From the moment my family and I arrived in New Canaan over three years ago I jumped right into serving the community. I joined the Republican Town Committee in 2016, ran for Town Council at the Republican caucus in 2017 and became a member of Town Council in February 2018 where I currently serve. I sit on the Town Council’s Public Safety Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over police and fire. I also sit on the Bylaws and Ordinance subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over evaluating and recommending new laws for the town. I am also a recent addition to the New Canaan Exchange Club and look forward to participating in the many fine community volunteer events the club sponsors.
I am a partner at my law firm where I specialize in representing corporations in their labor and employment matters. I have expertise in negotiating collective bargaining agreements with unions – an especially valuable skill set considering nearly two thirds of the town’s budget is committed to labor costs of the municipal unionized workforce. My wife works for a global commodities firm. We have two young children in the public-school system and are involved in numerous extracurricular activities in town.
Why am I running to retain my seat on Town Council? Because I want to continue to contribute to enhancing the town’s quality of life that affects my family and all residents while strengthening the town’s attractiveness to new families. Only three short years ago my wife and I undertook the deliberative process whether to move to New Canaan or one of the surrounding towns. New Canaan offered the “total package” for our family: a superior education system, bucolic public spaces, small-town character, extraordinary sense of pride in community, and the best value for our hard-earned money – to name a few.
My family and I are at the beginning of our life in New Canaan and have the benefit of seeing the town through that perspective. The town’s attributes that brought us here need to be zealously safeguarded and new opportunities to improve, e.g. protecting property values, fiscal responsibility in the town budget, top-rate education system, housing and services for seniors, must be diligently and expeditiously implemented.
My years long background in labor law bringing contentious issues to agreeable resolution coupled with the perspective of someone who recently went through the process of deciding to live and raise his family in New Canaan brings a knowledge base that will be enormously beneficial to all residents.
I would be honored to continue to serve you on Town Council.