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10/16/2017 06:32 AMAs Democratic candidate for Branford first selectman, Lynda Mollow wants to bring new leadership and new vision by improving outreach and communication between town government and residents.
Mollow’s platform planks include disseminating accurate, objective information and recognizing residents’ input in the decision-making process, creating a financially responsible future attentive to taxpayers’ concerns, committing to coastal resilience planning, ensuring seniors have access to essential resource, providing youth with positive opportunities, developing sustainable support for residents in need, and collaborating with local businesses and promote responsible economic development.
A member of Branford’s Representative Town Meeting (District 7, 2015-’17), Mollow is a nurse who joined Medical Oncology Clinic at Yale New Haven Hospital in 2001. She and her husband, Michael, have two children.
The Sound asked Mollow why voters should put her in office.
“I have a lot of experience in bringing people together,” said Mollow. “Primarily, in my nursing career, that was one of my biggest strengths. I’m very familiar with trying to make sure everybody does their part and there’s strong communication so everything moves forward in the right direction, and if you need to adjust a plan, everybody has to move toward that.”
Mollow said Branford’s government needs to give citizens a clearer path to access information directly from the source. For example, the Town of Branford website should have “front-and-center” entry points to learn about town projects like the new Community/Senior Center project or plans to renovate/expand Walsh Intermediate School, she said.
“What we’ve learned since the 2016 [presidential] election is we need to communicate directly from the source, because people get information from sources that aren’t always objective, and then you’re dealing with opinion tacked on to fact. When that happens, there are a lot of misconceptions,” said Mollow.
Mollow’s administration would also work to create a culture where residents can confidently voice opinions that will be heard and considered.
“People see politics as too complicated and a little intimidating, and that’s not acceptable to me,” said Mollow. “They should feel welcome; there should be a path for people to get involved. And I don’t know where the disconnect is, but we really need to start connecting people together again, so they feel like they’re part of what’s happening in their town.”
As for leading Branford at a time when municipalities are experiencing fallout from the current state budget crisis, Mollow said she would continue Branford’s good fiscal management practices, but added she is concerned about entering into additional debt with recent bonding issues including the $12 million Senior/Community Center and $88.2 million Walsh Intermediate School project (subject to state reimbursement).
“We’ve thankfully had good management from the Finance Department, the Board of Finance and certainly other administrations leading up to this point. We have been cautious with the way we spend and have been careful with our debt,” said Mollow. “I am concerned about the debt that we’re entering into currently. I understand interest rates are low and it’s probably a decent time to incur debt, [but] we’re doing a lot of physical building when I think part of what we need to do is to do some planning. One of my biggest concerns is coastal resilience. We have a lot of properties that are close to water, and a lot of those properties also have a very high property value, and that’s where we’re getting our taxes. If those property values are going down...we’re affecting our base, and it’s going to be very difficult to keep the town running at the level it is.”
An Eye on the Coast
Mollow said Branford needs to invest in infrastructure to protect the town’s coastal communities.
“We can’t necessarily rely on state and federal funding, and we could be looking at paying for our own storm damage in the future, so we need to be careful that we maintain a good enough rainy day fund and our undesignated funds to try to make sure we can protect ourselves from that. I think we should use a sinking fund to try to plan for these projects...You can’t apply for funding for any of these projects until you have a plan in place. We’re not necessarily even in that position yet, because it takes money to start to do the planning, so we need to start investing in that sort of future.”
Noting Branford’s home to many environmentally conscious residents, Mollow envisions enlisting citizen assistance for a project such as this.
“Branford has the capability and the citizens that would get behind this, and even do projects in their backyard that would help the situation” she said.
But as it currently stands, Mollow noted, “we’re not involving the public, we’re not involving anybody in any sort of move forward, and if we come across as a town that’s not doing anything to protect ourselves, are you going to want to buy property in Branford? But if we come across as a town that’s actively planning [and] promoting, [you’ll say] ‘This is a town that’s working in the right direction.’”
‘A Better Example’
Mollow also said town departments, boards, commissions and committees should be working to share resources, strengthen communication and “set a better example” that will invite the public in. As an RTM member, Mollow recognizes part of the issue involves Branford’s heavy emphasis on representative government.
“There’s a lot to learn about the way government is structured in this town, and it can be confusing, but most of the work is supposed to be done in committees [which then] make a recommendation. But what I was seeing quite often were things presented to the [full] RTM before they’d gone through committee enough. There seemed to be a great deal of disorganization in the way it proceeded through the process. That was upsetting to me, because I didn’t think it gave the proper amount of time” to make an informed decision, she said.
For a citizen coming seeking to give an opinion or ask a question, the current government culture doesn’t feel very inviting, said Mollow.
“We should be a town of neighbors. We’re a town of people that work together, our kids go to school together...We should be able to all just talk,” she said. “If you want to ask a question in a meeting or you’re not sure of something, you shouldn’t be told, ‘You should have been at one of our public forums or at the meeting three months ago.’ That’s getting a finger wagged in your face. It’s an effective way of trying to shut [input] down and it’s flat-out intimidation. You should be able to ask and just get a direct answer. The moment you start shutting people with questions down is when you’re creating this culture of a closed door.”
Mollow has been knocking on many doors to introduce herself as a candidate and to hear the concerns and questions of residents.
“I think people really want to hold on to that small town feeling, so they do get concerned about more development. So what I hear is increasing the size of Branford can sort of take away from its appeal,” said Mollow.
She said that concern would be addressed by her administration’s work to better communications with residents.
“Any project going forward under me would have to have a great deal of community involvement and engagement,” said Mollow.
As an example, Mollow discussed the increased rate of public knowledge and input for the Transit-Oriented Development plan being formulated for the Branford train station area.
“That was rolled out by a group of people who know how to market and make people excited about something,” she said. “We just need to market ourselves as one of those towns that is doing things.”
Mollow said she’s privileged to be meeting citizens as part of an energized Branford 2017 Democratic ticket.
“There’s a new sort of generation of people since 2016 who want to be more involved, and they’re not going to sit back and wait for decision to be made,” said Mollow. “So we have a very passionate crew. We also have a lot of undeclared people town, and when I come to their doors they’re very quick to say they don’t make decisions along party lines. They base their vote on character, and what they think candidates are prepared to do for town and state. I totally respect that. There’s a lot of fluctuating in the way people are using their voice these days, instead of just following the party line.”
For more information, visit mollowahern2017branford.blog or find Mollow Ahern 2017 Branford on Facebook.