CANDIDATE BULLETIN:
We Are CCM, Your Partners In Governing
OFFICERS President, Michael J. Freda First Selectman of North Haven 1st Vice President, Luke A. Bronin Mayor of Hartford 2nd Vice President, Jayme J. Stevenson First Selectman of Darien
DIRECTORS Elinor Carbone, Mayor of Torrington Thomas Dunn, Mayor of Wolcott Justin Elicker, Mayor of New Haven John A. Elsesser, Town Manager of Coventry Laura Francis, First Selectman of Durham Joseph P. Ganim, Mayor of Bridgeport Barbara M. Henry, First Selectman of Roxbury Matthew Hoey, First Selectman of Guilford Laura Hoydick, Mayor of Stratford Catherine Iino, First Selectwoman of Killingworth Matthew S. Knickerbocker, First Selectman of Bethel Marcia A. Leclerc, Mayor of East Hartford Curt Leng, Mayor of Hamden W. Kurt Miller, First Selectman of Seymour Rudolph P. Marconi, First Selectman of Ridgefield Michael Passero, Mayor of New London Brandon Robertson, Town Manager of Avon John Salomone, Town Manager of Norwich Scott Shanley, General Manager of Manchester Erin E. Stewart, Mayor of New Britain Mark B. Walter, Town Administrator of Columbia
545 Long Wharf Drive, New Haven, CT • (203) 498-3000 • www.ccm-ct.org
Table of Contents What is the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities?
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The Evolution of CCM 5 CCM Provides a Voice for Municipalities Comprehensive Communication and Public Relations CCM Knows the Information Local Officials Need
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Training Local Leaders 11 CCM Provides Savings for Members
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Insurance and Risk Management 13 Final Thoughts 14
What is CCM?
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he Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) is a member driven organization that is a valuable resource and advocate for municipal government. We are the State’s premier local government advocate and we proudly represent all 169 municipalities in Connecticut. From the large cities to the rural towns, we provide their collective voice and strength on multiple fronts.
find sound solutions to Connecticut’s over-reliance on the onerous property tax, CCM formed the Property Tax Reform Commission. The Commission’s recommendations are due in November. In addition, CCM routinely provides valuable data and analytics on municipal salary and labor trends which enable local officials to make more informed decisions. CCM provides local officials with the tools to educate and improve their communities. To promote and foster collaborations, we provide training and resources which allows local officials the opportunity to build partnerships, solve complex problems and work across political and organizational boundaries. This is accomplished through CCM’s highly successful Certified Connecticut Municipal Official (CCMO) program. This program encourages local officials to utilize municipal training workshops, conferences, special meetings, and other educational opportunities to expand their knowledge and enhance important leadership skills through education.
Each municipality throughout the state has its own unique and complex challenges. When they come together at CCM, we see an outstanding amount of strength and legitimacy. Beyond tackling complex issues such as government finance and labor issues, we are the leading resource for state and local leaders on innovative ideas and providing cost saving programs. As an organization, we have advocated on important issues that impact property taxpayers. Each year, CCM tracks thousands of pieces of legislation each year. From combating new unfunded mandates that can cripple municipal budgets to advocating for additional state educational and other financial assistance, CCM provides strategic and consistent lobbying efforts.
When CCM’s member towns come together we can collectively develop innovative and strategic plans and proposals that provide a positive step toward the future of municipal government. We empower our members to come together for the common good and are a premier mechanism to develop those ideas and turn them into a reality. This is our story.
A large portion of CCM’s success is our willingness to think outside the box and develop quality proposals that make Connecticut a better place to live and work in. To
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The Evolution of CCM: From a Small Group to a Leading Voice for Municipal Government
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n the 1960’s a group of municipal associations throughout the country organically grew as catalysts in making local governments more effective and efficient. It was a movement in promoting federalism (the tripartite division of responsibilities between the federal, state and local governments) with the intent of featuring what’s working and what needs to be fixed in America’s communities. This sparked municipal leaders’ interest in coming together to create a common voice in promoting the needs of local government.
in 1966 CCM was officially created. Led by New Haven Mayor, Richard C. Lee acting as president and Joel Cogen – who had served in a variety of roles in New Haven – as Executive Director, the group not only succeeded, but thrived very quickly. This was because of its commitment, dedication and persistence in broadening its membership. CCM quickly became a highly productive organization that developed innovative programs, in-depth research and recommendations into shaping public policy throughout Connecticut. What follows is what the organization – first known as the Connecticut Conference of Mayors and later renamed the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities – has become.
