Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com June 22, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 3 Cannon says one-party rule hurting Hartford By Frank Campailla Special to the Hartford Business Journal T heodore Cannon is running for mayor of Hartford to give city government what he thinks it lacks — more ideas and accountability. Cannon is a Republican in a city that for years has elected Democrats to the mayor's office and to a majority on the City Council. "The performance of that one-party gov- ernment is inadequate," Cannon said. "My job is to convince voters to be more informed and open minded to issues confronting the city and look at the performance of the Democrat- dominated mayor's office and City Council." Cannon is the only Republican running for mayor so far. Republican Town Committee Chairman Ken Lerman expects the party to endorse Cannon at the Republican town commit- tee meeting in July. Cannon believes a Republi- can in the mayor's office will change Hartford. "There will be checks and balances that do not exist now," Cannon said. "No party has an exclusive on good ideas. By sharing ideas from both sides of the aisle, we will arrive at the proper solution to Hartford's problems. Cannon, 60, has lived in Hartford since 1999 and served two terms on the board of Hart- ford's West End Civic Association. He has four children and worked in the municipal finance industry from 1976 to 2013 advising towns, cities and states across the country on public finance, debt payment and the marketing and pricing of municipal bonds for investors. He is a former senior vice president at Webster Bank. Cannon now works at The Kerin Agency in Newington counseling clients on bond and insurance services. Finance is at the core of Hartford's problem, according to Cannon, and he believes his finance experience dif- ferentiates him from other candidates. How would you assess Hartford's cur- rent economy? The economy in the surrounding neigh- borhoods to downtown is lacking with a high unemployment rate. It's wonderful that we are building all these apartments downtown, but the majority of that is state-funded through the Capital Region Development Authority. There isn't much in the way of, with the exception of the baseball stadium, economic development that is city sponsored. There are some signs of improvement, but it's nowhere near significant enough to take Hartford to the next level. What are your top two economic devel- opment initiatives to improve the city? First is successful completion of the Down- town North project. It is imperative that it is completed as a complement to the baseball sta- dium. The stadium left alone will not result in the economic success it was originally designed for. Second, I would create an economic devel- opment task force comprised of city officials, members of the private sector, and business leaders — a group such as the MetroHartford Alliance — along with significant input from resident representatives. Their job would be to identify and develop a specific strategy for economic development in the city in the form of job creating industry. The city has a lot of land, a lot of buildings that it owns sitting there off the tax rolls that could be utilized for pri- vate development. We need manufacturing. We need a distribution center in Hartford. We need call centers in Hartford. We need permanent, full-time, market-rate jobs. What can be done to reduce the 74.29 mill property tax rate that businesses are subjected to? The tax code has to be revised. There must be, over a period of time, an incremental decrease in the assessment ratio on commer- cial property, which may result in incremental increases in the assessment ratio on residential property. The result should make the tax code more attractive for commercial property inves- tors coming into the city, which would increase commercial property values and increase our grand list. As the grand list increases in value, we can begin to lower the mill rate. With multiple transportation projects in various stages of completion, what is your long-term plan for how people will move to, from and around Hartford? The number of commuters coming into the city will increase as economic development and job opportunities increase. My hope is that commuters take advantage of these transpor- tation options and reduce automobile traffic coming in and out of the city. The traffic issue within the city proper is a discouragement to people visiting the city. The more people using public transportation, the lower that congestion will be and hopefully make it more attractive for people to visit Hartford. Anyone who wants to move a business into the city or build a new facility to expand an exist- ing industry will want to know that the infra- structure can support that company's objectives. It's not just a function of commuter transporta- tion options, but also freight and distribution transportation facilities that are important to industries considering moving to Hartford. Making public transportation affordable and convenient are the two best ways for peo- ple to use public transportation. CTfastrak, the jury is still out on it, but I believe over time it will become a major transportation feature for people working in Hartford. The Capital Region Development Authority has taken a lead role in the city's economic development. How would you assess CRDA's work so far, and how would you work with CRDA to further improve the city? The Capital Region Development Authority has devoted $60 million to housing develop- ment in downtown Hartford. It's estimated that a thousand units will be coming online within the next six months to a year. The litmus test will be the rate at which these new housing units will be rented out. I am not making any predictions, but it won't do the city much good if the majority of units sit vacant. As opposed to concentrating all the CRDA funding for new H A R T F O R D MAYORAL RACE 2015 Theodore Cannon is the only Republican candidate in this year's Hartford mayoral race. The insurance and bond consultant said a Republican mayor would change the city's direction. Continued P H O T O | F R A N K C A M P A I L L A www.kelsercorp.com 111 Roberts St, Suite D East Hartford, CT 06108 860 610 2200 2.5 billion - records exposed in the past 5 years. How secure is your network? www.kelsercorp.com/cybercrime

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