🔒Eric Coleman sees lower energy costs, workforce development, arts and entertainment as keys to city’s future

As a state lawmaker for more than three decades, Eric Coleman said he was never viewed as a corporate darling.

But he’s never tried to be antagonistic to the business community, either. In fact, a strong corporate base that invests in downtown Hartford and its neighborhoods is key to the city’s future revival, he said.

Coleman, 72, is running as a Democratic candidate for mayor of the city of Hartford, looking to fill the seat being vacated by Mayor Luke Bronin, who decided not to seek a third, four-year term.

The mayoral field, at one point, had more than a half-dozen Democratic candidates, but Coleman, state Sen. John Fonfara and Hartford Land Bank CEO Arunan Arulampalam are considered front-runners.

While Election Day isn’t until Nov. 7, the key date for the mayoral race is Sept. 12.

That’s when the primary takes place and Democrats, which control the city’s political landscape, will choose their party’s candidate, who is likely to become the next mayor.

Coleman has a long record of public service, having served in the state House of Representatives from 1983 to 1994, and then the Senate from 1995 to 2017.

He was nominated and confirmed as a Connecticut Superior Court Judge in 2018, and served on the bench for several years before retiring in 2021.

If elected mayor, Coleman said his goal would be to create a stable business environment for the private sector, particularly around energy costs and the workforce.

One of his big policy ideas is to establish a city-owned utility company that would — ideally — offer lower electric rates to Hartford businesses and residents than what’s currently available. He points to a handful of other towns, including Wallingford, that have successfully created municipal electric utilities.

He said he doesn’t know how much that effort would cost, but he’d try to leverage federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as private investment, to make it happen.

“One of the first things that I would undertake is to pull together subject-matter experts and other stakeholders, including residents and businesses, … to explore how best to implement this particular plan,” Coleman said.

He also said the city should invest more in workforce training to make Hartford increasingly attractive to employers — especially manufacturers — in need of workers.

Coleman said he’s running for office because he’s witnessed Hartford’s decline over the decades, from the loss of the Hartford Whalers and a strong retail sector to a less engaged corporate community.

He said he’s hopeful the city can see a resurgence of insurance and financial services jobs, but he also thinks Hartford should build on its arts and entertainment base as a key future growth industry.

Marketing the city

A champion of poor and underserved residents, Coleman said more investment, including in affordable housing, needs to be made in Hartford’s neighborhoods, and not just downtown.

He said he’s open to the idea of the city becoming a landlord — actually owning affordable apartments to better ensure Hartford residents don’t get charged exorbitant rents, or live in dilapidated housing, a problem precipitated by some out-of-state property owners.

“To the extent that we can supply more units of housing so that the tenant community has more choices, I think the price of those units will go down,” he said. “I do see some benefit in Hartford becoming … a landlord.”

Coleman said he’s also lukewarm to business incentives and tax abatements, even though the city has relied on them to spur private investment, particularly in real estate development.

Such incentives have been seen as key to overcoming the high costs of doing business in the city, which has the highest property tax rate (68.95 mills) in the state.

“As much as I might like to, I don’t think you can entirely rule out the possibility of tax abatements or some sort of tax incentives and subsidies,” he said. “But, I do think that those definitely have to be managed.”

He’d also like to launch a marketing campaign that would highlight the Hartford’s workforce and vibrant higher-ed community; arts, culture, restaurant and sports/entertainment scene; central location between Boston and New York City; public transportation assets; and municipal electric program, if it gets off the ground.

Here’s what else Coleman had to say. The Q&A was edited for length and clarity.

How do you get more workers to return to the office and more companies to move to Hartford?

A. I think employees of downtown companies need to have a reason to come downtown, whether those reasons are entertainment-based, arts-based, or retail-based.

If there’s no reason to leave your house in order to perform your job, why leave your house?

Maybe if you have to do some sort of shopping, and shopping is available in close proximity to your job, you are more likely to go to the office. Or, you know, even if there’s a yoga class or some other kinds of activity that you might be interested in, that you can do after you put in your eight-plus hours of work.

Those kinds of things have to be taken into consideration.

What should the city do with all of its empty office space?

A. The city should undertake efforts to attract businesses to Hartford to fill empty office space. Many of these office spaces could be turned into art and culture centers, restaurants and even places to play various sporting activities.

We don’t always need to focus on ground-level locations. When you visit other major cities, you often have to take an elevator to reach various hot spots. Why not utilize rooftops for gardens? We need to be creative in how we approach these vacant spots.

Should the city incentivize the conversion of empty office space to apartments?

A. I don’t think it’s a sustainable way forward. The best thing that I see with the utilization of luxury apartment units is the affordable (units) that are set aside.

But overall, I think a lot of attention has been paid to development in the downtown area of Hartford, almost to the neglect and detriment of the neighborhoods. I think much more attention needs to be paid to the neighborhoods in order for the economy of Hartford to work for everyone.

Besides affordable housing, what other types of investments need to be made in the city’s neighborhoods, beyond downtown?

A. I think the people who reside in each neighborhood have to have access to at least three things. One is a bank, the other is a supermarket, and the other is a pharmacy.

To the extent that we can provide investment to create those kinds of services in the neighborhoods, I think we should.

How do you improve workforce development for city residents?

A. I think what really needs to occur is a workforce development initiative whereby we can make sure that people coming out of high school who don’t have an interest in going into the military, or attending college, or vocational schools, can be assisted in becoming job-ready.

And perhaps, they start off in some entry-level position, maybe in customer service or even bartending or waitressing, just to get themselves initiated into the world of work. And then we can build from there.

I think there may be some remedial education that needs to take place, and even some work ethic considerations.

Mayor Bronin has pushed for the closure of Brainard Airport to open 201 acres for future development. Should the airport be closed?

A. Every study previous to the one currently being worked on concluded that Brainard Airport should continue to operate as an airport, and I tend to agree with that conclusion.

I think what is probably important is to make an effort to enhance the operations of Brainard Airport, with the emphasis on the training opportunities that exist, including the jet engine mechanic and pilot training. I think there still is a need for hotel and motel space there.

I think it can offer more flight excursions to hard-to-reach places, like Martha’s Vineyard or Cape Cod.

No one seems to be taking into consideration the cost of remediating the grounds that would permit housing development or any kind of retail development, should the airport close.

What role should the cannabis industry play in Hartford?

A. I think that remains to be seen. I’m not necessarily opposed to the movement toward legalization. It definitely needs to be regulated.

One of the bigger concerns is, we missed the boat if the whole effort at legalization is to permit already wealthy people to take advantage of the cannabis industry, without providing sufficient opportunities for people who are not wealthy to gain some foothold in the industry.

I have very mixed feelings about people who may have some criminal record being prevented from being involved in the cannabis industry. You really want to end black market activity, and there’s already networks in place for the growing and distribution of marijuana.

Maybe we can lure some of the people who have been involved in that activity to the right side of the law, now that it’s legal to do it.