2021 Campaign Thoughts
Over the course of the 2021 campaign I wrote a number of posts on my Facebook page to give voters a more complete picture of me as a candidate. All of those posts are collected here to allow you to easily review them and get to know me better as a person and a candidate as we embark on the election season
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(click a topic to jump directly to it)
WHY AM I RUNNING?
I got a lot of questions on the campaign trail in 2021, but as one of nine candidates and the only unaffiliated candidate, the three most common were 1) why am I running, 2) what are the issues I see and 3) what makes me different? Over the next week or so I will run a series of posts here to address all three of those questions and discuss the importance of leadership.
First, why am I running?
We enjoy the local area and love our community; this has been a wonderful place to raise our family. I have always felt strongly about civic duty as a citizen; being a part of your community and working to make it better. As a life-long military officer, I have never run for any elected office before, but I firmly believe we need strong leaders with character and integrity in elected office. Leaders that will serve the citizens and find solutions to make our community better.
After serving our Nation for 28 years in the Air Force, I am now retired, and I want to serve this community. I can dedicate my full time and attention to focus on serving the voters of District 9 and work with other town officials to represent you and find solutions to the issues facing our District and Town. I truly believe together we can make a difference and build a stronger Fairfield for our friends and family!
Stay tuned, the next post will cover why I feel leadership is so important.
IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP
Time for the second post about the campaign. This post expands on the importance of leadership.
Leaders are grown, they are not born. Leadership is built on a solid foundation of character and integrity. It is grown on that foundation over years of experience, mentorship, and deliberate work by the individual. Great leadership is a precious commodity.
Leadership is critical to any organization. The leader sets the tone by their character and example; an organization takes on the character of its leader--good or bad. Good leaders give a clear vision and direction and set the conditions for an organization and its people to thrive and grow. They work tirelessly to care for their team and make sure they have what they need to succeed. They ensure accountability up and down the chain. Their character and energy will permeate everyone in the organization. It will be a place people want to work; the members will be dedicated to each other and to the mission. Leadership is hard work but done right, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing your team grow and excel.
By contrast, poor leadership will infect every level of an organization. The people will be lost and uninspired. There will be no camaraderie, only discontent. The organization will be opaque and unpleasant to work with. It will fail and hurt its people in the process.
Leadership in elected officials is equally important. We want to elect leaders of character and integrity to represent us. The next installment I will talk about some key attributes I see in successful leaders.
ATTRIBUTES OF LEADERS/LEADERSHIP
Here is the next in the series of posts to help voters get to know me better. This post will be the first of several talking about attributes of leaders/leadership.
The attributes of great leaders are numerous and we could discuss it for days. However, over my 28-year career leading thousands of Airmen there are four things that stuck out as non-negotiable; 1) Integrity, 2) Service before Self, 3) Excellence in everything you do, 4) Being present. The first three are so fundamental they have been codified as core values of the Air Force. Over the next several posts I will discuss these four attributes in greater detail.
Integrity. This is a fundamental requirement for any leader; it is the foundation on which trust is built. If your people do not trust you, you cannot lead. Embedded within Integrity are the ideals of honesty, courage, and accountability. Honesty is the most basic underpinning of integrity; your word must be your bond—it can be no other way. Courage drives a leader to do the right thing despite their fears. It demands the taking of calculated risks, both personal and professional, making decisions, and owning mistakes. Finally, accountability demands transparency, accepting and giving honest feedback, and owning your actions and decisions.
Integrity is every bit as critical in an elected official as it is in a military leader. As you evaluate candidates, their integrity should be a key part of your decision.
Next post we will look at Service before self.
This is the second in a series of posts on the attributes of leadership. Last post we discussed integrity; this post will look at Service Before Self.
Service Before Self. This trait is an absolute must for a leader. We discussed earlier that true leadership is hard work. The demands on a real leader are tremendous and to be effective the needs of the organization, the mission, and the people come first. Real leadership means you put your personal desires aside and serve your team first—always. Embedded in Service Before Self are the concepts of duty, loyalty, and respect. Your sense of duty drives you to do whatever is required to get the job done. A leader’s sense of duty is deeply personal, and it drives them to excel and make necessary sacrifices to get the job done. Loyalty is an internal drive for success and serving something greater than ourselves. Finally, respect is simply treating others with dignity and valuing them as individuals.
