Politics & Government

Robert Pero Announces That He's Running for Mayor

Has held seat on City Council for 16 years

After twice being delayed by snowstorms, Robert Pero officially announced on Tuesday evening that he is running for mayor of New London.

Pero, 42, held a ceremony at and was introduced by Robert Simmons, a former three-term congressman in the House of Representatives. Simmons pointed to Pero’s experience in the City Council, where he has had a seat since 1995, and said the city needs a person with experience to make New London an ideal place to work and raise a family.

“The Pero family is a family that loves New London, and is invested in New London,” said Simmons.

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Pero said public safety will be his first priority if he is elected.

“We need to have more walking beats, more officers out on the street protecting our citizens,” he said.

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Pero said this concern goes hand-in-hand with housing. He said New London has one of the lowest rates of owner occupancy in the state, and that there is a need to strengthen connections to neighborhoods.

“We need neighbors that are invested,” he said. “We also need to reduce the blight.”

In education, Pero said there need to be report cards in every school to track progress and identify areas in need of improvement. He also advocated removing the schools’ financial process from the Board of Education and having the budget put under the control of the City Council.

“We have a system in which we place more emphasis on the bureaucracy than educating our children,” he said.

Pero also spoke of downtown development, noting that the City Council recently approved a budget to market the city and should continue to advertise its attractions. He said new developments should be evaluated based on job creation and tax revenue, with a focus on developing ground-floor storefronts and encouraging the establishment of retail businesses.

“We definitely need a Coast Guard museum in downtown New London,” he said.

Pero advocated the expansion of the Shoreline East railroad, zero-based budgeting with a four-year plan to pay for the responsibilities and liabilities under city control, and transparency in government. He said his accomplishments while in office include helping to preserve when the site was faltering and an upcoming $500,000 savings in workman’s compensation costs.

John Johnson, proprietor of Thames River Properties LLC as well as the gallery, will be finance chair of Pero’s campaign. “I have seldom heard such a wonderful talk about our people on how you plan to govern, and it is inspiring,” he said.

For the past 12 years, Pero has worked as a fraud investigator for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. He formerly taught at . Pero also serves as a trustee at the and holds a bachelor’s degree from the Eastern Connecticut State University. He is married with three children.

Pero, a Republican, is the third person to announce they will run for the newly strengthened mayor’s position in November. On the Democratic side, City Councilor and attorney have also announced that they are running.


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