Kevin Fitzgerald
24 Old Farm Hill Road
Newtown, CT 06470
(203) 228-7745 (cell)
(203) 364-0578 (home)
Kevinkis@aol.com
My Background
Age: 51
Town Government: Currently Member Newtown Legislative Council, District 1
Education: John Jay College of Criminal Justice – NYC
Military Experience: U.S. Navy – USS Coral Sea CV-43
My Family
My wife Robin and I met in grade school in The Bronx and were married in 1988. After living in Westchester County for eight years, we moved to Chicago for two and then back east to Newtown in 1998 with one-year-old Hannah Rose to run the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut marketplaces for Pitney Bowes Management Services. Two years later, Quinn Patrick was born. Since then things became a little crowded when we were joined by Jack our cat followed by Lily, a German short-haired pointer and soon after her “sister” Maizy, another GSP rescued from Arkansas.
Robin is a “never-at-home” mom. She is an outstanding mother and my best friend. She is an active volunteer in our schools and in the PTAs at Reed, Newtown Middle School and the PTSA at the High School. Robin also co-chairs the Cultural Arts Committees at Reed & the Middle School.
Hannah, our resident artist and videographer, is now a freshman in High School splitting her school day with mornings at Newtown High School and afternoons in New Haven studying Visual Arts at the Educational Center for the Arts. Quinn just began his “senior” year at Reed Intermediate School and in his spare time he “studies” Minecraft on line. While I still consider my self “computer literate”, Hannah and Quinn have quickly become my “go to guys” for everything digital these days.
Professional Background
Early on, like many kids growing up in the Bronx in the 1970s I set my sights on becoming a police officer and attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice in NYC. I then enlisted into the United States Navy and served onboard the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea CV-43 as an Aviation Boatswain’s Mate. Or as my kids point out on the Discovery Channel, “the guy with the green helmet connecting the jets to the catapults.”
My professional experience includes over twenty years in the Professional Services industry originally with the imaging arm of Kodak which became part of Pitney Bowes. I am currently with the Ricoh Americas Corporation specializing in designing and implementing enterprise-wide imaging solutions for Fortune 500 companies, Higher Education and Healthcare organizations across the country. My specific area of expertise is identifying inefficient and costly programs and processes inside client businesses, designing cost-effective alternatives that include people, process and technology and then managing those solutions long-term to ensure they remain aligned with that customer’s objectives and expectations.
Prior to my current marketing role with Ricoh Professional Services, I have held management positions in the industry as Finance Director in the Northeast, Region Director in the Midwest and more recently as General Manager overseeing the NY, NJ & CT market with 600 employees. The majority of my experience is related to planning, implementing and managing multi-million-dollar projects and programs, not unlike much of the agenda before the Legislative Council today. In every case, I have found that the keys to a successful outcome are:
- Making sure everyone impacted is well represented
- Communicating before, during and after
- Holding vendors & teams accountable
- Measuring and reporting performance
- Confirming that goals were achieved or modifying the plan accordingly
If I am re-elected to the Legislative Council in November, I will continue to apply these same skills and experience to continue working constructively with all town officials and involved taxpayers to make sure that we efficiently and cost-effectively move Newtown forward.
With every decision that comes before me, I intend to make sure that the taxpayers in my district are well represented, never manipulated and see that necessary checks and balances are in place to ensure a successful outcome.
Why I’d Like To Be RE-ELEDCTED to the Legislative Council With The Independent Party of Newtown
The Independent Party of Newtown is made up of democrats, republicans, independents and unaffiliated taxpayers coming from all walks of life with fresh ideas. This is in contrast to the “business as usual” approach to town government that comes from the two-party political system.
The Independent Party of Newtown, in just the four years since it was born, has been effective at driving and influencing the agenda of town government regardless of which party is in the majority. To the IPN, getting its candidates elected is not about taking over town government or dominating the other political parties. It’s about providing a healthier “balance” on the Board of Selectmen, the Legislative Council, the Board of Education and on the Board of Finance to ensure that Newtown’s taxpayers, the “ultimate fiscal authority”, are properly represented. To IPN, the goal is to have enough influence in town government so that we can give traction to our own ideas and to ideas by others, regardless of political affiliation, that we agree are in the best interest of Newtown’s taxpayers.
As a registered democrat, I embrace the platform and the support of The Independent Party of Newtown because I share its principles of Accountability, Checks & Balances and Transparency in government. I believe town government should serve the interests of the taxpayers, and not the other way around.
Many of the positive changes you are hearing about today (and will hear about tomorrow) came about because of open-minded and forward-thinking people. This includes volunteers elected to office from all three political parties as well as from the public. But unfortunately, too many great ideas and initiatives are lost simply because a handful of elected and appointed officials and leaders of their party refuse to get behind a good idea unless it came from their own party, or unless they can claim the idea as their own. In my opinion, this continues to be the most ineffective part of Newtown’s town government today. It’s a waste of time, energy and taxpayer money. As part of the IPN platform, if I am re-elected, I am committed to shedding light on this problem so that everyone can focus on moving Newtown forward, rather than on party politics.
