Mayoral Views - Lucian Pawlak (D)
By Editor at October 7, 2023 | 10:45 am | Print
The New Britain City Journal is asking candidates for Mayor questions every three weeks related to the City. It is our hope this will give residents time to understand their views and make a proper choice for mayor. The question posed to candidates this week was “What do you see as future of New Britain and how do you plan on getting there??” The following candidates responded to our question.
The one factor that I know will influence and in a large part direct the future of New Britain is politics.
So whoever becomes our next mayor will have a tremendous impact on the future of New Britain.
During my tenure as mayor I led an effort to identify job creating opportunities that would result in making this city’s future a very bright one.
With established care givers like the Hospital for Special Care, the Hospital of Central Connecticut and the Grove Hill Medical group our city can still become a center for training and teaching medical caregivers and therefore create good paying jobs for the city’s residents. In the future with the proposed magnet school that will focus on healthcare and the recently announced construction of the Jackson Laboratory genetics research center, some of what I foresaw as New Britain’s future may become reality. And as I think about the 200,000 sq. ft. Jackson Laboratory I wonder why Tim O’Brien and our legislative delegation could not get the Governor to built it in New Britain along Route 84 and not in Farmington two miles up the road.
The other component of a bright future for New Britain is manufacturing. There are many small manufacturers that have left our city because of specific needs that could not be met in New Britain. In many cases those needs were related to space and the facilities available were inferior. That is why I had proposed building two industrial condominiums, one on the old Fafnir site on Myrtle Street and the other on the New Britain Machine site on South Street. These facilities would have shared services such as maintenance, clerical and bookkeeping and be available in a variety of sizes. This would allow the owners of those business to concentrate on growing their business without worrying as to who will answer the phone. Unfortunately the parcels that I proposed for these two smart parks have been sold for parking lots. But despite some poor political decisions I still believe manufacturing will be an important part of New Britain’s future. And my goal for the future would be to once again make space available for any manufacturer that has the entrepreneurial spirit.
The third component of New Britain’s future I believe will be composed of education, the arts and entertainment. The three don’t necessarily have to come in equal parts but each part is vital to a healthy and wealthy city. I can’t ignore the fact that Central Connecticut State University has a major role to play in our city but so do E.C. Goodwin Technical and New Britain Senior High, along with the new magnet school, the UCONN Health Center and Tunxis Community College. And no one should underestimate our arts community. It is vibrant, exciting and ready to contribute heavily to a bright future for New Britain. And if you know New Britain as well as I do you know that entertainment is available year round.
So how do you get there? First you need to dust off the plans that were part of my inner city initiative. Second, have the political will to focus on the three clusters that I write about. And finally elect someone as mayor who has a vision for our city and who has the leadership and experience to go full speed ahead with reinventing this great city.
Ladies and gentleman I am not a professional politician and I am not someone who has never had an original thought but I am someone who was a very good mayor and I am asking you to rehire me as your mayor and together we will create a New Britain that will be healthier and much wealthier. A New Britain that will be the envy of the East Coast.
