The Charter of the City of New London was changed in 2010 to establish a strong mayor form of government. The chief administrative officer (CAO) and all department heads directly report to the mayor. Although the CAO should be of great help to the mayor, it is the mayor who is responsible to lead and manage the city. When the charter was changed, the duties and responsibilities of the city manager were transferred to the mayor. As in the past, when the city functioned with well-qualified and experienced city managers, what we need today is a well-qualified and experienced mayor.

The first four years of the new mayor form of government have not gone well. The city has been poorly managed with the police and Public Works Departments hit the hardest. Taxes have gone up over 20 percent! The city has stagnated with the exception of the Coast Guard Museum. The young and inexperienced Mayor Finizio did not have management or leadership skills. He had been a city councilor in Westerly and that position does not provide management experience.

In contrast to my opponent, I have extensive and in-depth experience in both leadership and management. Having been a nuclear fast attack submarine captain, I know how to get things done, how to maintain high standards, how to build morale, and how to picture future success. Having been a town committee chairman for many years, I know how to build consensus and motivate people.

In the Navy, at Northeast Utilities, and at Computer Sciences Corporation I have hired many people to fill key positions in the groups I have successfully managed. The first and most important task that I will start after election is to place well-qualified people in the key positions of CAO and department heads. My goal is to build a strong experienced team to manage the city professionally while keeping an eye on economic development.

Economic Development is so important because it will result in increased revenues that will hold down property taxes. To strengthen economic development my administration will control taxes and leverage all the city’s resources including the Transportation Center, the waterfront, historic locations, the future Coast Guard Museum, Fort Trumbull, the arts, plus the many restaurants and businesses already here. Taxes reduce profits for businesses and weaken the real estate market in the city. We must remember that we are in competition with the surrounding towns, and people must see an advantage to bring a business or buy a home here.

The city is moving forward on huge construction and renovation projects for our schools. Currently the estimated cost is $200 million. The mayor, in conjunction with the Board of Education, must assure that these projects are extremely well managed with clear milestones, schedules, cash flow, and accurate cost completion projections.

The Magnet School Project has the potential to vastly improve the fate of New London. It will greatly improve the school system, and that will in turn cause families to want to live here. With over 3,000 EB engineers and technicians coming into the city everyday, the potential for New London real estate is tremendous.

In addition to good management of the building and renovation projects, the mayor and school board must make sure that New London taxpayers do not have tax increases caused by covering costs associated with out-of-district students (OODS). The communities of the OODS must pay sufficient tuition when combined with state grants to cover New London’s cost of educating these students. The school board should not need to raise taxes caused by OODS, and failure to recover these costs could kill this promising project. The public must be thoroughly informed how the board is financing the day-to-day operation of the Magnet Schools. Transparency is very important to maintain taxpayer support.

Please vote for me, Raymond “Bill” Vogel, for leadership and management experience you can have confidence in.

Raymond William Vogel is the Republican candidate for mayor of New London.