My Positions: As Reported by the Newtown Bee Candidate Questionaire 2011
If elected, what would you see as your primary mission as a local elected official?
My primary mission if I am re-elected to the Legislative Council would be to move the ball forward for Newtown, first and foremost. While I believe my ideas, the ideas raised by my constituents in District One and the platform of the Independent Party of Newtown are all intended to move Newtown forward, I know better than to think we have all the answers to the many issues facing Newtown. I am only one of 12 members on the Legislative Council today, all of whom have volunteered their time and should be committed to the same thing – moving Newtown forward. All 12 members represent different visions, opinions and constituents. I know that positive changes that come out of town government are only created through open, honest and fair discussion, debate, public participation and compromise between its members. Nothing positive for Newtown is ever achieved when party platforms or prepackaged agendas are forced through the process without proper due diligence and without properly educating taxpayers. Therefore, my primary mission, if I am re-elected to the Legislative Council is to continue to embrace, nurture and support a good idea, regardless of where it came from or which political party takes credit for it. If it moves Newtown forward, then “Mission Accomplished”.
And what changes in policy or process, if any, would you want to accomplish through the office you seek?
There are many changes in policy or process that I hope to accomplish by re-election to the Legislative Council. Here are just a few:
1. A BIFIRCATED BUDGET WITH ADVISORY QUESTIONS - Change the annual budget to a bifurcated (split) budget with the option to choose “too high” or “too low” for each of the two budgets (Municipal and Education). Without this change, voters will continue to vote in fear of further cuts and the Legislative Council will continue to make decisions about what to do next without any data. Let the taxpayers tell us what they want. Short of this change, I remain committed to work with my colleagues in town government, with our First Selectman and with the Board of Education to collaborate once again and present to the taxpayers a budget in 2012 that we can all support and promote. Bifurcated or not, this is the best way to pass a budget!
2. VOTE ON FFH MASTER PLAN AND HOUSING – Millions of dollars continue to fund various projects and initiatives at Fairfield Hills without the approval of the owners of the campus, Newtown’s taxpayers. When town government held a town-wide referendum on the Master Plan in 2005, taxpayers defeated the plan yet the town moved forward with it anyway, which eventually led to the construction of a new Town Hall for three times the originally estimated cost. Since then, taxpayer dollars continued to be transferred to FFH through channels that circumvented the public approval process. I love the FFH campus and the potential it represents. And even though its findings are not everything I was looking for, the just-released report by the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee brings Newtown as close as it will ever be to reaching public concensus on a long term plan for Fairfield Hills. Let’s not miss this window of opportunity.
3. FIX COMMUNICATION TO/FROM EDUCATION - I am a very strong proponent of funding for education and in particular for protecting the core education program during these difficult economic times. While I support closely scrutinizing spending by the District and by the Town to realize every opportunity for savings, the only way to ensure taxpayers thoroughly understand how their money is being used, what spending is critical to education and what spending is not, is with an effective channel for communication. Parents need a constructive way to raise issues and the District/BOE needs an effective way to educate the taxpayers and respond to concerns with measureable data. Maybe there is a way to create this with the current resources available, but until such a channel is in place, the school District will be it’s own worst enemy and many taxpayer’s will continue to be influenced by misleading comments found on the social networks.
What specific issues will be your priority, if you are elected to the office or board you seek?
In addition to the Bifurcation, FFH Referendum and Education Communication initiatives mentioned above, here are five additional issues that I consider a priority:
1. CREATE “WHAT IF” SCENARIOS IN CASE THE ECONOMY DOESN’T IMPROVE - Leveraging the current difficult economy and the fiscally conservative nature of many Council members to create “what if” alternatives for both the town and the school budgets. We cannot keep spending and taxing at current levels. Taxpayers are insisting that we find ways to bring their taxes down. In this economy, we need to seriously consider how our approach to delivering town and educational services can change tomorrow or might have to change next year if the economy does not improve. How do we know we can’t still deliver a higher level of services with 5% less spending? What would our town managers and our school administrators do differently if they had 5% less to work with? Imagine the brilliant ideas and creative approaches that would come from such a study. We cannot afford to wait until the day when taxpayers refuse to fund an already tight budget before studying and identifying how we will manage with less funding.
2. GROW THE RANKS OF VOTING TAXPAYERS - Evaluating what is needed to grow the ranks of the taxpayers willing to get out and vote and to decide their own fate and that of the town they love. What is it about town government or the way information flows out of it that keeps far too many taxpayers at home on referendum day? Until this is properly evaluated and addressed, fewer taxpayers will feel properly represented by the Legislative Council and other government Boards in town.
3. PRESERVE THE INTEGRITY OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE - Ensuring that the Education Committee of the Legislative Council remains a constructive channel through which major education issues and the education budget can be effectively and thoroughly scrutinized for the full Council and the resources of the Council can be properly leveraged on behalf of the Schools District.