The concept of Service Before Self was fundamental to serving in the military, but we want the same commitment from our elected officials. Done properly, elected office takes time and demands sacrifice.
As you evaluate candidates, decide who is going to sacrifice their time to serve you. Who is going to chose service to the voters over personal desires or commitments—who will be there when you need them?
Next post we will look at Excellence.
This is the third in a series of posts on the attributes of leadership. Last post we discussed Service Before Self; this post will look at Excellence.
Excellence In All We Do. This trait exists in all great leaders; excellence is their trademark. It drives a leader to always be better and increase their knowledge/skills. It doesn’t demand perfection; but it does demand we never settle and always push to be better. It demands a passion for improvement and innovation to drive accomplishment and performance. Embedded in Excellence are the concepts of Mission, Discipline and Teamwork. Every organization has a mission that includes operations, products and resources. Leaders must harness the ingenuity, expertise, and skills of every member. They approach mission excellence from a stance of stewardship, initiative, improvement, pride, and a commitment to anticipate and embrace change. Great leaders are disciplined; they uphold the highest of personal and professional standards. You can see it in their attitude, work ethic, and drive to be better. Finally, Teamwork--it is the cornerstone of a successful group. Every member contributes to the group’s goals and strives for organizational excellence. Leaders not only give their best, but challenge and motivate others to do the same.
Excellence should be the hallmark of your elected officials. As you look at the candidates, who has shown their commitment to excellence? Who will lead and drive improvement in our town, commit to making it better? Who has the skills to lead teams and get things done? Who will never settle and strive for more and make you proud of your vote?
The next post we will look at the concept of being present.
This is the fourth and final post on the attributes of leadership. Last post we discussed Excellence; this post will look at Being Present.
Being Present. Over my career I saw examples of people “leading” from behind a desk. They would “lead” by email, messaging apps, video apps, etc. The idea was leading by “Virtual Presence”. The leader got trapped in their office and tried to use other means to lead their teams. What I saw in those organizations was a lack of vision, focus, and dedication. The unit was not cohesive and the mission suffered. What I came to realize was “Virtual Presence” was actual absence. The leader was not there, walking the ground, looking people in the eyes. They did not understand what was required to get the job done because they were not on the ground. They could not accurately assess what resources were needed to accomplish the mission because they were not present. They did not understand the lack of morale/cohesion and its impact on the mission because they were not talking to the people doing the work. They could not make effective changes and corrections because they didn’t understand what was truly happening. They were not able to inspire by their example; they were not there to set one.
You cannot effectively lead if you are not present. You must walk the ground, see the people, feel the organization—things you can’t do virtually. I commanded four different units during my career. I spent considerable time being present, talking to people from the most senior to the most junior to get a true feel for what was happening. I learned about the health of the unit and mission effectiveness by being present and engaged; there was no other way to get the information or develop a feel for what worked and what didn’t and what the people needed to succeed. The positive return on investment of being present was ten-fold and it was a lesson I passed to every young leader I trained and mentored.
Elected office is no different, the elected official must be present. They must be with the voters they represent and the people they work with to lead. They cannot truly understand issues from an e-mail; they must be present. You cannot develop good solutions if you do not see the problem.
As you look at the candidates, who will be present? Who will walk the ground, look people in the eyes, and have the pulse of the District?
WHAT MAKES ME UNIQUE TO BE YOUR RTM REP?
We have discussed why I am running, the importance of leadership, and attributes of great leaders. As one of nine candidates for the District’s four RTM seats and the only unaffiliated candidate, I am most often asked what makes me different? Today will be the first of three posts to discuss things that I think make me uniquely qualified to be one of your RTM Reps.
First is my extensive leadership experience. I rose to the rank of full Colonel during my Air Force career which put me in the senior level of leadership, strategic national security operations and command for the US military. I was competitively selected four times to be a commander. I am a decorated combat veteran and proven leader of character and integrity. I know how to build and lead high-performing teams, how to build consensus and how to solve difficult problems.
Next post we will discuss budget and education experience.
Today is the second of three posts discussing what I think makes me uniquely qualified to be one of your RTM Reps. Last post we discussed my leadership experience; this post we will discuss my budget experience.
