Issues

Education

The Shelton Public Schools system is underfunded by $3000 per student. This is not sustainable.

As your Alderman Matt will fight to increase funding without raising taxes. We can do this by taking a hard look at the budget and appropriating surplus funds from other departments.

For example, this past budget cycle the Board of Appointment and Taxation recommended appropriating surplus funds from the Police department to the Education budget. These funds were intended to hire ten new officers, but the office instead only hired one. The Republican Board of Alderman, however, rejected this common sense proposal.

Further, the 2018 audit uncovered surpluses in the following departments:

General Government: $1.5 million

Public Safety: $1.5 million

Public Works: $1 million

Development

For far too long the political establishment in this city has put the wishes of wealthy developers over the demands of it's people.

Shelter Ridge is the best and most clear example. Hundreds and thousands of residents stood up to voice their disapproval with this project, only for it to pass the Board of P&Z anyways.

Matt opposes high density developments that do not fit the areas they're proposed for. He shares the open space, environmental, and traffic concerns of many.

Rather, Matt believes in smart growth, where we support developments likely to bring in good, high paying jobs, and where we leave the high density developments to areas where they fit, such as downtown.

While the issue of large, high density developments is mainly under the Board of P&Z's authority, Matt will push for the BOA to allocate funds to hire a true Economic Development Director. Most municipalities in CT employ such a position, one which specializes in attracting businesses to the City which bring good, high paying jobs, and developments which support these jobs. Recently Shelton has attracted new developments which specialize in attracting retail, a dying industry. Shelton needs to plan for the future, not the past.

Further, while Mayor Lauretti and the Republican BOA are on the record saying they believe inadequate parking downtown to be a good thing, Matt couldn't disagree more. Downtown businesses suffer when people are more likely to drive by due to having limited parking options.

As your Alderman, Matt will fight to establish a parking garage downtown.

However, the root cause of this problem must be addressed by the Board of P&Z. The one-spot-per-apartment regulation must be changed, as there is typically more than one person, with more than one car, renting an apartment. Matt will use his influence as a member of the BOA to push for this change.

Transparency

The Board of Ethics has met 3 times since 2013. 3.

As your Alderman, Matt will work to reform the Board of Ethics, making sure they hold annual meetings to review any ethics complaint and to set up training seminars for elected officials to attend, so they know which actions are ethics violations.

Further, Matt will look to shine a light into the ever darkened city hall budget process. This starts with mandating that the Mayor's proposed budget, the budget put forth by the board of Apportionment & Taxation, and the final budget approved by the Board of Alderman all be published on the City of Shelton website, for residents to read and critique.

Matt will also fight for an operational audit to be performed on all City finances (this includes the Board of Education). Currently, the city has a basic financial audit done every year. An operational audit is more expansive than a financial audit and will tell us exactly where each tax dollar is coming from and going to. This way we can tell exactly where the $12 million surplus went!

Finally, as your Alderman Matt knows that in order to best represent the people, he must be in constant communication with the people. Matt will keep public, functioning social media accounts in order to inform his constitents about upcoming city events, BOA meetings, etc. Currently, the Mayor and the current BOA president (3rd ward) do not have functioning social media accounts to do the same.

Fiscal Responsibility

The 2019 audit uncovered a $3.1 million general fund shortfall.

The Mayor and the Republican Board of Alderman have tried to pin this shortfall on deficit spending by the Board of Ed, but the spending in question is covered by a grant from the state of CT, which was appropriated to the city with the intent of being distributed to the Board of Ed.

In other words, there was no deficit spending. The BOE ended the last 2 fiscal years in question with a small surplus.

Not too long ago, the city would boast of a general fund in excess of $12 million. This was due to city departments annually underspending their allocated funds.

In 2017, the Mayor and the BOA slightly decreased taxes, from 22.31 mills to 22.21 mills. In order to pay for this they used $6.2 million of the previous year's surplus. This saved the median property owner $34.

In 2018, the Mayor and the BOA again cut taxes, this time from 22.21 mills to 22.15 mills. This saved the median property owner $20.

This year, the Mayor and the BOA have chosen to raise taxes, citing the general fund shortfall. Taxes will rise from 22.15 mills to 22.44 mills. This will cost the median property owner $44.

$20+$34=$54

$54-$44=$10

The median property owner therefore saved $10 in total, at the expense of the general fund and the education budget, which is continually underfunded.

As your Alderman, Matt believes in the following:

If you're gonna cut taxes, then make those tax cuts meaningful. Cutting taxes for the sake of cutting taxes is never good public policy.

Further, Matt will fight to hold the tax rate steady at 22.44 mills.

Finally, Matt will look to cut wasteful spending and redirect surplus funds to other departments in need, using your tax dollars more efficiently and making sure the people of Shelton are getting the most bang for their buck.

Environment/Open Space

It's not the upscale apartment buildings or condo complexes that make Shelton beautiful, nor the Scinto buildings, nor the big shopping centers, nor anything strictly human made. What makes Shelton beautiful is it's many parks and trails that we all collectively enjoy.

As your Alderman, Matt will fight to protect and keep clean these many areas of natural beauty.

Further, Matt will look into establishing more sidewalks around the city to encourage healthy habits amongst our residents, while decreasing CO2 emissions from the typical vehicle.

Finally, Matt will fight to place solar panels on all public buildings. This represents an opportunity for the city to cut down on it's energy costs, saving taxpayer dollars, while also being eco-friendly.

2019 & 2020 Budgets

For whatever reason, you will not find these on the City of Shelton website.

2019:
2020:

Representing You

In politics, promises are made and broken all the time. For this reason, Matt tries to avoid making outright promises, focusing instead on ideas, values, and goals for our city.

With that being said, Matt is prepared to make a few promises that he believes he can keep:

Matt will hold *at least* 2 public town hall or town hall like meetings each year.
Matt will go door to door frequently to meet with his constituents and get their thoughts/concerns on any issue which may be on their minds. *Not just in election years*
Matt will keep his constituents as informed as possible by sending letters and/or constantly checking and updating his various social media accounts.
Matt will always offer to debate his opponents/participate in candidate forums

Above all else, Matt is running to represent you, and in order to do so effectively he must be available to hear from and listen to you.