4. LET TAXPAYERS DECIDE ON SPENDING - Taxpayers deserve to vote on large spending initiatives by the town and by the schools and while there are significant challenges related to State Statutes on the education side, I intend to join with others to evaluate new ways to ensure that more financial decisions would be subject to taxpayer approval.
5. ENCOURAGE TRUTH - Minimize the amount of misleading and inaccurate information that flows to the public through official and unofficial channels. Discourage individuals and groups from distorting, altering and omitting information for the public to advance their own agenda. I have always believed that Newtown’s taxpayers should decide Newtown’s future, unencumbered by bad information, manipulation and fear.
Anti-Waste, Pro-Fairfield Hills and Pro-Taxpayers
I am not anti-spending, just anti-waste. I am against voter manipulation. I very much support the development of the Fairfield Hills campus and I applaud the September 2011 Report by the Fairfield Hills Master Plan Review Committee and I thank the Committee for their hard work. Even though I personally don’t agree with just a couple of their recommendations, I fully embrace the overall plan because I believe it fairly reflects the wants and needs of today’s taxpayers overall. The purchase of the campus years ago was very good for Newtown and I commend everyone who made that happen. But in 2003 when town leaders removed public participation from the planning and development process and then ignored the results of the town-wide public referendum on the Fairfield Hills Master Plan, it became clear to me that a small group of town officials had their own agenda for the campus and would stop at nothing to fund it with our tax dollars.
I am hopeful that the September 2011 Report by the FFHMPRC represents the opportunity to close a less-than-transparent chapter in Newtown related to the development of the Fairfield Hills campus.
October 2002 leading a rally against wasteful spending and increasing debt in front of Edmond Town Hall with my son Quinn in tow. Since then Newtown’s debt as a percentage of the general expenditure has grown from 7.5% to 10%. This is not necessarily a bad thing IF the taxpayers were the ones deciding how funds are borrowed and spent. But even today, town leaders are continuing to funnel money into Fairfield Hills and the new town hall without taxpayer approval.
Signing petitions is an important tool for taxpayers to advance their agenda and be heard. Or better yet, elect all IPN candidates so that taxpayers would be properly represented in town offices and on every board, council and committee.
Pro-Responsible Development
I support responsible development that does not take a toll on the environment or on Newtown’s historical character. I support economic development that meets the needs of the public, can be justified within an approved strategic town plan and which can be measured to ensure it delivers the benefits to taxpayers as promised. I also support meeting our requirements for affordable housing in Newtown, however I do not want to see the Fairfield Hills campus used for housing in any way. My concern is that we purchased the property in the first place because we did not want to see the State sell the property to a developers for housing or other purposes over which Newtown would have no control. Even if Newtown allows housing in a very limited way, we give up complete autonomy and the State will always have some level of control over Newtown. Our housing rules, ordinances and guidelines will always be open to interpretation by developers who can simply request support from the State through lawsuits. The only way for Newtown to maintain control over the campus is to never open it to housing, period.
I support responsible housing development in Newtown as long as we do everything possible to protect Newtown’s character and its historical treasures. Until it was demolished this past November to make room for a 7-lot subdivision, this beautiful 1888 barn overlooking Hanover Rd. and The Boulevard served as a familiar gateway to Lake Lillinonah, the Paugusett Forest and many of the Hanover Road neighborhoods. I learned the hard way that just because P&Z makes a mistake, doesn’t mean the Superior Court can overturn the decision. We must make sure that all development applications meet State and town regulations and fully comply with the guidelines of Newtown’s Plan of Conservation & Development before blasting begins. Treasures like the Hanover Hills Farm barn can never be replaced.
Pro-Education, Pro-Classroom, Pro-Teacher, But Not At Any Cost
I am pro-education, pro-classroom and pro-teachers but in these difficult economic times, Newtown’s Schools District must take additional steps to ensure that it continues to run as efficiently as possible and to communicate these actions more effectively with the community. Restoring the valuable education programs that have been cut in the past or adding new rich and stimulating courses to our education program in Newtown remains on my radar, however my immediate objective if I am re-elected, and that of the IPN, is to protect those minimum resources required for a high quality “core” education for our children in the face of limited or reduced education funding. But this will be impossible without education supporters playing an active role in town government when needed. Despite much of what you have read, not everyone claiming to be a supporter of education really is, and so Newtown’s education program is vulnerable to those who only want to wrest control of the education budget from the Board of Education. It’s one thing to scrutinize education funding and then make sure our District has what it needs at budget time. But it’s another thing to continuously tie the District’s hands with micro management and then at budget time, refuse to properly fund education because you are not happy with the Superintendent, for example. The children suffer. And unlike funding road repair where you can push off repaving for a year or two and then make the road as good as new, you cannot ask a student to go back and re-do the two years of school where programs or educational resources were limited. The impact of reduced funding stays with them forever.
March, 2009 questioning reductions to the education side of the proposed spending plans for the 2009-2010 budget.