaches and our wonderful quality of life.
When I see the direction the present administration is taking my hometown I see a very different picture. I see a city with crumbling infrastructure, a huge reduction in crucial services and city events, high taxes and new investment in our city from the business community long gone to other communities.
The spinning of mistruths for political gain by the Rossi Administration has taken its toll on West Haven and its residents and this form of leadership is unacceptable.
It is my belief, and the belief of the armies of people that have reached out to me, over this last year that we were on a path that was leading our city out of the stagnations it has been in for a quarter of a century. We were attracting large scale development that will offset our high taxes. We saw quality of life increase with our festivals and concerts funded by partnerships with our business community. We were improving and upgrading our infrastructure with Grant funds and seeking and receiving Grants at a level not seen in years. We were improving our Education system at every level by implementing Full Day Kindergarten for the youngest students, elevating our curriculum and putting the technical shops back in our high school for our oldest students. We heard our seniors and instituted a Senior Citizen Tax Freeze. This is just a small part of what our Administration accomplished, and I am extremely proud of what our team accomplished in four short years.
In the next few months, I will be talking to residents to explain why getting back on track is so important and answer questions about both our past and our future. Please feel free to reach out to me personally at 203-668-0641, organize a Meet & Greet in your home or stop me when you see me out in the community. For updates Text Ed to 313131
Let’s begin that conversation about how I see West Haven in 25 years and how I plan to get there.
Ed O’Brien