Local officials in Connecticut knew the possibilities and benefits of such an association. After several efforts,
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CCM Provides a Voice for Municipalities
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CM represents the interests of municipalities at both the State and Federal level. Instrumental in those efforts are our members providing important perspectives, along with the CCM staff that are able to effectively convey those issues to state officials. CCM’s in-house lobbyists collectively have decades of government relations experience and offer a year-round presence under the golden dome. The staff is comprised of public policy experts that have served in a variety of roles within the General Assembly and are able to take that knowledge and experience to advance the legislative agenda of CCM. Each staff member specializes in certain areas of focus and are responsible for tracking every piece of legislation and amendment that is introduced to determine its potential impact on towns and cities.
common ground on a variety of topics, often times controversial. CCM tries to obtain common ground if it provides a benefit to the residents of Connecticut. In doing so, we have worked with various stakeholders on important legislative topics, including: • Providing Benefits to Firefighters with Cancer Worked with career and volunteer firefighters to provide firefighters with financial benefits to assist them with medical or loss of wage support when they are diagnosed with cancer. This was accomplished in a collaborative manner to ensure firefighters were not financially impaired when seeking treatment, as well to ensure it did not impose an undue burden on local budgets. • Addressing PTSD Support and Benefits for First Responders - Succeeded in reaching a compromise to provide mental health benefits and support to first responders that suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For a long time, this was a controversial topic that did not appear to have any common ground. CCM’s concern with the original proposals was the tremendous financial, administrative and labor imposed burdens the mandate would have imposed. After several years of disputes, CCM convened a working group comprising of police officers, firefighters, local CEOs, police and fire chiefs, insurers and workers compensation practitioners to examine the perspective from all parties. As a result, PA 19-17 was enacted that protected municipal budgets, provided first responders with appropriate access to mental health care and assisted in removing the stigma of mental health within the first responder community.
Along with directly lobbying legislators, CCM works with our members in preparing and delivering testimony in promoting CCM proposals and defending against harmful legislation. CCM is always pursuing stability in state aid to municipalities, as well encouraging meaningful mandate relief and combating against new unfunded mandates. Responding to legislation is only part of CCM’s effort. We develop and pursue legislative proposals based on deliberation from CCM’s Policy Committees, which are led by municipal leaders and ultimately comprise CCM’s official legislative program. CCM also works with our partners at the federal level providing federal advocacy. The National League of Cities (NLC) is a tremendous resource and partner for CCM. CCM leads and coordinates coalitions on a variety of issues. In recent years, we have worked in reaching
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• Greater Control of EMS Providers within Municipalities - Collaborated with the Department of Public Health, ambulance providers and local CEO’s to provide local government greater control of a municipality’s emergency responder primary service area (PSA) provider. PA 14-217 included changes that created a process by which towns and cities have a greater ability to determine their PSA provider. In addition, this included the development of a process by which towns could seek reassignment of PSAs from the Department of Public Health in order to improve patient care, regionalize services or create efficiencies. As well, it created improvements to local EMS plans by updating performance metrics by which EMS providers would be held accountable for their service.
• A substantial portion of CCM’s advocacy efforts occur outside of the legislative process by engaging with various agencies on regulatory and agency directives. CCM has worked extensively on several issues within the Public Utility and Regulatory Authority (PURA). PURA is charged with regulating the rates and services of Connecticut’s investor owned electricity, natural gas, water and telecommunication companies. CCM has represented the interests of municipalities before PURA on several issues, including utility response to various storms, ensuring municipal oversight is allowed for small cell utilities within the right of way, and encouraging municipal broadband expansion by streamlining the process in which various utility lines are attached to the utility poles. CCM has been instrumental to ensure PURA decisions included the best interests of towns and cities.
