Danbury Mayoral Candidate Roberto Alves: I’m Not Going to Sit Back and Pave the Same Roads Every Few Years’

On November 2, 2021 Danbury will have its first newly elected Mayor in twenty years.

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Mark Boughton was elected Danbury Mayor ten times, and in the middle of the tenth term, Boughton stepped aside to accept a State appointment from CT Governor Ned Lamont. The President of the City Council at the time, Joe Cavo, took Boughton's place, as the city charter dictates.

When Cavo announced he would not seek the Mayor's office in November, it meant some new blood would take over City Hall, no matter what. Danbury has two major candidates, Republican Dean Esposito and Democrat Roberto Alves who've both been working feverishly to earn votes on the campaign trail.

Alves issued another plan to the media on Wednesday (10/6/21) via press release. It's title is Roberto Alves Plan to Support and Maintain Danbury Infrastructure, it reads as follows:

• Strategically apply ARP funds to update our pipes, our drains, and broadband while working with state partners to obtain grants like the Urban Act Grant Program and the Community Connectivity Grant Program (CCGP) to proactively address our city’s walkability while becoming more bike-friendly, map tourism and cultural assets, and assess climate vulnerability -- including flooding

• Make our roads more resilient, especially in flood-prone areas by upgrading stormwater drainage and storage systems, using permeable paving materials, and assessing road elevation

• Work with the CT DOT to enter into Public-Private-Partnerships (P3s) to rebuild local transportation and connectivity

• Lobby the state to complete the I-84 project in a timelier manner than the proposed 20+ year projection

• Utilize available grants, like the CCGP, to create accommodations for bicyclists and improve pedestrian accommodations to make them safer, which in turn would encourage more environmentally friendly modes of transportation

• Commission a study to assess our city’s aging infrastructure, especially our underground water mains and pipes so we can get in front of routine water shutoffs, water main breaks, and service disruptions

• Improve quality of life and promote health, exercise, community conservation, and development by addressing housing affordability, creating community spaces and multi-use destinations such as parks, outdoor fitness and calisthenic spaces, squares, and gardens, using a low-cost, high-impact approach

Alves added:

“The conditions of our roads and pipes, our transportation networks, our public spaces, and more affect not only our property values, but it affects our bottom line -- this is a quality of life issue. It’s going to take a thoughtful, creative, and cost-effective approach to address our city’s infrastructure needs, present, and future, and as Mayor, I’m not going to sit back and pave the same roads every few years and call it a job well done. I’m going to be proactive, and seek collaborative, creative solutions while keeping taxes low.”