Jan Degenshein: Candidate for Common Council District D

Jan Degenshein

Candidate for Common Council District D

Party Affiliation: Democrat

What district are you running to represent, and what do you see as its biggest strengths and challenges?

I am privileged to be an endorsed candidate to represent District D on the Common Council. It is a position of servant leadership wherein I will be advocating on behalf of my constituents – my neighbors. A complete answer to the district’s strengths and challenges would require an entire treatise. An overarching theme is that each District has a unique character. D is an Arcadia to many of its inhabitants. The visual landscape is primarily composed of mid-twentieth-century one-family residential suburban homes. The challenge is to preserve its relative serenity while enabling its inhabitants to retain homeownership in their approaching retirement years.

How will you ensure the voices of your constituents are heard and reflected in city policy?

Recognizing that not all people have direct access to government activity, my Facebook page and Instagram account will be available and monitored to share the news at City Hall and around Norwalk. I will respond to questions and concerns expressed therein. I also plan to hold neighbor town halls in closer proximity to my constituents.

What specific projects, services, or infrastructure improvements are most needed in your district? How would you advocate for them?

Transportation in its many aspects needs to be improved. Most roads are narrow, winding, and hilly. They need to be safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. More collector streets, such as West Rocks Road, need to be improved to provide sidewalks and bicycle lanes where the right-of-way widths will permit. By slightly narrowing automobile lanes, traffic calming will occur. Collector streets should be restriped to accommodate bus lanes and bus stops where visibility is not an issue. The recent expansion of bus routes by the Transportation, Mobility & Parking Department should be further enhanced where feasible. The improved Merritt 7 railroad station and its beneficial connections should be heralded. Train silencing should be initiated. The Route 7 Merritt Parkway Interchange will ease commuting time by eliminating bottlenecks. It can be further enhanced by Transit Oriented Development. Rail commuting (whether for shopping or employment) will also remove traffic from local streets where “short cuts” will no longer be necessary. The extension of the Norwalk River Valley Trail should be promoted and enhanced in-city as a linear urban park.

Norwalk is a diverse city. How would you work to bridge divides and represent the full range of residents in your district, across race, income, age, etc.?

District boundaries tend to balkanize rather than synthesize our neighborhoods. We must identify the benefits offered by each of our districts, including their unique services, businesses, and physical characteristics; and share with the entire city the advantages they provide to their inhabitants. DEI is a foundational tenet. I studied the causes and cures of stigma and trained in conflict resolution. I will support the enhancement of programs and improvements in any District where inequity presently exists. I will utilize my skills to ensure that all voices are heard respectfully and in support one another’s needs.

Local Governance & Policy

What are your top three priorities for Norwalk as a whole, and how does your district factor into those goals?    

A. Taxes. Balance them. It is a component of affordability. If we are forced out of our homes due to tax increases, we trample our dreams.
Business development is a contributor. We must retain, expand, and attract business not only to employ our labor force, but to contribute to our tax base. Spend on programs and capital improvements only after an achievable return on investment is identified. We must have a city, investing in justifiable capital improvements that cost less than if we were to ignore the needs and let conditions worsen. We must seek grants to more rapidly fund needed projects. An overall tax strategy must be defined and enacted. 

B. Education. First and foremost, invest in our youth. Sometimes, the fruits of our investments will be longer term. Regardless of district, we want our children to learn the basics, pursue their interests, and achieve their full potentials. In that way they will be better prepared to contribute the most back to any community in which they choose to settle. And Norwalk will offer a great option for young to remain here. We can repel a “brain drain.” We have dedicated teachers and administrators, a broad array of programs, and supportive families. We need the financial support to provide equitable learning opportunities to all our students. By metrics, our schools are the paradigm of Connecticut city public education systems. We should be proud of our achievements, but not rest on our laurels. There is still work to be done. We must identify the most responsible fiscal means in which to do it.                                                                         

C. Housing for all income levels creates an employment base for all types of work, thus attracting commerce and industry. Creative funding may help. Transfers of Development Rights (TDRs) and Tax Credit investments may help. Where do the investments in housing and the benefits of local industry intersect? Therein lies the return on investment. There are too many housing-challenged families in Norwalk. In D, an ADU or a small apartment within a home should be considered, but not as of right. Rather, it must qualify through a carefully curated list of zoning restrictions including traffic contribution, utility availability, visual benefit, occupant need, access for emergency services, and its effect on neighboring properties. By covenant, the home owner must live in one of the two units or return it to its single-family status. The generated supplemental income will ease economic press, encourage extended families, allow seniors to retire in place, and provide a kick start for first-time homebuyers. Absentee landlords need not apply.

How would you address concerns about development, traffic, and preserving neighborhood character in your district?

Today, the suburban residential lifestyle as refuge predominant in District D exists by choice, as does the wish to retain it. The trade-off is lack of vibrancy often found in the inner city: adjacency to shopping, entertainment, and cultural offerings. A large-scale developer must demonstrate that certain uses are required to fulfill a need closer to our doorsteps than already provided closer to the urban core. A critical population mass and ease of access without contributing to congestion must be achieved in a given neighborhood to support commerce. A demand must be demonstrated. Furthermore, any in-district form of development should contribute to the benefit of the region, to the City of Norwalk, to District D, and to its sister districts. Bankable amenities must be offered. Environmental impacts must continue to be scrutinized to ensure a healthier, more resilient, and more sustainable Norwalk. Thus, in the few District D locations where mixed use and commercial developments are feasible, the uses and densities must clearly contribute to the holistic well-being of the community. Any development must not overwhelm our established host neighborhoods.

What’s your position on affordable housing, and how should it be implemented in your district specifically?

