Cathy Iino: She Did Something About That
Cathy Iino has been one of the longest serving town officials in Killingworth’s history and her dedication and loyalty to her constituents will not soon be forgotten. Her service, culminating with 12 years as first selectman—and that’s six elections—came to end this past year when she made the decision not seek another term, but she says her heart will always be with the people she served.
Cathy and her husband Paul Kahn discovered Killingworth when looking for houses near where they were working in New Haven.
“It is so lovely here. I have to pinch myself sometimes that I can walk out my door, walk through our woods and down into Chatfield Hollow with even getting in a car. It’s great,” says Cathy. “We really do love the town.”
Cathy says her initial impetus to seek office wasn’t necessarily an “a-ha” epiphany moment.
“If someone had asked me 20 years ago if I’d ever run for office, I would have laughed. I never even imagined that at all. It’s a much smaller town than I had ever lived in before. And that’s what kind of pulled me into politics eventually. Whether it was Chicago or New Haven or D.C. where we have lived in the past, if you see something that ought to be done and you say. ‘Somebody should do something about that.’ And you move to a place like Killingworth and realize there is no ‘somebody’ and you have to just have to do it. If it’s going to be done, you have to do it and that’s really how I really started getting involved in the local community. I saw there were a lot of things that could be done better.”
Cathy reflected on her service and says her biggest accomplishments were those that directly helped residents and that had long-term impact on Killingworth’s quality of life.
“There are different kinds of accomplishments, I think. But creating a sense that the government was there to serve everybody and to help, and not just to stand in the way of what residents wanted was important for me. To try and build a sense that the government is not the enemy, in fact it’s not something else at all—it’s you, it’s all of us. It’s the way we all do things together,” says Cathy. “It’s incredibly important. Killingworth and towns like us run on volunteers and there are so many people who are so dedicated and put in lots and lots of hours—our ambulance company, our fire company, but also all the people who serve on boards and commissions who are not paid. The town runs on volunteers and I saw my role as helping those people accomplish what they wanted to accomplish.”
Cathy says that finding residents to engage in their community is at the root of shoreline community life and hopes that the trend in national politics doesn’t trickle down to the local level.
“Especially given what is happening nationally now…Some people are so skeptical of politics, but I wanted people to see politics as a form of community service,” Cathy says. “So, I hope I was able to accomplish that in some way.”
Cathy says a number of projects, including park renovations, an emergency operations center, and a veteran’s memorial garden and monument, were also highlights of her administration.
“We got some funding for handicap accessible trails...which were important,” says Cathy. “We managed to not raise taxes during that time and to streamline Town Hall operations and to make them more effective.”
Cathy reflected that there were still a number of issues she wished she could’ve found resolutions for, but says the town is in good hands.
“There are still so many things I wished we had gotten to. Of course COVID was a big deal, but one of the challenges of town government is that the crush of everyday crises tend to push much bigger issues back. One of the things I would love to see happen is a trail that would go from Parmelee Farm down to Sheldon Park...and ultimately work with Clinton and have it go all the way down to the shore,” Cathy says.
Cathy says the future economic development of the town is another issue on which residents need to focus in coming years. According to Cathy, development pressure on Route 81 will be important, as Killingworth doesn’t have a true town center, and forging a more cohesive area was something she hopes will come to fruition one day.
One of the aspects Cathy will miss most about her service is the ability to effect change.
“I guess, what I’ll miss is having easy access to Town Hall...[to] see if we could work and find a solution,” Cathy says. “Frankly, I miss working with my fellow CEOs in these regional entities. We learned so much from each other, and I really enjoyed working in that collaborative way. Working with people and seeing their efforts is something that was important to be a part of. Local politics is where, or it should be where, you’re solving problems that don’t break down on sort of these national partisan lines and divisions.
“I think it’s important for people to recognize that that’s really what politics is; it’s about people working together,” she continues. “It’s not about having to win at all costs and having that national trend trickle down to us. I think that is a big risk facing us now. I’d like people to see politics as the highest form of human community activity, rather than such a disreputable activity, which in this climate is sometimes the way some people feel.”
Cathy notes that one of the issues she will not miss is the stress over snow. Town officials rarely look with admiration on wintry weather, as storms don’t represent a day off or a picturesque view.
“Snow storms! I really love being able to look out the window and say, ‘How beautiful!’ and not worry about when the trucks plow or what to close. I’m not going to miss that!” Cathy says with a laugh.