As a commander, I was responsible for developing annual budgets, defending the budget, and overseeing the expenditure of those funds for all four of the units I commanded. Those budgets amounted to millions of dollars over my career and not once did we ever overspend. There were many times when things we could not foresee happened and I had to sit down with my leadership team and decide what we were not going to do and/or how we could move funds to ensure our team was trained to meet the operational mission we were assigned to defend our country. The trades were never easy, and they often required considerable creativity to find viable solutions to properly train our Airmen. I also spent five years assigned to the Pentagon in Washington D.C. where I served as an Air Force liaison to Congress. In that role I was responsible for working multi-billion dollar budgets directly with members of Congress and their staffs as well as the professional staff of the various defense oversight committees.
I believe I have the expertise required to dig into the town budgets to find unnecessary expenditures and ensure every dollar we spend improves our town. I will also be able to use my experience to help improve the RTM’s overall budget review process and make the body more effective in executing its budget role.
Reviewing the town budget and determining the annual appropriations for the next fiscal year is a critical function of the RTM. The voters here in our District saw an average 11% increase in their tax bills tied in part to budget growth. As you evaluate the nine candidates for RTM, who has the background needed to control budget and tax growth? Who has the experience to lead deep dives into the budget to make sure every dollar of your money is spent wisely?
Today is the third of four (I added one since I am splitting Budget and Education) posts discussing what I think makes me uniquely qualified to be one of your RTM Reps. Last post we discussed my budget experience; this post we will discuss my education experience.
I spent seven years of my career as a formal instructor. Four of those years I was an instructor teaching young men and women how to fly the F-15E fighter jet. The students had graduated a basic flying course in training aircraft and earned their aeronautical rating. It was my job to put them through a six-month course designed to teach them how to fly an operational combat jet. We taught them air-to-air and air-to-ground flying skills. When we graduated these students they could fly at night, 500 feet off the ground at 500 miles per hour, engage and destroy enemy aircraft defending a ground target, then destroy the ground target, then get home safely. My last three years in the Air Force I was a Professor of Aerospace Studies at the University of Notre Dame teaching National Security Strategy and Leadership. I also commanded a unit of military personnel charged with teaching young college students to be military officers and leaders and then put them on active duty serving in the Air Force after they graduated college. Finally, as an officer and four-time commander, I was constantly mentoring, coaching, and teaching thousands of Airmen throughout my career.
These jobs were demanding and incredibly rewarding. The experience I gained as a teacher throughout my 28-year career will be invaluable as an RTM member when we review the BoE budget each year. That budget makes up 57% of the town budget and we need members that understand education and the resources needed to provide a great education.
As you evaluate the nine candidates for RTM, who has the education background needed to effectively review BoE’s budget proposal? Who has the expertise to deep dive into the budget and ensure every dollar requested is providing the best possible education for our children?
Today is the fourth and final post discussing what I think makes me uniquely qualified to be one of your RTM Reps. We have already discussed my leadership, budget, and education experience; this post we will discuss how my unaffiliated status, combined with me being retired, uniquely benefits the voters.
I feel it was critical the voters of District 9 have an independent voice to speak on their behalf; a voice that answers only to the voters and can speak freely for you without party influence or constraints. I went through the formal State process to petition my way onto the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate and am the only unaffiliated candidate of the nine running. Additionally I am completely self-financed.
I am the only candidate that will not report to party leadership; I will work directly for and serve the voters of District 9. As an unaffiliated RTM member I can ask the hard questions and create open and transparent discussions. Discussions that are so critical to transparency and building trust between the government and the community but would likely not happen without an independent voice. I am fully retired; if elected this will be my full-time job. You, the voters, have seen first-hand the time and energy I have committed to campaigning and being available to you. As one of your RTM members, that same time, energy, passion, and commitment will be put to work directly for you. When you need help getting answers to your questions, I will be available during normal business hours to go with you to various town offices and help you get the answers you deserve. I have the time to meet with various town Departments and spend the time needed to truly understand the issues and help find solutions.
As you evaluate the nine candidates for RTM, who will be there when you need them? Who has the time to dedicate to deep-dive on the issues, the experience to find solutions, and the ability to speak freely and openly on your behalf? Who is going to best represent you and fight for your District?
KEY ISSUES FACING DISTRICT 9
This is first in a series of posts discussing some of the key issues for our District; issues consistently brought up by voters. First, I will talk about the need to realize a transparent and responsive government.
Government must be transparent in their decision-making processes and responsive to the citizens. Without those key attributes there is no trust with the citizens; and that trust is the foundation everything is built upon. Trust is a fundamental requirement, without it government cannot lead and serve the community. We want to elect officials of character and integrity. They will have the courage to be transparent, open, and honest with the citizens. They will be responsive to the citizens; they understand who they serve, and they have nothing to hide.