Affordable housing is essential to the well-being of Norwalk. Multi-family residential developers must be held accountable to greater standards. Formulas must be recalculated to include families whose gross incomes are at or below 60 percent of the median income – not just 80 percent. The number of affordable units must increase as a ratio to total dwelling units. If inclusive new mid-rise residential housing is feasible in the Route 7/Main Avenue Corridor of District D, it must be supported by utility infrastructure, mass transit and shopping for local goods and services. If those conditions are met, affordable housing will be a supportable asset in our community. On a smaller scale, I have discussed the beneficial impact of affordable housing to some single-family homeowners who can meet a stringent test for a second unit on the site of their home. In this era of economic press, we should also praise the benefits of the extended family household – something that has been stigmatized over the last three-quarters of a century.

How do you see the Council’s role in shaping school funding?

Our school system is our single greatest budget line item. In recent years, we have been financially unprepared to fully satisfy the needs that our schools require to be fully budgeted. It is difficult to identify all available sources of funding when outside funding sources (eg state and federal governments, private grants) have not yet identified their anticipated contributions. The current near-crisis caused by the federal government’s threat to withhold educational funds was a wake-up call to have a Plan B. We must redouble our efforts to identify outside sources to satisfy school needs. We cannot place the burden of funding on our residential property taxpayers. To do so is unacceptable. The school administration must prioritize its financial needs and project a budget well-enough in advance that the city and its taxpayers can better understand cost vs. need.

Budget & Services

What city services do you believe need the most improvement in your district?

If I had to address one city service, it is our streets. Not long ago, our streets were focused only on cars. We should enhance our dynamic road network master plan to identify destinations (shopping, train stations, offices, and manufacturing, and intersections with limited access highways) and more fully create “complete streets” so pedestrians, bicyclists, mini-vans and buses can co-exist. There are pockets of well-water contamination that must be addressed that worsen during periods of drought as our aquafer drops deeper into settled contaminants. In those few areas where public water isn’t available, assistance may be required. Storm water detention and drainage must satisfy current demands, particularly near our waterways, where land use is most intense. The community Services Department should be recognized for its contributions through continued support.

Do you support changes to the city’s budget process to increase transparency, public input, and council input?

I don’t think the budget process is so much opaque as it is inaccessible. Public input should be sought by government through print and electronic media. There should be an opportunity to ask questions and contribute ideas. Not everyone can attend meetings, so Zoom should continue to be engaged. Online bulletin boards may help some better understand the mechanism and the thought processes behind the BET and Common Council decisions. I propose to keep my Facebook page open and coordinate it with Instagram after the election to respond to questions, concerns, and ideas that arise. I wish to promote the creative thinking of my constituents in a civil discourse.

Collaboration & Communication

How will you collaborate with the other Council member representing your district and with At-Large members to get things done?

Listen. In a representative democracy, collaboration is key. Communication by phone, email, text, face-to-face over coffee, in addition to committee meetings in City Hall help to get things done. Ideas flow and develop better in collaboration than tackling them alone. I plan to keep in close contact with fellow Common Council members and the mayor’s office throughout my term to contribute to a clearing house of issues and a means to air and accomplish mutual goals.

What is your approach to resolving conflict or disagreement, either with fellow Council members or constituents?

Listen. My knowledge base in conflict resolution and leadership skills suggest that all parties in a dispute verbalize their goals and how they intend to achieve them. Identify the opportunities and the inhibitors. Prioritize goals. Through creative thought, identify those elements of a goal that may promote a beneficial result for all involved. Instead of cancelling one another out (1-1=0), opponents may benefit from the collaboration (1+1=2). Or there may be hidden benefits (1+1=3). An opposing viewpoint is not a detractor, it is the seed of a new idea. The process may involve emails, telephone calls, or meetings over coffee, in addition to more formal and traditional committee meetings.

How will you keep residents informed about city decisions and how they affect your district?

Listen. I will utilize social media such as Facebook and Instagram, and a shared web page specific to Norwalk government work. I will conduct District D neighborhood “town hall meetings” at locations more proximate to our district members, such as the Norwalk Senior Center and the Silvermine Community Association; and invite other elected and appointed officials to join in, (most notably, my fellow in-district council person) if a topic so warrants. A quarterly Zoom meeting may work for those who are non-ambulatory. The idea is to elicit ideas from as many of our neighbors as possible to achieve the best solutions to issues as possible.

Personal Commitment

What experience, professional, civic, or lived, has prepared you to represent your district effectively?

I have lived in Cranbury for the past 8 years and soon became involved in District D Democrats of Norwalk. In “District D” I hold the offices of secretary and deputy treasurer. I serve as a member of the Democratic Town Committee. I am also a member of the Norwalk ADA Transition Committee, wherein we identify barriers to accessibility to all our citizens on city properties. Prior to moving to Norwalk from Rockland County, NY, I served as Chair of Leadership Rockland, the Rockland Business Association, the County Art in Public Places Committee, and manifold other leadership roles advocating for a better community. I served on the board of an avant-guard elementary school, and an arts organization. I served on a town landscape review commission. I own a small architecture and planning practice, continuously operating for over 50 years. I draw daily on my knowledge base in architecture, planning, and environmental psychology to the benefit of my clients and the community in which their projects have been constructed.

If elected, how will you remain accessible to residents and responsive to local concerns throughout your term?

\More important than my priorities are my constituents’. Social media accounts will remain active and I will endeavor to respond to concerns as quickly as possible. On request, I will visit any constituent for a “front porch chat.” Concerns may be discussed in greater detail in such settings. I respect the input of others and often serve as a surrogate. Issues and assets cross district boundaries so communications across district lines is essential. I look to the future as an opportunity to demonstrate a city as a great community where we can all contribute to and draw from its excellent resources. Since my future is, for the most part, behind me. I do this to secure and inspire the generations ahead.