Pete, his wife Tammy, and their three children have called New Milford home for over 30 years. Pete knows New Milford and our town government, having served six terms as a Town Council Member he was sworn in for his fourth term as Mayor in December 2023. He was formerly the owner of Archway News in our historic downtown. He has served the community as a volunteer in many ways: New Milford Downtown business Alliance Chairman, Economic Development Commissioner, coach, and mentor to countless kids. Pete was instrumental in getting the turf fields designed, approved, and funded through involving the public, networking, and driving consensus and support. It is through his strong relationships and ties to the community that he knows effective government doesn’t have to be dictatorial and adversarial, but participative and welcoming of ideas and input that results in better decisions and strong community.
Pete believes that New Milford’s diverse population is an asset and that everyone in our community should be treated respectfully and have their voice heard. The input of all residents is very important as New Milford belongs to all of us. Pulling together and sharing ideas, Pete knows we can tackle the important issues facing New Milford. From fixing our roads, to creating jobs, and everything in between. When we work together, there is nothing we cannot achieve.
One of Pete’s main campaign promises was to address the deplorable condition of our roads! Since taking office, he created a permanent Roads Committee who are in charge of overseeing a multi-year road improvement program and involved the public in the decision making process and with your help have made significant headway in improving our road network.
With your assistance, we have funded and completed, in only 18 months:
- 34,917 feet of total road reconstruction
- 17,582 feet of mill and repave of roads
- 132,083 feet of chip seal on local roads
The Work Has Only Begun!
Rest assured, the work does not stop there. We have already begun bidding and design on the following roads including but not limited to:
Upon taking office, Pete faced several several challenges regarding cuts from the State of Connecticut as well as the way our money was previously invested.
$2.2 Million Cut From the State of Connecticut
When the Town deliberated the budget the year before Pete took office, the State estimated that our revenue would be reduced by up to 6.6 million dollars. Even with that clear warning, the proposed budget was passed on to the New Milford taxpayers without taking into account any decreases in revenue. As many of you know, the State did reduce our revenues and it reduced them significantly. Reductions projected from the State included a 100% reduction in the municipal share of additional sales tax, a 100% reduction in the elderly tax freeze reimbursement, a 97% reduction in Pequot gaming revenue sharing, a 41% reduction in Payment in Lieu of Taxes for Hospitals, a 100% reduction in adult education reimbursement and a 14.5% reduction in Education Cost Sharing. All of these were predictable, yet no planning was done.
When Pete took office this led to a budgetary shortfall in the current year of $700,000. This was due to the refusal of the prior Mayor to properly plan for the revenue shortfall that we knew was coming. As a result, several layoffs were conducted. This was in addition to several vacancies and proposed positions that were not filled as part of last years budget. To be clear, these employees were not terminated due to job performance. They were laid off due to a lack of funding caused by this revenue shortfall that was ignored. These decisions were not taken lightly and were some of the toughest decisions that Pete has ever made. They were necessary, however, to help fix our expense structure and to not push the problem off and put the entire burden on the taxpayers.
Pete is proud to say that through partnering with the Board of Education and fiscal restraint we were able to work through the shortfalls and end with a very minor surplus. This included a line by line effort to reduce spending and applying business sense to government. This was a perfect example of how time and time again, New Milford pulls together to face our challenges together. As part of this years budget, Pete has conservatively and proactively estimated a reduction in revenue and taken in to account potential cuts from the State of Connecticut.
Since December 2017, when Pete took office, he has made economic development one of his top priorities! Since that time he has successfully filled many of the vacant buildings and have also seen new buildings and businesses being constructed as well … over 2 dozen in all! As your Mayor, Pete will continue to encourage people to invest in New Milford. Please make sure to support our businesses as they help stabilize taxes in Town.