• Local Oversight of Small Cell Antennas - In 2017, CCM was successful in advocating for then-SB 536 which was intended to establish a statewide plan and process for the siting of small cell antenna systems. Without CCM’s interjection through the legislative and regulatory process, these systems would have been able to be installed in the right of way without municipal input or oversight.
• CCM has also worked with several state agencies on important topics. These efforts include working with the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security on disaster preparedness, response and recovery for a variety of events, as well as working with the Department of Education, Department of Public Health and several other agencies on a variety of other topics.
• Police Accountability - Most recently, CCM worked with elected officials and advocates regarding the municipal impact of PA 20-1 regarding police accountability. In light of continuous protests and rallies to address racial inequities, it became obvious that some kind of police reform was needed. As the bill was drafted and reviewed, CCM was successful in highlighting the unintended consequences of the original proposal. As a result, CCM was able to make recommendations that were incorporated into the final bill to make it more workable and less onerous on property taxpayers. While still problematic in several areas, CCM is hopeful to continue to work with all stakeholders on the issue.
• Most notably, CCM worked with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) on the Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) permit. CCM successfully worked to reduce the fiscal and scope of the permit that was originally proposed. Over the course of six months, CCM negotiated the removal of several provisions which would have been costly unfunded mandates on towns and cities. While the current MS4 permit does contain some unfunded mandates, the efforts of CCM and its members reduced the scope and fiscal impact that the MS4 permit.
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• Along with our work in the Legislative and Executive branches of government, CCM has also been involved in representing the interests of towns and cities in our judicial system. Of particular interest, CCM has been involved in some important court decisions:
must be assessed based on its fair market value. The State Supreme Court agreed. Exemption from this taxation would have transferred the burden from those conducting the construction to those established residents throughout the town. The loss of revenue has been estimated to have approximately $21-$25 million statewide in lost property tax revenue.
• Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding (CCJEF) vs Rell – CCM was instrumental in working with CCJEF partners to litigate the issue of equity within the State’s school finance system. The case was ultimately decided by the State Supreme Court, and while unsuccessful in the courts, CCM has been able to use the case to promote the overall issue of providing equity and ensuring adequate resources for Connecticut students.
• CCM v. PURA - CCM convened a coalition of municipal and non-municipal officials to object to a PURA ruling that municipalities were unable to use its free “municipal gain” on the utility poles in order to provide broadband services to its residents and business, regardless of whether such service is being provided directly by the municipality or through commercial arrangements with a third party. CCM was successful, on appeal, to have the Appellate Court provide a declaratory ruling in favor of CCM and therefore remove the shackles that municipalities had in building out broadband in their communities.
• Walgreens v. Town of West Hartford – CCM supported the Town of West Hartford’s effort for local assessors to consider actual rent and other factors, like recent sale prices of the property, when valuing leased property. This decision has important implications for appraisals – not only Walgreens stores, but also other chain stores with the same business practice of leasing property – that are prepared in connection with property tax appeals throughout the state. Failure in this regard could have resulted in millions of dollars in lost property tax revenue, or additional tax burden that could have been passed onto residents.
CCM’s public policy and advocacy efforts are vast and constantly in action. CCM keeps members updated on important events through a variety of means, one of the most expansive and useful is CCM’s Legislative Action Center. It is the best and easiest way to stay involved and updated on important issues impacting our towns and cities.
• Kasica v. Columbia – CCM partnered with the Town of Columbia to ensure that a property under construction
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Comprehensive Communication and Public Relations Efforts
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CM conveys its message on important topics not only through lobbying, but also through utilizing a variety of communication channels. Our communication department brings decades of experience and relationships in and with the news media. From closely monitoring federal trends and municipal news to distributing press releases and op-eds, they have the ability to share time sensitive municipal concerns and proposals throughout the statewide media base. This has resulted in the publication of hundreds of articles and news segments on CCM and its membership.
sharing new and unique updates from towns and cities.
