Hartford Business Journal

10 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 4, 2023 DECISION 2023 | Hartford Mayoral Race State Sen. and Hartford mayoral candidate John Fonfara sits down with the Hartford Business Journal to discuss his vision for the city's future. HBJ PHOTO | GREG BORDONARO Fonfara: Reducing poverty, workforce development key to Hartford's future growth than leaving it largely to the board of education. To do that, he would create offices of education and work- force development within City Hall. The goal, he said, would be to invest in programs and resources that get more children into preschool and more kids reading by third grade — milestones that are key to deter- mining future success. The city also needs to significantly increase the percentage of high school students who are ready for college or a career, so Hartford can serve as a feeder system to major employers like Hartford and St. Francis hospitals, Travelers, The Hartford and others. In addition, he said the city needs to invest more in job training by leveraging workforce development funding available on the state and federal levels. The city should also better embrace A.I. Prince Technical High School and encourage kids not destined for college to pursue trades that offer well-paying jobs. Fonfara said he's also pro-devel- opment, including in downtown, but more investment needs to be made in the neighborhoods. Property tax reforms Fonfara, who has led fundraising efforts since the start of the campaign, is one of three leading Democratic candidates in the mayor's race. He and current Hartford Land Bank CEO Arunan Arulampalam are the front-runners. Former state senator and retired judge Eric Coleman will also be on the ballot. Mike McGarry, a former city councilor and publisher, is running as the GOP candidate in the heavily-Democratic city. Fonfara is a lifelong Hartford resident who grew up and lives in the city's south end. He went to Hartford Public Schools, and then UConn and Trinity College, where he earned a master's degree in public policy. He's been in the state Senate for more than a quarter-century, and currently co-chairs the powerful Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, where he said he has fought for city funding, including tens of millions of dollars to support downtown development through the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA). He was a key architect of the state's volatility cap, which has been given credit for stabilizing state finances, including building up the rainy day fund. The cap, adopted in response to a series of crippling budget deficits last decade, requires revenues above a certain threshold to be set aside for budget reserves. Fonfara has also tried to reform the state's property tax system, which he said "defeats the incentive to grow and invest." Hartford has been hamstrung by By Greg Bordonaro gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com L ongtime state Sen. John Fonfara said he's running for mayor of Hartford because he's witnessed the city get poorer over the last decade. The cornerstone of his vision is to reduce poverty and increase opportu- nity by reforming and investing more in education and job training. He also wants to support development and business growth to boost the grand list. "If I asked the average Hartford resident what they're concerned about, it's blight, roads, crime, gun violence and empty storefronts," he said. "All those issues are symptoms of our poverty. High taxes are a symptom of our poverty — we can't raise the revenue or grow the grand list, which leads to us being unable to support the kinds of services the city needs. And the default is, the state should do more. But the focus in City Hall has to be on reducing our poverty. I see too many neigh- borhoods of Hartford continuing to decline, get poorer." Hartford has the poorest popu- lation in the state, with a median household income of $37,477, and 28.4% of its 121,000 residents in poverty, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. By comparison, Connecticut has a median household income of $83,572, with 10.1% of the state's 3.6 million residents in poverty, Census data shows. Reducing poverty, Fonfara said, is a key part of his economic develop- ment strategy because businesses won't invest in areas dominated by underskilled residents with little buying power. He gave Franklin Avenue, a once bustling commercial corridor with restaurants, storefronts and other businesses, as an example of the city's decline. He said the poverty rate in the northern part of Franklin Avenue has grown exponentially in the last 10 years, and it's reflected now in the businesses that are there. "In what used to be a restaurant on Franklin Avenue is now a dollar store, nail salon, or a cell phone store," he said. "That's because businesses will always chase the customer. They'll go to where the customer is, or they'll change what they're selling to serve the customer that is available." Fonfara, 67, said his administra- tion would take a more active role in influencing education policies, rather JOHN FONFARA Senator State of Connecticut Education: Bachelor's degree, political science, UConn; master's degree, public policy, Trinity College Age: 67

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