These days more and more Connecticut residents are looking toward the future with trepidation, wondering where the answers and solutions will come from.
Perhaps for Fairfield, the future has arrived in the person of David Becker, a current RTM member who is in the exploratory phase of a possible run for First Selectman. Speaking about the current leadership in Fairfield, Becker criticizes what he calls a short-term vision and says,
“Nobody is looking to the future. They take a very short-term approach. I’m looking down the road twenty, thirty, even fifty years from now in terms of preserving and enhancing the quality of life in our town.”
That’s a bit ironic coming from a man of only twenty-eight years. Becker believes that he brings a level of energy and ideas to the table that are lacking in the current leadership. Two issues of great concern for Becker are the Town’s ballooning, employee pension liability and municipal bonding, which he calls the town credit card. Two areas, which according to Becker, continue to grow exponentially and could spell real trouble for the Town in the not-too-distant future. Becker proposes a long term approach with capital plans containing realistic, inflation adjusted figures. Becker says he would also ensure clear communication with all town boards especially on bonding issues. Something he says, that doesn’t always happen now.
In regards to the always-sensitive issue of the education budget, Becker says under his administration the Board of Education “Won’t have a blank check, they will have to come in with honest budgets that contain increases based on real numbers.”
During my conversation with Becker I found myself thinking, here is a guy that gets it. A guy who is looking around at the current economic trouble facing Connecticut and simply saying, “If we don’t change direction in Fairfield, we are going to walk off that same economic cliff.”
Naturally I had to address Becker’s age which for some voters might be an issue. With a soft chuckle, Becker says, “I think that’s a good thing. I’ve been the youngest guy in the room for just about everything I’ve done for a very long time and I’ve succeeded at just about everything I’ve been involved with. I think I have just the right amount of experience in government and from life to be able to come in and take a fresh look at things and make changes where needed. I think in Ken Flatto you have the complete opposite of that. Quite frankly, I think people are looking for something fresh.”
By the way, I did a little research and currently there are 14 sitting mayors who were between the ages of 18 and 22 when first elected. Compared to them David Becker, at 28 is an old-timer.
Becker calls the job done by incumbent and five-term First Selectman Kenneth Flatto, “adequate,’ but adds “We’ve reached the point where adequate is no longer good enough. Becker says Flatto has stood in the way of a lot of forward thinking. “I don’t know where he (Ken Flatto) is stuck necessarily, but it’s not in today’s world.” Becker says that it is time for new leadership with the boldness to be innovative and embrace new ideas but also the prudence to nurture the town’s limited resources. David Becker believes that he has the ability to strike that balance.
In my opinion, it would definitely by a lively campaign should David Becker decide to formally enter the race, a race by the way that, especially in the current economic climate, Republicans should be able to win.
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