CCM Annual Report 2021

WELCOME

Every year, every month, every day is an opportunity. Before you’re out the door, before even the first sip of coffee, you can say “Today is the day that I’m finally gonna start that project” or “It’s been a while, I’m going to reach out to that old acquaintance that I haven’t spoken to in years.”

It’s no different for municipalities – and we have never seen an opportunity like the one that this past year has presented to us. In 2021 and beyond, your municipality will be embarking on projects with federal funding like never before. And there has never been an environment more geared towards regionalization and collaboration than the times ahead of us.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) is the leading state-local think tank and premier local government advocate at the State Capitol, tackling issues like government finance and labor relations; our services are geared toward local government because we understand exactly what municipal leaders need; and we are the number one resource on innovative ideas for municipal government.

And we are here to help usher in a new era for Connecticut municipal growth.

This is not surprising considering the unprecedented year that we had in 2020. We called it a sea change year in our annual report last year, and that has turned out to be true. By December, when the first vaccines were rolling out, we were able to breathe a sigh of relief. And throughout 2021, Connecticut has shown how ready we all were to get back to some form of normal by being one of the nation’s leaders in vaccination rates and at times – for some weeks and months – having the lowest per capita infection rates in the country.

In fact, Connecticut was recently placed at the top of the list for Safest States during COVID by Wallethub. We cannot downplay the role that our State leadership has played in this, but the boots on the ground were in our towns and cities. It was the work all of you did in working together, with public health departments and districts, and of course, the residents of this great state.

It has been tough adjusting to this new normal – but each passing day we start to approach a world that looks more like February 2020 than March 2020. This isn’t to deny the ongoing concerns of the pandemic, but to say that we are building a path out of it even as we gracefully deal with the restrictions it places on us.

That path out of the pandemic began as many families found their way into Connecticut during the pandemic, as our Rainy Day Fund filled up, and as the General Assembly made changes that will affect each and every town. Our work is cut out for us as we enter another unprecedented era – one in which ARPA and Infrastructure funds will transform the landscape.

You’ll read in our 2021 Annual Report about all the work that we are doing behind the scenes to make sure that municipalities are not left out of the equation, and you’ll also read about the work that you see every day when you ask for a research request or attend a workshop.

One sure sign that we are on the right path is the 2021 Convention, which was held in person at our new location, Mohegan Sun. There may have been many protections, but they were put in place for all of our safety, and we have to say that they worked.

Much of our work was still virtual – something that looks like it might be a part of our future. We are extremely proud of the racial equity work being continued in the CCM CARES name. Our new series called CCM CARES: In Action takes all the lessons we learned from our local and national panels and asks: how do we operationalize these issues? It is not quite enough to keep talking about an issue, and all the successes that you’ve had and shared with us shows the entire state what is possible.

And now is when we ask ourselves: what is possible? What kind of future can we build for our state, our residents, and the children who will undoubtedly ask themselves where they’d like to raise their children in the future?

The ARPA Funds are going to be a large part of this conversation. The ARP Advisory Committee have been meeting since early spring under the charge that they analyze and recommend the best use of ARP funds as towns and cities navigate the strict provisions.

After Connecticut was left out of County-level funding in the 2020 CARES Act, CCM, along with the National League of Cities, fought to make sure that we received those funds. Thanks to our delegation and the tireless work done behind the scenes, we were able to net nearly $700 million in funds. Those funds represent an opportunity – one that the committee feels best used towards regional goals.

For our towns and cities, the Infrastructure bill that passed earlier this year will be yet another opportunity to reinvigorate our public transportation and infrastructure. You can build on the Transit Oriented Development and market Connecticut as the place to be.

That is the secret of Connecticut. It was always the place to be, something many only learned in the past year and a half.

And we plan to keep making new opportunities for Connecticut a reality. In the coming year we want to help towns through the Opioid Settlement and create a Violence Prevention Task Force so all families feel safe and welcome here. Most importantly, we will continue to work on lessening the burden on our towns and cities through Property Tax Reform. Over the coming months, we want to shake up the land of steady habits and work through better ways to run this state.

Today is the opportunity to show everyone what is possible tomorrow when we work together. We at CCM will stay committed to our mission to improve the everyday life of every resident of Connecticut.

Luke Bronin, Mayor of Hartford and 2021 CCM President

Joe DeLong, Executive Director and CEO of CCM