The cornerstone of our efforts is our quarterly Connecticut Town & City magazine. This is a leading print publication to promote municipal innovation, policy news, and membership highlights. We cover local municipal news issues that others don’t because our audience of over 5,000 local and state officials demands it.
Staying connected with our members is an important component of a member driven organization. Engaging with our members is a focus for all CCM staff. We are personally connected with each of our 169 members through our City/Town Liaison program. The program relies on each staff member to serve as a resource and conduit in communicating CCM services, benefits and information to each member. This has been a highly valuable tool to ensure each municipality is getting the maximum benefit from the services and programs that CCM has to offer.
CCM has anticipated how our audience receives updates and how we can continue to tell municipal stories. The prime example, in 2018 CCM created the Municipal Voice, our bi-weekly podcast. Since created, the podcast has had over 100,000 streams across a variety of platforms like Facebook Live, YouTube, SoundCloud, and Apple Podcasts. We have had over 50 guests, including local and state officials and issue experts on a variety of topics, each have brought their unique municipal perspective to the listeners.
Certainly, times have changed in the way the news is disseminated. While the traditional means of print and television remain mediums that CCM utilizes, CCM has also embraced new media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They have been vital in sharing important messaging to highlight legislative issues along with
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CCM Knows the Information Local Officials Need
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o one knows municipalities quite like CCM. With the knowledge and expertise of our employees and municipal officials, our Research & Labor Relations team provides the information that local officials need to know to be effective leaders. CCM has built a robust database of vital municipal information and resources. The information is constantly evolving and being updated. Each year, the staff provides answers to more than 700 information requests from municipal officials. These requests are unique and one of a kind – no other entity is able to provide such information. Along with the information request that are provided to members, CCM provides unique resources on a routine basis. One of the most valuable resources we have is the Annual Salary Survey created in conjunction with Capitol Region Council of Governments. The online database tracks over 40 municipal positions and has served to be
an important tool for hiring and labor negotiations. Salary information is an important resource for local officials. So are important updates on labor relation information and trends. To provide this necessary information CCM developed a Municipal Labor Relations Data Reporter which provides a monthly update on labor relations trends and new binding interest arbitration decisions. It is the only publication of its kind in Connecticut, with an up-to-date account of all interest arbitration awards, recent contract settlements and changes, ability-to-pay information by labor market area, consumer price index information, and timely news articles on the trends and developments in labor and employment law. CCM also creates the annual MERA Manual, which is a must have reference tool for municipal labor relations. Beginning with the law’s enactment in 1965, it interprets the Municipal Employee Labor Relations Act from origin, development, and current status of every important topic.
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Training Local Leaders
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CM provides an opportunity for local officials to gather and collaborate. We provide a variety of events and training opportunities. The preeminent is our Annual Convention and Exposition. This event brings together more than 1,000 local government officials and over 150 companies and organizations for two days of educational workshops, collaborative discussions, and networking opportunities. In 2018, CCM’s convention was the host of the final gubernatorial debate, which placed a big spotlight on municipal issues during the campaign. The following year, CCM hosted a panel discussion highlighting experts from Colorado and Massachusetts who provided the municipal perspective and considerations that need to be explored if Connecticut enacts recreational marijuana. Subsequent conventions will highlight other important topics and hopefully future campaign debates.
workshops throughout the year on a variety of topics and in various locations throughout the State. In 2019, over free 60 trainings were held, which served 2,400 municipal officials. The topics include: cyber security, sexual harassment, municipal budgets, Excel 101, Drug and Alcohol Testing Regulations, How to be an Effective Supervisor, Ethics, How to Run Legal and Effective Public meetings, and much more. In 2020 CCM has adapted to the dynamics of society and continued to provide these trainings to local leaders albeit through virtual platforms. Municipal leaders share the desire to serve their municipality. Some come from within government, some come from business, and others are life-long residents with a vision for their hometown. Being a local elected official is a lot to take on, often times needing to have expertise on a myriad of issues. With this in mind, CCM created the Certified Connecticut Municipal Official (CCMO). The CCMO program provides hands-on training that will help first-time CEOs or career municipal officials, learn, bring new information to their jobs, and enhance their abilities to serve their town or city. Since its inception in 2018, the number of participants per year has grown from 29 to 82 new participants in the CCMO program for this year. In 2019, 66 individuals graduated from the CCMO program. In 2018, which was the first graduation ceremony, there were 10 graduates.
