CT Patch Candidate Profile: Alex Armstrong For Milford Board Of Aldermen

MILFORD, CT — The 2025 election is heating up in Connecticut and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office.

Connecticut Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Alex Armstrong, a Democrat, is a Milford resident running for the Board of Aldermen's 5th District.

Occupation: I am the Vice President of External Affairs at an international nonprofit where I oversee communications and policy. I have more than 15 years of experience working across the corporate and nonprofit sectors.

Family: I live in Milford with my wife, Julie; our two daughters, ages 7 and 4; and our dog, Hugo. Our older daughter is in second grade at Orchard Hills, and our younger daughter will start kindergarten there next fall.

Have you ever held public office?

I am currently the Vice Chairman of the Milford Sewer Commission, which I first joined in January 2023. Before that, I served for a year on the Milford Pension & Retirement Board.

Why are you seeking this office?

I love Milford and grew up here. I attended Milford Public Schools – Orange Avenue, Harborside, and Foran – before going on to earn degrees in history and political science from Georgetown and Yale. I am eager to give back to the community that made me who I am today. I believe that Milford needs leaders who prioritize responsible budgeting and economic development, delivering high-quality city services, addressing the cost-of-living crisis, and preservation of our open spaces.

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

Affordability! Mayor Giannattasio’s budgets have raised taxes on every resident and business by 9% over the last two years – while putting educational investments at risk. It’s the worst of both worlds. We need to keep Milford affordable without turning our schools into a political football. Let's get back to the responsible budgeting that worked so well under Mayors Blake and Smith. I intend to look for new opportunities to leverage technology and best practices – whether those ideas come from other towns, the private sector, or somewhere else – to drive down costs and keep Milford a great place to live.

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

I think what makes me unique is my career in the nonprofit space. I work at a global conservation organization because growing up in Milford instilled in me a love of nature and the outdoors, especially our oceans and coastlines. I remember visiting Milford beaches almost every day of the summer when I was a kid, and spending hours swimming, crabbing, bodysurfing, and building sandcastles with my sister and cousins. I want to preserve Milford’s natural beauty for my daughters and the generations to come. My work has also taught me the value of responsible budgeting. Every dollar counts when you're working at a nonprofit, and your funders want to know what you're spending it on. So you have to learn to make the most of what you have. I will bring this same mindset to our City budgets.

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

My focus is on responsible budgeting and taxes, encouraging economic development, and preserving our open space. These are some of the main issues I am hearing from voters when I go door-to-door. From my time on the Sewer Commission, I also know that many Milford residents are concerned about housing and development. I think Milford should be an affordable place to live, but we must be more thoughtful about how and where we build new housing. We should be seeking a second 8-30g moratorium so that our local zoning laws aren’t continuously circumvented by developers. We can still provide more housing, but I’d like to see us do it as a community and focus on revitalizing vacant properties instead of cutting down more forests or putting oversized developments in neighborhoods.

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

On the Sewer Commission, we are currently working across party lines to develop long-term solutions for future capacity upgrades without sticking the taxpayers with a huge bill. And earlier this year, when our sewer systems were crossing into overcapacity, we briefly instituted an informal moratorium on approving new construction to show that we were serious about protecting our City's infrastructure. I voted to approve the public-private partnership with Athletic Brewing Company, which improved our wastewater systems while supporting a growing local business. I also helped approve a project that is using federal ARPA funds to upgrade some of our pump stations, saving Milford taxpayers' money.

As a member of the Milford Pension and Retirement Board, I helped manage one of the largest public pension funds in the state. And while we operated chiefly by consensus, I was not afraid to stick to my beliefs when I felt it was in Milford's best interest: for example, I was the lone vote against a proposed tar sands investment that I thought posed a significant long-term risk.

Outside of volunteer experience, I have managed multi-million dollar budgets for my organization's work across five continents. I have planned alongside teams when funding was plentiful, and I have managed teams through lean times and come out the other side. All of these experiences have prepared me to serve as an Alderman.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

I love this question! I think a lot about Dr. Becky Kennedy's reminder that "two things can be true." She writes about it in the context of parenting, and I have indeed found it tremendously helpful as I try to be a good dad. But it's a deceptively simple idea that I think also applies more broadly. For instance, I can set strict boundaries as a parent but still occasionally surprise the girls with a trip to Scoopy Doo's. Or I can have serious concerns about the risks and drawbacks of AI, but if I deny the clear advances and usefulness of the technology, I would be doing myself a disservice. I don't need to reconcile these two things; they can both be true. It's a way of thinking that encourages a nuanced approach, because you can examine a problem more seriously when you aren't just trying to prove that your point-of-view is the only correct one.

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

In addition to my volunteer experience on the Pension Board and Sewer Commission, I am also a member of the Milford Irish Heritage Society and the Friends of Milford Library.

I would be honored to serve Milford in this new role, and I encourage any residents of the 5th District to get in touch if they have questions, concerns, or just something they want me to know. Please reach out at alexarmstrong.ct@gmail.com or visit https://www.alex-armstrong.com...

And don't forget to vote!