Lawrence pledges to add more high-paying jobs

By Scott Benjamin

DANBURY – Democratic mayoral contender Sedeaka Lawrence says with his business acumen the Hat City can add school space, avoid tax increases and also maintain a high fund balance.

Lawrence - who owns Beyond Acquisitions, an accounting firm, and Sundae’s Touch, a home health care company – said since launching his campaign he has consistently heard from the 3,000 voters that he’s interviewed that the “schools are the biggest concern.”

“The population is growing and there will a demand for schools,” he explained in an interview with Patch.com. “The Board of Education deserves the funding to avoid overcrowding.”

Lawrence, who arrived five years ago from New York City, told The News-Times of Danbury earlier this year that he supports the establishment of the Career Academy for middle and high school students and the construction of an annex to Ellsworth Avenue School.

“I’m a big fan of education,” said Lawrence, a native of Jamaica who has a master’s degree in Finance. “I’m a big fan of the school district.”

But won’t building more school space result in higher taxes?

“There will be no tax increases,” said Lawrence. “I’m a businessman. I know how to allocate resources very well.”

The Danbury City Council this spring approved a $267 million municipal budget with no tax increases on an 11 to 10 party-line vote.

Except for the school funding, Lawrence said that “in large part” he supports that proposal, which Republican Mayor Joe Cavo crafted.

“It is reasonable,” he related.

Danbury is one of the few municipalities that has experienced a population increase over the recent years. It is now Connecticut’s seventh largest city. A study shows that the population will continue to climb.

“People are coming because the cost of living is reasonable,” remarked Lawrence, who faces City Council members John Esposito and Roberto Alves for the Democratic nomination. Mayoral Chief of Staff Dean Esposito is the only announced candidate in the Republican field. Cavo is not seeking a full term as mayor and instead is running again for a seat on the City Council. He ascended to mayor after Republican Mark Boughton left last December after 19 years to become the state Commissioner of Revenue Services.

Regarding Danbury’s attractiveness, Lawrence exclaimed, “The taxes are steady. The property taxes are fair It’s a good place to raise a family.”

Fitch has given Danbury an AAA bond rating.

Lawrence said, if elected, he would “maintain a 15 percent” budget fund balance – which “would show how strong the city’s economy is and also attract investors and businesses.”

However, why are so many Danbury residents living in poverty? Boughton told Patch.com in 2018 that about half of the students in the public schools are on reduced lunch.

Said Lawrence, “To break the barriers, I think that we need to do better in bringing jobs into the city. I think these barriers will decrease over time.”

“Connecticut is doing a pretty good job of keeping businesses here,” said Lawrence.

“I have what it takes to attract businesses,” he said. “I have the skill set.”

Lawrence said he would establish “a task force to partner with private and public companies, not only to retain skilled workers, but to attract new ones as well.”

Lawrence said that he is encouraged that Gov. Ned Lamont (D-Greenwich) has established a state Work Force Council. Mark Argosh of Westport, the chairman of the Workforce Council, told Patch.com earlier this year that to address this shortage his panel aims to launch eight regional sector partnerships by this December in advanced manufacturing and other sectors.

Lawrence said the pandemic has altered the regional economy.

“Teleworking is just as effective as staff working from the office,” Lawrence remarked. “With commercial real estate at an all-time low in New York City, we have to refocus our vision not only to compete with New York City but to attract companies and incentives them to relocate to Danbury.”

However, in relative terms Danbury has been adding jobs in comparison to the rest of the state. It was the only one of Connecticut’s nine labor markets to recapture all of the jobs lost in the 2008 recession. It had a 107 percent recovery rate in 2019, a year before the pandemic. Also, its 7.3 percent unemployment rate in March was the lowest in the state and a full point below the state average.

Isn’t the prime issue not so much jobs, but adding more better-paying jobs?

Lawrence said, “We are a hop stop away from New York City and we as a city won't sit back and allow only Stamford and lower Fairfield County to benefit from all the companies relocating from New York City due to cost.”

Hasn’t the pandemic also revised Danbury’s existing economy?

For years it apparently has been Connecticut’s magnet for retail and restaurants.

Due largely to the Danbury Fair Mall, the city ranks first in Connecticut in sales tax revenue. It also first per capita in restaurants.

Lawrence acknowledged that the online market is growing.

New York University Marketing Professor Scott Galloway wrote in his 2020 book, "Post Corona" (Portfolio, 229 pages), that, "At the beginning of 2020, approximately 16 percent of retail was transacted via digital channels. Eight weeks after the pandemic reached the U.S. (March to mid-April) that rate leapt to 27 percent . . . and it's not going back."

However, Lawrence insisted that the mall “Is going to continue be strong.” He noted that it regularly attracts customers from Massachusetts to Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Pharmaceuticals giant Boehringer-Ingelheim is Danbury’s second largest employer – after Danbury Hospital – and has expanded its facilities over the years.

Lawrence said, “As far as I know their sales are doing phenomenal.”

Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) has not only turned out graduates for 118 years, but is the city’s eighth largest employer.

Former Democratic President Barack Obama said in 2013 – seven years before the pandemic - that higher education was in crisis.

Galloway wrote in 2020, “A year without the in-person experience, and the pricing power it brings, could drive 10-30 percent of universities out of existence.”

Lawrence remarked, “We learned a lot from the pandemic. They [WCSU] have to reinvent themselves to some degree. Some students are better online. I do see the college as being steady in growth.”

Danbury experienced a large number of COVID-19 cases. There was a significant spike, for example, last August, which prompted the state Department of Public Health to urge Hat City residents not to leave their homes.

Are there future health concerns?

“A lot of people in the Danbury area commuted to New York state” where there was high incidence, Lawrence explained.

“I think the city and the state have done a good job in vaccinating its citizens,” he related.

Regarding the campaign, Lawrence said he has distributed about 40,000 fliers on his campaign and has been active through the social media.

In April the Danbury Democratic Town Committee endorsed Alves. He also has the support of all five of the Democratic state legislators that represent at least some portion of Danbury.

“He’s a good fund-raiser,” Lawrence said of Alves, who tallied an impressive $75,000 during the first three months of 2021.

However, Lawrence added that the Democrats, who outnumber Republicans in the city, haven’t won a mayoral election in Danbury since 1999, when Gene Eriquez captured the last of his six terms.

“Why are the Democratic registered voters not coming to the polls?” he said.

Danbury has 14,456 registered Democrats, 8,673 Republicans, 19,591 unaffiliated and 756 voters registered with other parties.

“They should have waited,” Lawrence said when asked about the Democratic Town Committee’s endorsement of Alves. “Let the voters decide.”

The Democratic Town Committee is expected to formally endorse Alves between July 20 and 27, the time frame required by state election laws.

Lawrence said he is committed to getting the required petition signatures from at least five percent of the registered Democrats to force a September 14 primary.

If elected, Lawrence said that he would periodically canvass neighborhoods to meet with constituents and hold Saturday morning office hours at City Hall to discuss issues.

He said, “My job is to serve.”