CCM also partners with various state agencies in providing the only statewide event regarding emergency management issues. Held each spring, the Emergency Management Symposium offers a full day of informative workshops and interactive discussions on important issues. This is an ideal event for products and topics to be highlighted regarding a variety of security, disaster response and public health issues. Along with these are annual events, CCM conducts
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CCM Provides Savings for Members
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CM provides valuable information and educational opportunities. We also provide a variety of programs that are designed to save municipalities money and reduce administrative burdens on local officials. Some of them include: • IT-in-a-Box is an a la carte program of IT services like data protection, firewalls, storage and more. This beneficial program gives municipalities all the resources it needs to avoid ransomware attacks, to store sensitive data, and to even help with municipal websites. • CCM’s Municipal Consulting Services assists members with a variety of essential services, including grant research and writing, RFP drafting, project management, finance and budgeting, purchasing, temporary staffing and much more. The program is provided by highly qualified consultants with a variety of experience working with and for local government and school districts. As no other entity understands local governments better than CCM. A new consulting service is our executive recruiting program to ensure that only the best qualified candidates are part of local governments.
dents regardless of their health insurance status. This is a free program for all residents within a municipality and has produced an average savings of 45% on prescription drug costs for residents. • CCM Drug and Alcohol Testing Consortium assists members with all the testing and management services necessary for compliance with the Federal DOT drug and alcohol testing regulations. Our program is typically provided at a much lower cost than other testing services because CCM pools the resources with other municipalities to reduce the administrative and financial burden of the random testing process. • CCM Energy is a multi-service program that helps municipalities and schools save money on annual energy-related costs. This is accomplished through reducing costs of electricity and natural gas through strategic competitive energy purchasing, assisting municipalities with purchasing, maintaining and upgrading streetlights to LED technology, as well as offering long-term Power Purchasing Agreements and Virtual Net Metering Credit Agreements.
• Prescription Discount Card Program provides municipalities access to prescription savings for their resi-
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Insurance and Risk Management
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he Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency (CIRMA) is the State’s leading provider of municipal risk financing and risk management services. As CCM’s sister organization, CIRMA is member-owned and governed agency which provides high quality insurance for municipalities, school districts and local public agencies. CIRMA provides Workers’ Compensation and Liability-Auto-Property coverage through its two risk-sharing pools.
CIRMA’s coverages, claims services, and risk control services are all tailored to the unique needs of Connecticut municipalities and schools. The agency operates locally in the State and ensures that claims are handled promptly with expert understanding of Connecticut’s insurance and legal environments. In addition, providing vital tools, training and guidance for controlling the many risks town and cities face, thereby better controlling costs.
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Final Thoughts
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CM shares best practices and objective research to help our local leaders govern wisely. We advocate at the state level for issues affecting property taxpayers and we pool our buying power to negotiate more cost-effective services for our communities. The foundation of all this work is the result of a collective group of local officials that strive to create better towns and cities for their residents. In that effort, we are committed to working with all of our partners – both in government and outside – to make Connecticut an attractive place to live and work.
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CCM is the state’s largest, nonpartisan organization of municipal leaders, representing towns and cities of all sizes from all corners of the state, with 169 member municipalities. We come together for one common mission — to improve everyday life for every resident of Connecticut. We share best practices and objective research to help our local leaders govern wisely. We advocate at the state level for issues affecting local taxpayers. And we pool our buying power to negotiate more cost-effective services for our communities. CCM is governed by a board of directors that is elected by the member municipalities. Our board represents municipalities of all sizes, leaders of different political parties, and towns/cities across the state. Our board members also serve on a variety of committees that participate in the development of CCM policy and programs. Federal representation is provided by CCM in conjunction with the National League of Cities. CCM was founded in 1966.
