Candidate Profile: Aaron Ide, New London City Council

NEW LONDON, CT — The 2023 municipal election is heating up in New London and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office.

New London Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

New London resident Aaron Ide tells Patch why he should be elected to the New London City Council.

How old will you be as of Election Day?

36

Please give us your party affiliation.

Republican

Education.

Bachelors of Science in Aeronautical Engineer and Mechanical Engineering, Masters of Engineering in Systems Engineering

What is your occupation?

Engineering and Design Project Lead, 15 years

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.

Wife Samantha Ide, Daughter Miriam Ide

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

Nope, I'm the first one!

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

Nope.

Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your reasons for running and your general views on politics and government. First, why are you seeking this office?

I fell in love with New London while searching for a place to call home over a decade ago and have never regretted it. I saw a vibrant culture and a storied history, and decided I wanted to be a part of it going forward. I want to do what I can to make New London better, in whichever way I am able. I never missed an opportunity to enjoy all that this great city has to offer. However, like many in this city, I began to feel its leadership is heading the city in the wrong direction. Our one-party city government focuses too much on national politics, special interest groups, and their own political control. Rather than on doing things to improve our city for everyone.
I believe, all New Londoners have the same basic wants and needs: affordable and good housing, the safety of their family, reliable infrastructure, good education opportunities for their children, and good paying jobs. As an engineer by training, I tends to see the world as a series of problems that can be solved, not intractable issues that we must resign ourselves to accept. Ideas not ideology, pragmatism not politics.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is _____, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing New London is wasteful infrastructure spending, and I intend to implement smart, long-term urban planning. By develop a 50-year infrastructure plan to efficiently and effectively modernize our city. The infrastructure work in New London has been done piecemeal and often after it has failed or is badly in need of repair. It is a huge inconvenience to residents – and frustration to taxpayers – to have their street repaved one year, only to see it torn up to fix gas lines a few years later, and then torn up again to replace water mains another year after that. The lack of long term planning for our nearly 400-year-old city has left us with aging infrastructure, unsustainable city debt, and in some cases, an unsafe city.
A comprehensive 50-year urban infrastructure plan – revised biannually – will prioritize improvements, plan for maintenance, and reduce the overall tax burden on taxpayers. Planning and budgeting for all improvements to be completed together will create synergy. Infrastructure improvements need to be prioritized responsibly, budgeted appropriately, bid competitively, and implemented transparently to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars. Smartly planning when and where infrastructure improvements will be made will also reduce the human and environmental impact from the work.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I’m the only candidate with any background in engineering and program management; in large enterprises, as a small business owner, and as a volunteer mentor:
In my day job at Electric Boat, I successfully lead projects from inception to completion with widely varying cross functional teams, an array of varying stakeholders, and demanding customers. All while working within a large, bureaucratic organization which has zero tolerance for poor quality.
In my side job as the lead engineer and project manager for Scalebirds, a WWII replica aircraft company I co-founded, I have learned the struggles of having to bootstrap as a small business, develop a product from scratch, build a client base, and market your product to the world.
Over the past 10 years, I’ve also been a lead volunteer mentor for the New London High School Robotics Team. In which myself and a few other mentors must lead a team of High School students to design and build a robot in two months before competing in a global competition. We then repeat the process the next year with a fresh crop of students and an all new competition. Leading this team has been the most challenging of three endeavors, but also incredibly rewarding.
All three experiences have led me to develop a very different perspective on how to see - and solve - the problems that face New London. It also has given me the skills to manage the next chapter in New London’s growth.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

New London is a one-party city. Nowhere is this more clear than in the City Council. 6 of my 7 opponents are current sitting councilors, and the one vacancy is being filled by a sitting Board of Education member. The current Council has not functioned as a deliberative legislative body since I have lived in New London. Instead it is a rubber stamp formality for decisions made behind closed doors, to approve projects and program that are bid with the thinnest veil of transparency, benefitting a small few who have the correct political access. Too often, this Council has held ‘special sessions,’ posted with negligible notice, to push through special approvals in the dark of night. The Council also consistently votes to waive the city statute requiring most decisions be given three public reading before voting on them in order to avoid public attention.
First, the City Council must have clear, concise, honest, and consistent broadcasting of its decisional meetings, as well as the outcome of those meetings. Second, hold all three readings. It’s that simple. Follow the laws of the city and give the people of New London a chance to be heard. The City Council represents the people of the city, not just the people that voted for them. Third - and this should go without saying - but follow the laws of the city when it comes to bidding. I think everyone agrees that the city should develop the waterfront and downtown, but the entire way this has been handled is a mockery to transparent governance. Any development the city wants to pursue needs to go through an open and fair bid process. This starts with a request for proposal. Published and advertised. Vendors responding are then vetted based on their proposal, past experience, and ability to acquire the capital to execute the project. Finalist are then given an opportunity to provide a final bid to the respective Boards and Agencies. Only then should the Council debate divesting city property to developers in the name of economic growth. The Council’s responsibility is to nourish growth, not to hand it out to the politically well connected.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

I’ve outlined three additional day-one solutions that will improve New London on my Facebook page (facebook.com/Ide4NewLondon), which are in addition to my 50-year infrastructure plan mentioned before. These solutions aim to improve the quality of life for our citizens and improve our city as a whole:
Incentivize Homeownership - Provide a $20k tax abatement to first-time homebuyers who invest that amount into renovating or restoring their owner-occupied home in New London
Revitalize our Downtown - Change the Tax Code to stop incentivizing property owners to leave storefronts vacant and remove barriers to small businesses.
Treat Public Safety as a Public Service - Change the perception of Public Safety in New London to improve actual safety, drive economic development, and market our city to the broader region.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I was the youngest Project Lead at Electric Boat when I received the title, and have subsequently lead several successful projects since. I've turned an idea for a half-scale WWII fighter airplane from a piece of paper into a real product and a legitimate business. The New London Robotics team made a run to the FIRST Robotics World Championship Finals. I continue to be asked to serve on the Board of various non-profit organizations, having served on three, and founding a forth. I've been nominated twice by the New London Republican Town Committee to run for City Council, and backed by every former Republican Councilor. I tend to succeed at everything I set out to accomplish, and losing two years ago was an anomaly I wish to rectify.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

My wife Samantha gave birth to our beautiful and health baby girl Miriam in June of this year. I am going to work my ass off to try to make New London the best possible place for her to grow up in; and ensure it is a city that we can all be proud to call our home.