Daryl Justin Finizio
June 2, 2015

I have always considered myself a political progressive.

In recent years, particularly through my experiences as Mayor, my progressive values have strengthened and solidified.

The median income of a New London worker is under $23K a year. Every day I interact with my neighbors who work for substandard wages at places like McDonalds and Walmart.

Corporate America has amassed incredible wealth, while the average American worker has been forced into poverty, or near poverty conditions. The stock market soars while all families outside the upper 1% live with less and less. The wealth disparity in our country is now at record levels and it is not right.

I have seen the colossal failure of the drug war, which has cost us dearly as taxpayers, while substance abuse has increased and criminalization has only increased violence on our streets and created a permanent underclass of workers who are limited in their potential by earlier drug convictions. I have also seen the double standard as these drug laws are often applied with gross disproportion to racial and ethnic minorities.

Weathering the storms that have battered our City, working with the United States Coast Guard (including officers with extensive arctic experience), and studying data on the subject from numerous sources, it is clear that global climate change is real, mankind is a significant contributor to it, and it has reached and exceeded crisis levels. Action must be taken at all levels of government with all deliberate speed to adjust to our changing climate.

Young people, in New London and across America are drowning in student loan debt and pay dearly for health insurance, two things that are considered basic public goods in most other modern world democracies. These policies are crippling the American middle class.

I ran for Mayor to combat these inequities in our own community. Thinking nationally and globally, but acting locally.

In New London we have changed law enforcement priorities while lowering crime dramatically. We are investing in, and integrating our school system, creating a national model for education reform. We are stressing environmental consciousness and action, and we are working to grow economic development and support PILOT reform to lower our regressive and unfair property tax burden that disproportionally harms young families and seniors.

At every level of government, progressives need to get politically active and fight hard for those policies that address the great inequities in our economy, adjust to a changing climate, and ensure that all our laws, local, State, and Federal should stand for the principal that "Everyone Matters Equally".

This is why I am running for re-election and why today I am proud to endorse U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders for President of the United States.

Senator Sanders has stood loyally, and with principal, for progressive policies that can reverse these negative trends in our economy and our society and I am proud to support him.

I hope other progressives will join me in supporting him and join me in registering as DEMOCRATS!

The Presidential race, and the Mayoral race, may well be decided in Democratic primaries. You must be registered as a Democrat to vote in these primaries.

Many progressives bristle at joining any party, but we have little choice. If our policies are to prevail we must work within the Democratic party. Will we always win? Perhaps not, but it is our best chance to change our State, and our nation, and to keep our City, New London, moving forward.

Register to vote. Register as Democrats. Support true progressive candidates in our primaries, and together we can change our country, our State, and our City for the better!