Comments of Mayoral Candidate, Robert Kostes, at the caucus

Why am I running for Mayor?

Democracy. Democracy demands a clash of ideas. It is what makes this country great. For a clash of ideas does not mean one wins and one loses. Clashing ideas produce a new idea, better than either of the originals.

There is no clash of ideas in New Milford. A monopoly of political power and thought stifles vision in this town. The monopoly does not discuss the big picture because it does not need to. If you are guaranteed reelection, why bother?

A Murphy/Stillman contest will not elicit the big picture discussion this town needs to have.

I have spoken with many people in front of the post office. Average citizens. Their overwhelming concerns are our unmanaged growth, lack of meaningful economic development and quality of life. These are all related.

When Route 7 is completed we will have a massive pipeline of people and development coming our way. Are we going to be prepared for it and handle it on our terms or are we going to have chaos?

Are we going to have a game plan that attracts quality businesses or will we become an endless stretch of strip malls.

Urban renewal is happening along the Hudson River. People want to live near work with services within walking distance. Are we prepared for that?

We have built numerous expensive homes in the past few years. Are we prepared to provide the quality education and infrastructure that those people expect? Or did we sell them a bill of goods?

The Plan of Conservation and Development is supposed to be our game plan. It is 10 years old. The current Planning Commission has shown no appetite for tackling the enormous task of updating it.

Globalization has opened up the job market. Business is free to locate wherever they want. For this reason, corporate tax rates around the world have been trending towards 0. We need to decide what is more important to this town: jobs or tax revenue. If jobs are more important, then we need to find money somewhere else.

Our Town Council would rather spend 45 minutes debating how to dispose of the excess dirt from the soccer field construction than discuss why our unmanaged pension fund is squandering millions of dollars in potential investment returns.

Even our political boundaries need to be questioned. New Milford, on its own, may not be capable of competing in a global business environment. Are we making the best use of the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials. Rather than fighting each other for the crumbs that fall from the global table should we have joint marketing and revenue sharing agreements so we can compete together for business?

New Milford needs vision.

New Milford needs innovative and inclusive leadership.

Our slate of candidates from all three parties will provide these but only if we ALL put New Milford First.