Dannel P. Malloy -- Accomplishments
Mayor, City of Stamford, Connecticut
In 2005, Dannel P. Malloy was elected to his fourth term as Mayor of Stamford, Connecticut. Mayor Malloy is the longest serving mayor in the history of Stamford. Throughout his tenure, he has earned people’s respect for his genuine commitment to managing a city government that takes great pride in the citizens it serves and protects. Malloy’s leadership boasts vast reductions in crime, new affordable housing, and many improvements to an educational system that competes with the nation’s most prestigious public schools. He has worked to modernize the City’s infrastructure, and his pragmatic financial management has enabled Stamford to make these investments while preserving its AAA Bond Rating. His innovative approach to addressing climate challenges has made Stamford a state and national leader on environmental reforms.
Upon taking office, Malloy sought to personalize City government. After years of distant governance, he instituted citizen office hours so that constituents could bring their concerns to his immediate attention. During his tenure, Malloy has held a monthly “Mayor’s Night In/Out” either in his office or in a neighborhood locale. He also created the Citizens’ Service Center whose sole purpose is to respond to constituent service requests in a timely and efficient manner.
One of the Mayor’s highest priorities has been to make Stamford a safe community in which to live. Since 1996, the City’s crime rate has decreased 60%. As a result, the City has been consistently ranked as one of the safest cities in the United States by the FBI. In its quest for perfection, the City has sharpened its focus, rather than relish its success. The Mayor’s public safety successes have enabled him to pursue a legislative agenda that seeks to revitalize Stamford’s economy, to advance an affordable housing initiative, and to restructure the public schools to prepare our children to enter the nation’s competitive workforce.
Malloy’s efforts to reposition Stamford in the new global economy, while continuing its leading role in the region and the State, have also won accolades. The City is now an international center for finance, home to the North American Headquarters of UBS, and soon, the Royal Bank of Scotland. Major corporate offices in the downtown benefit from the renewal effort that has received regional and national notoriety as it has launched new solutions to urban design, retail and housing. In fact, the City is a national leader in engaging private developers to build housing for a broad range of income units through zoning incentives. For instance, downtown Stamford has seen more housing production than any other city in America. This privately leveraged production has been complemented by the Mayor’s success in securing major federal Hope VI funds for two major public housing projects and collaborating with local not for profit housing sponsors.
The Malloy administration has made significant strides in rebuilding the City and its infrastructure. Some of these noteworthy projects and accomplishments include: the complete upgrade of the Water Pollution Control Authority Facility, the largest capital project in the City’s history; the substantial progress made with the federally funded Urban Transitway, an east/west corridor in the City’s South End that will eliminate a major transportation bottleneck; and the rebuilding, renovation and modernization of Stamford’s school buildings.
The Mayor’s passion for the environment has resulted in significant policy initiatives that have positively impacted the City. In 2006, the City of Stamford was recognized as one of Connecticut’s “Clean Energy Communities” by the CT Clean Energy Fund and SmartPower for the over 44 energy efficiency projects that had been implemented in Stamford since 1998. Through grants and rebates, the projects brought over $1.7M into the City. Some of the projects included energy efficient traffic signal systems and energy efficient lighting downtown. In October of 2007, the Mayor unveiled “Stamford’s Cool and Green 2020 Initiative,” a multifaceted approach to the climate challenge that asks the City and its residents to create higher standards of energy savings between now and 2020. Stamford was one of ten municipalities selected by ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability as part of the New England Cities Project. These investments have led to statewide recognition. The City received the 2008 Connecticut Climate Change Award from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Governor’s Steering Committee; and it was awarded the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships’ 2008 Municipality for Energy Efficiency.
Elected officials across the country have praised the Mayor for his commitment to early childhood education. His “School Readiness Program,” which entitles all four year olds in the City of Stamford to a preschool experience regardless of their economic circumstances, has earned national recognition. The program’s largest center, the William Pitt Child Development Center which serves over 300 preschool children, was accredited in 2008 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and was one of the first early childhood centers in the country to earn the mark of quality represented by the reinvented NAEYC Accreditation system.
In an effort to keep property taxes low without shortchanging public schools, the Mayor has recognized the need to make the City more efficient so as to channel more money into education. Since Malloy took office in 1995, he has increased public school funding by $112 million or 99.3%, while he has held the line on general government operating expenditures, which have only increased $35.6 million or 26%. Today, more than 60% of the City’s local tax revenue goes to education, while less than 40% goes to general government operating expenditures. The Mayor’s fiscal initiatives have allowed the City to expand its rich curriculum even in tight fiscal times. The Mayor’s work with public education has earned the City three “City Livability Awards” from the United States Conference of Mayors.
Malloy and his wife Cathy are the parents of three sons, Dannel, Ben and Sam.