As you evaluate the nine candidates for RTM, who are the candidates that best exemplify character and integrity? Who do you trust to represent you? To fight for you? To be open and responsive to you? Who is going to help build the kind of government you want serving you?
This is second in a series of posts discussing some of the key issues I hear from voters facing our District. Last post we discussed the need for a transparent and responsive government; this post we will discuss the need to control budget and tax growth.
Budget and tax growth are critical issues for all of us in District 9. In 2021, the Fairfield town government proposed the largest percent budget increase in at least 10 years and the average voter in District 9 saw their tax bill increase an average of ~11%. This excessive tax growth is unsustainable; we must do better! It makes it difficult for many of our citizens to stay here in Fairfield, especially our Seniors.
While there are many government entities in town that influence the town’s budget, only the RTM has the authority to determine the annual appropriations for the next fiscal year. Reviewing, adjusting, and approving the town’s budget is a huge responsibility that rests with the RTM. The budget impacts every citizen in Fairfield. To stop the continual budget growth and associated tax increases we must bring more rigorous and aggressive oversight to the RTM budget process. I will work tirelessly using my extensive budgeting background to improve the RTM budget process and assure the voters a thorough and detailed review of every dollar in the budget to control growth.
As you evaluate the nine candidates for RTM, who are the candidates that have the background and expertise to execute the RTM’s budget role? Who do you trust to represent you and make the difficult budget decisions that impact every facet of your town? Who will fight for you?
This is the third in a series of posts discussing some of the key issues I discuss with voters facing our District. Last post we discussed the need to control budget and tax growth; this post we will discuss the need to continue working to strengthen our public schools.
Quality public schools are important to everyone; they bring numerous benefits to a community. My youngest daughter, Kate, is a proud Sherman Shark. My middle daughter, Lauren, is completing her Master of Education and is teaching middle school. I have seven years of experience as a teacher and instructor including teaching for three years at the University of Notre Dame. Education is critically important to my family, as it is to many of yours. To continue strengthening our schools we need to focus our limited resources to provide our children the best possible education. We need to enable teachers to challenge children across the full range of abilities and give all students every opportunity to reach their full potential.
The Board of Education (BoE) currently makes up 57% of the town's total budget. The BoE budget is large and complex, but to control budget and tax growth we need a true team effort to control costs on both sides of the town budget while providing the appropriate funding to strengthen education for our children. With my extensive budget and education background, I will work closely with my fellow RTM members, the BoE, and school district leadership to make sure we are collectively scrutinizing every dollar spent and ensure we provide the absolute best education possible.
As you evaluate the nine candidates for RTM, who are the candidates with the background and expertise to deep-dive the complex BoE budget as they execute the RTM’s critical budget role? Who do you believe will be open and transparent with the public about the budget decisions we face as a community? At the end of the day, who will fight for you and your family and make the right decisions?
Next time we will discuss ensuring public safety on our community roads.
This is the fourth and final post in a series discussing some of the key issues I discuss with voters facing our District. Last post we discussed the need to continue working to strengthen our public schools; this post we will discuss ensuring public safety on our neighborhood roads.
Since we moved here, we have heard a continual discussion among neighbors and friends about distracted driving, drivers running stop signs, speeding, etc. I have been discussing it with voters since the first day of the campaign, and I have personally experienced three near misses with distracted drivers. The most recent was this past Saturday when a driver ran the stop sign on Beach where Fern crosses and almost hit me in the crosswalk.
District 9 is a heavily pedestrian area, it is part of what makes this such a close knit community and special place to live. Unsafe driving in our neighborhoods is not a new problem, and it is getting worse. The burden should not fall on families and citizens to plead with drivers to obey the law.
I will work with the other three district RTM members and the Police Chief to prioritize traffic calming and enforcement to address and stop the continuing rise in unsafe and distracted driving before it is too late. We will keep our streets safe for everyone to enjoy.
WHY AM I RUNNING AS AN UNAFFILIATED CANDIDATE?
One of the questions I am often asked by voters is why I chose to run as an unaffiliated candidate. There are many reasons, but for brevity here I will focus on two. First is the lack of transparency and responsiveness I have seen from our government. The defining moment was the town’s unwillingness to answer basic questions about the revaluation process and associated budget growth this past year. I was surprised at how opaque the process was and the refusal to provide even the simplest of data to citizens. The result was a huge tax increase that will impact all of us for at least five years. The second driver was the lack of an elected voice fighting for us, the citizens of District 9, as the budget process played out.
