Almeida promises quick action if elected mayor

Harley Jelis

Photo provided by Al Almeida.

Meghan Edwards, News Editor
October 23, 2017

Al Almeida wants change for Danbury; he is passionate, he is an assiduous worker, and above all, he loves this city — and that is why he wants to be mayor.

That was part of his pitch as he stood recently before DHS students in Kathy Boucher’s Civics class.

Throughout Almeida’s presentation, the Democrat argued why he would be the best choice for unseating incumbent Republican Mark Boughton, who also had his time before the class.

“I’m an action man,” Almeida said, explaining he wants to move quickly and efficiently to bring enhancements to Danbury.

This characteristic is especially apparent to students as they mentioned in their student surveys that Boucher handed out following the presentations. “Almeida seems extremely hardworking and dedicated to only Danbury,” senior Holly Rivers wrote.

He said that this gungho attitude of wanting to accomplish goals has been lacking in Danbury under the current leadership. “It should not take nine months to fix a toilet,” he said, referring to a DHS auto shop bathroom that was rendered unusable. Despite the quick call for help, Almeida said it took the city nine months to make the repairs.

About this, senior Angel Tuano said in his survey: “Almeida is very passionate about fixing things that Boughton said he would fix years ago. He sounds very believable that he plans on making change.”

Much of this need to serve Danbury in an efficient manner sprouts from his history of national service in the military. Almeida is an Army commander sergeant major — the highest enlisted rank in the Army — and has served for 39 years, fighting in Iraq and being stationed in countries around the world.

He is currently using his military background while working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provides federal assistance to areas in response to natural disasters such as the hurricanes in Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Florida.

“Everything comes back to one thing and that’s public service,” Almeida said. This is why, he said, that he earned bachelor’s in criminal justice from WCSU and a master’s in civil service from UConn.

If elected mayor, Almeida says that his first priority will be education because “there is nothing we can do in this world without education.” Therefore, he said,  “I want to invest in education, in the classroom and in infrastructure, I want to invest in our teachers to make sure they have the resources that they need.”

With his three kids, he is specifically passionate about education, as he desires an effective school system so that all students can receive a quality public education here.

He says that teachers are the key to student’s success — and, by extension, the city’s success — and that recently they have been greatly overlooked. Almeida mentioned how this school year, every paraprofessional in the district was either let go or given a lower position because of the state budget crisis.

This greatly increased the pressure placed on teachers — especially in elementary schools — as they lost a vital aide in their classrooms, which Almeida said is unacceptable.

In addition to his promise to return these resources to teachers, Almeida wants to alleviate the city’s crowded schools.

“I am a believer that we should have two public high schools in Danbury,” Almeida says, although he recognizes the great sum money it would cost to build an entire other high school.

Therefore, he also wants to create a magnet program in which students close to Danbury’s edges can decide which city they want to attend school in as a “temporary fix.”

“Danbury has too many kids [in the schools], Ridgefield has too little; why can’t we take the kids on the border of Ridgefield and move them to Ridgefield where they’re losing enrollment,” Almeida asks.

Many students appreciated his various strategies for the bettering of Danbury as senior Maria Garcia notes in her student survey: “Almeida has a clear plan for the future and knows what needs to be improved. He will give us a fresh new start.”

Another fundamental issue Almeida has with the politics of the city at the moment is the taxes. He states that property taxes have risen every single year for 16 years, which is unacceptable to him and students as many said in their surveys that the main issue they want to see solved in office is a lowering of the Danbury property taxes.

“I’m making an investment in the city of Danbury but I’m not getting a good return from it,” Almeida said. Therefore, in office, he wants to focus on helping the working class by lowering taxes.

Almeida said he knows what it’s like to work daily for what you have and live paycheck to paycheck, constantly worrying about finances. He wants to target this problem to ensure that other Danbury residents no longer have to feel the same economic pressure.

This makes him, “relatable as the common working man,” said senior Bryan Niole in his student survey.

Almeida also said that he will never deceive citizens into thinking things are better than they are. He will always say exactly what the issue is and what he will do to fix it, he said, adding  “I’m a straightforward politician. I am the way I am.”

He promises to fulfill the needs of Danburians.

“I love Danbury, I’m here to stay.” Almeida told the students. “I’ve served our nation, I’ve served our state, I think it’s time for me to serve our city of Danbury.”