ISSUES
Refocusing Hartford's Government
John believes that to change our city, we must start with a commitment from our local government. A commitment, led by its mayor, to invest in our most important asset – our people. From birth through adulthood, we must make the education and skill level of our residents the #1 priority of this city. Because if we make this commitment, we will fundamentally change the focus of city government and its relationship with the people it serves.
By fostering this change, we can move towards a Hartford where all residents have access to a great education, employable skills, and the potential to earn a decent living. Where people can own a home, save for retirement, send their children to college, live a shared experience with their neighbors, and do all this without having to leave their neighborhood to find a better one.
John is running for mayor because he knows it is not enough to simply manage the status quo. Some neighborhoods in our city are experiencing extreme poverty, resulting in below-average incomes, higher potential of incarceration, and shorter life expectancy. Under John, this will change.
The first 1,000 days in a child’s life are critical to development, and by getting more Hartford children into these programs, we can begin to break the cycle of poverty, violence, and other challenges facing our city
It is not enough to leave the education of our children to the Hartford School System alone. The formal education of our children, especially those born into families and neighborhoods where parents' educational attainment and incomes are low, too often starts at the kindergarten door. That is why we must work with community organizations to build expectations that all children from 6 months to age 5 will be in a high-quality, preschool setting. That every child will be reading proficiently by third grade, and every high school graduate will be ready to pursue the college or career of their preference.
Finally, it is not enough to leave efforts to increase the incomes of Hartford residents solely to those seeking work and job training sites. That is why John is determined to establish a structure that connects those seeking work with employment opportunities in our city. We must create a skill development process that opens up the thousands of jobs at our 3 major hospitals and insurance companies, creating pipelines to quality employment for our adult residents and future generations.
John is running for mayor to fulfill these commitments to the people of our city.
Education Starts Way Before a Child Steps in the Classroom
The first 1,000 days in a child’s life are critical to development, and by getting more Hartford children into these programs, we can begin to break the cycle of poverty and other challenges facing our city
For Senator John Fonfara, to change our city’s approach to education, we must start by acknowledging that education starts far before a student enters a Hartford public school. That is why this past session, Senator Fonfara secured funding for a pilot program that would invest in getting more Hartford children, starting at 6 months old, into pre-K programs in the city. The first 1,000 days in a child’s life are critical to development, and by getting more Hartford children into these programs, we can begin to break the cycle of poverty and other challenges facing our city. Additionally, enrolling more children in these programs will provide more free time for their families to pursue local career opportunities. The data on this is clear, and as mayor, John is committed to making it a top priority of his administration.
Investing in Us
Hartford is the insurance capital of the world and the home of 3 major hospitals, but we lack a pipeline to connect our residents with these sources of employment and economic stability. John will change that
Workforce development programs targeted at middle and high schoolers are crucial in preparing young people to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving job market. Right here in Hartford, we have Prince Tech, but we have no formal relationship between this tremendous resource and our schools. This needs to change. And for our adult residents, we must bring job opportunities into our neighborhoods. That is why John secured $1 million to open two walk-in “Introduction to Manufacturing” sites on Albany Avenue and Park Street to help Hartford residents gain employable skills right in their own community. And this is just the start. When elected, John will continue to bring job opportunities directly to our communities by creating new training pipelines and a series of job opportunity offices across the city. These centers will connect employers with potential employees as well as provide resources for entrepreneurs. Hartford is the insurance capital of the world and the home of 3 major hospitals, but we lack a pipeline to connect our residents with these sources of employment and economic stability. John will change that.
Building Our City from the Ground Up
By prioritizing neighborhood investments alongside downtown development, Hartford can enjoy a vibrant and equitable economy that benefits all residents
John is tired of Hartford's success stories all ending with the person leaving the neighborhood they grew up in. Enhancing neighborhood infrastructure, including schools, parks, and public transportation, will help stimulate our local economies and improve the quality of life for all of Hartford’s neighborhoods. Take Park Street for example. There is no reason why the Puerto Rican cultural hub of Connecticut should not be flooded by visitors from across the state, looking to eat the best Latin food in our area and enjoy the culture. This is just as true for Albany Avenue in the North End, and the rest of the communities in our city. By prioritizing neighborhood investments alongside downtown development, Hartford can enjoy a vibrant and equitable economy that benefits all residents. Because for John, Hartford is only as successful as its more distressed neighborhoods, and it is his commitment to make every neighborhood a place you can raise a family, send your kids to good schools, have access to good job opportunities, and live safely.
Finally, John wants to re-think how we approach neighborhood revitalization projects. If a building needs to be refurbished, are we hiring local labor? Are the potential buyers from the community? And so forth. We need to be intentional about how we build back our neighborhoods and as your next mayor, John will be focused on this for us.
Toward Safer Neighborhoods
John believes that we must seek to reduce crime in our city by investing in our youth, especially those exhibiting behaviors or having been affected by home or neighborhood conditions that are known predictors of future involvement with the juvenile justice system
The reality of Hartford being a statistically safe city is irrelevant if your home has been burglarized or shots were heard just a few blocks from where you live. If Hartford residents feel their community is unsafe, that is their reality. We also know that crime, and especially gun violence, is to a large extent the result of the poverty that exists in our city. That is why as mayor, John is committed to ensuring that our police are supported but are also incorporating strategies that are designed to give likely or repeat offenders alternatives to the path they are on. John believes that we must seek to reduce crime in our city by investing in our youth, especially those exhibiting behaviors or having been affected by home or neighborhood conditions that are known predictors of future involvement with the juvenile justice system. Many of the 17-25 year old men who are involved in criminal, including gun-related, activity, are known to Hartford police. However, many of those were known to exhibit predictable behaviors at an earlier age. As mayor, John’s priority will be to reduce the number of at-risk youth which will reduce the number of 17-25 year olds that become known to Hartford police or worse. We can reduce the amount of gun violence in our city. We can reduce the amount of crime, in general, in our city, if we commit to investing in the city’s most important asset, its people. With John as your mayor, we will.