Norwich — There will be some change on the City Council next term, with one alderman leaving to run for mayor and another retiring.

The ballot has four incumbents, Democrats Joseph DeLucia, Ella Myles and Derell Wilson and Republican Stacy Gould; repeat Republican candidates Robert Bell and John Blackburn, Democratic school board member Swarnjit Singh and new candidates Tracey Burto, a Democrat, and Republicans Michael Grillo, Mark Adams and Grant Neuendorf. Six will be elected, no more than four from the party of the winning mayoral candidate, who has a vote on the council.

Democrat Burto, 41, a gaming industry security shift manager, said she wants "to bring a fresh perspective” to city government. She moved here from Manchester in 2004. She hopes to showcase the city’s diversity, with dozens of nationalities and languages represented.

She was surprised Norwich had no community center or pool for families. “I understand there’s no money in the budget to build one,” she said, “but we need to do more things for the youth.”

Republican Neuendorf, 31, an intervention specialist at Norwich Free Academy, said he wants his two young children to have the positive experiences he had growing up in Norwich. Many of those things are gone, such as miniature golf at Norwich Harbor and a movie theater.

Neuendorf, vice president of Norwich Youth Soccer, said the Recreation Department “needs help” and funding. He supports using schools as community centers and more outdoor facilities for youth at the schools.

Democrat DeLucia, 58, instructor and interim vice principal at Norwich Regional Technical High School, seeking his third council term, said the city has the chance to “change the face of Norwich” with the nearly $30 million American Rescue Plan grant. Council Democrats have added neighborhood and recreation improvements in the first year of ARP grant spending.

DeLucia chairs the ad-hoc City Council-school board committee that discusses budget and collaborative efforts, and the council Public Safety and Public Works committees, which handle major issues.

“I ask hard questions, I challenge the answers when they don’t make sense,” DeLucia said during a candidate forum Tuesday night, “and on your behalf, I look at everything we say and do with a very critical eye.”

Republican Gould, 58, comptroller for her family business, Treats Pools & Spas, and a volunteer firefighter for East Great Plain Volunteer Fire Department, is seeking her fourth term. She said ARP funding will be a top priority. The city is using ARP money to partner with nonprofit Habitat for Humanity to build new and renovate affordable housing. “I want to see that partnership succeed,” said Gould, a member of the city’s blighted buildings committee.

“I still have the passion to do this,” she said of sitting on the council. “I’m a native to Norwich. This is where I grew up.”

Democrat Singh, 36, who is using a shortened version of his name on the ballot, owns the Norwichtown Shell and a construction business, is completing his first term on the Board of Education. He sits on city planning and wetlands commissions and Norwich Community Development Corp. board of directors. 

Singh has been actively promoting the city's ethnic diversity. He wants to continue to bring that to the council by looking at policy through an equity lens. Investing in education and recreational activities would help, he said.

Republican Adams, 48, a public safety supervisor at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, wants to bring “change, new energy, ideas to the table." Adams wants to attract and promote small businesses and lower the tax rate. During his campaign, he said he has heard the need to lower taxes “a lot.”

Adams said increasing police presence downtown, in schools and in neighborhoods could boost the tax base. “Safer neighborhoods, better schools, better businesses for people to move here and to come and shop at,” he said. “It’s just going to increase the bottom line for the city.”

Democrat Myles, 51, a grants writer and contract specialist, as well as the first Native American elected to the Norwich council, is completing her first council term. Myles said her council priorities are to address blight and noise and to continue community investments. She said she brings a lot of experience and leadership to the council.

"I absolutely love serving on City Council, and I love serving our city," Myles said.

Republican Bell, 47, owner of property management firm Bell Logistics LLC that includes short-term rentals and commercial leasing and lawncare, ran unsuccessfully for City Council once and twice for state representative. He said he wants to bring a new, fresh and “more conservative view” to the council.

Bell said he wants to see some of the city’s well-established nonprofit community groups receive ARP funding, including the Bully Busters, Night Flight Basketball and Rose City United, a community-police relations group. “They rely on donations,” he said. “We could give them a big boost.”

Bell also wants to develop community centers in schools. “With the amount of taxes that we pay,” he said, “it doesn’t make sense we don’t have a community center.”

Democrat Wilson, 29, a school paraprofessional, is completing his second council term; he unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2017. He stressed the need to engage residents on how to spend ARP grants, and led an effort to use part of the first-year grant to improve rundown city recreation fields.

Wilson said using city schools as community centers would be more cost-effective than trying to renovate the condemned former YMCA on Main Street.

Republican Blackburn, 73, an army Vietnam veteran and retired Naval branch health clinic staffer, narrowly lost a 2019 council run. He said lowering the tax rate and growing the grand list are his goals. He likes the plan to create a second business park in Occum. Feasibility studies are underway.

“In order to get things done, we have to change to majority Republicans on the City Council and the Board of Education,” Blackburn said. “The Board of Ed thinks they have an open checkbook.”

Republican Grillo, 27, account executive and facilities maintainer for his M&M Group and M&M Landcare business, said he decided to run after seeing his tax bill. “Decisions being made are not advantageous to business,” he said.

“If we can’t afford it, we can’t do it,” he said of city spending. “If we were more financially secure, we would be able to do more.”

Instead of bonding for major equipment purchases, such as firetrucks and police cruisers, Grillo said the city should budget small amounts each year to create a reserve fund for those items.

c.bessette@theday.com