Executive

EXECUTIVE

We’re going to look back in a few years and say that 2021 was the year that we were able to break some of our steady habits and putting down those first few pavers on the road to success.

Thanks to our steadfast leadership in 2020 under then-President Michael Freda, we were provided a solid transition in this year as Mayor Bronin took the reins. One of the first measures that allowed for this did take place back in 2020, as we devised a onetime equity distribution of annual dues. Understanding back then that this would be a difficult road ahead, we recognized early that in order to create conditions for success, you need a good foundation.

CCM’s brand recognition over the past several years has been a key part of that foundation, as well. We learned from a statewide survey that 35% of statewide citizens have heard of CCM and nearly all support our mission – compare this to just 3% the last time we took this survey. Our newly renovated Hartford office is a part of this as well. Having a foothold just a stone’s throw away from the Capitol, one that we own and can use as a multi-purpose working space will allow us to grow our foundation.

By early 2021, it was clear that President Biden would be advocating for a second relief bill like the CARES Act signed under President Trump. These bills invested in America during a time of need, but CCM along with partners at the National League of Cities noted that the CARES Act provided no direct funding to municipalities with populations under 500,000 and due to our lack of County-level government, we did not receive those funds either. Behind the scenes and with the cooperation of our federal delegation, we were able to secure a larger portion of funds to go directly to towns and cities.

Overall, it looked like towns and cities were going to receive over $2.55 billion in funds, but with that money came provisions on qualified uses. That sparked the need for the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Advisory Committee, made up of experts in multiple fields, CEOs, and state partners. With their guidance, towns and cities could ensure the most effective and efficient use of these historic funds.

Partnership COST, CTCOG, CT MAIN STREET, Dalio Education

One area that we helped bring much needed attention to was our public school HVAC infrastructure issues. Along with Connecticut Education Association (CEA), the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education

(CABE), the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS), the Council of Small Towns (COST), AFT Connecticut, and the Connecticut State Employees Association (CSEA), urged the state and federal governments to partner with municipalities on improvements to our public school air quality.

And we continued our work towards racial equity in the state of Connecticut. In 2020, we began the CCM CARES series, which brought together local leaders to discuss these issues in a constructive manner, culminating in a national panel at our 2020 Convention. We promised that we would not leave that work there.

In January we released the CCM 2021 Racial Equity Toolkit, which laid out many of the lessons we learned in the panel discussion. To assist towns and cities, we created the CCM CARES: In Action series of workshops which uses the Toolkit roadmap to operationalize the many suggestions and ideas it provides.

Key to our mission to make sure that everyone has a seat at the table. That is why we partnered with the Campaign School at Yale for the groundbreaking training program Representation Matters: Are You Ready To Run For Local Office? 200 individuals signed up for the program – a key indicator that people are invested in their local government and want to be a part of its success.

Throughout 2021, the road to success was paved with the hard work of individuals at every level coming together for a better, more equitable tomorrow.

Representation Matters 2021