These issues made it clear to me the only way to true transparency, responsiveness, and accountability was to have an independent voice that was not tied to any party and could speak freely for the voters! So, I started the process back in the summer to become a formal unaffiliated candidate that would be on the ballot.
I filed petitions with the State, working directly with the CT Secretary of State’s election division, to be formally recognized as an unaffiliated candidate and to officially be placed on the ballot as a petitioning unaffiliated candidate. If you elect me, I will be seated as an unaffiliated candidate; the only one in the RTM and I believe the only unaffiliated elected official in Fairfield! I will not be under either party; I will be your representative and your voice--I will answer directly to you, the voters; not to party leadership.
I have attached a copy of the letter from the State formally recognizing me as unaffiliated, a copy of the petition with the State, a copy of my registration, and a copy of the sample ballot showing me petitioning unaffiliated.
We are 18 days and a wake-up from election day and are on the path to doing something that hasn’t been done before; we can elect an independent voice that speaks for us! Together we can build a stronger Fairfield!
ACCOUNTABILITY
Many of the voters talk about the need for accountability in our local government. Accountability is a key part of all successful organizations, and it flows from strong leadership. In an earlier post we discussed the fact integrity is a fundamental requirement for any leader. One of the concepts embedded in integrity is accountability; an attribute that demands transparency, accepting and giving honest feedback, and owning your actions and decisions.
Real accountability, not the kind that is simply talked about, is seamlessly woven into the very fabric of a successful organization. The members are accountable for meeting ethical and performance standards in their actions and are every bit as accountable for their failure to act, when needed and appropriate. Accountability applies to all members of an organization, the only distinction from the most senior leader to most junior member is solely in the level of responsibility the and the associated degree of accountability for decisions and actions.
Accountability within an organization is manifested as “responsibility with an audience”. The audience can be many groups, but in the case of our town government I would offer some of the groups are the elected and appointed officials, the town departments and their associated personnel at all levels, the citizens of the town and even ourselves. Accountable individuals and organizations display complete transparency, they seek honest and constructive feedback, and maybe most importantly they take ownership of the outcomes of their actions and decisions. The organization members are responsible to themselves and others and they stay away from actions which discredit themselves or their organization.
An organization shouldn’t need to tell you it is accountable; you will see it in every facet of the people in the group and their behavior. It will be clear from their actions and deeds they are accountable. Just saying you are “accountable” doesn’t work; truly accountable people show it every day.
We all want an accountable government, but as you can imagine accountability is hard. We have to elect people of courage, character, and integrity to instill real accountability in our government. As you prepare to vote, which candidates have displayed the integrity and leadership needed to realize an accountable government?
OWNING FAILURE AND SHARING SUCCESS
Voters have been continuing to discuss accountability in local government with me, but over the last few days the discussion has taken a slightly different form. It has been more along the lines of how leaders deal with difficulties and failure.
In a recent post I discussed accountability and how part of accountability is owning your actions and decisions. A telling attribute of a leader is how they deal with success and failure in their organization. Over my 28-year Air Force career there was something that every great leader and commander had in common; they wholly owned the failures of their unit and they gave credit for every success to the men and women they led.
Leaders are faced with challenging circumstances every day and often these circumstances are beyond their control, but they face the problem head-on and handle it. They know they must find a way to adapt and overcome regardless of what is happening; it is what true leaders do. When there is a failure, a true leader never blames others; they take full responsibility. They address the issue internally to correct whatever it is and find a way to get the job done. But when they report the incident to their boss, they take the blame; no excuses, no complaining, no finger pointing—they own it, fix it, and move forward.
Conversely when the team succeeds a true leader does not take credit; it is given to the men and women accomplishing the mission; it can be no other way. Everyone knows the leader is key to the success, after all they provide the vision, resources, mentorship, and direction. However, that is for others to determine.
The leader owning failure and giving credit for the successes is critical to the culture, morale, and success of a unit. It engenders a trust and respect in the leader not only from their subordinates, but from their bosses.
When I became a senior commander, I always paid close attention to how my subordinate commanders dealt with success and failure. The ones that owned failures and shared success inevitably earned my trust and confidence. Their units had pride, discipline, high morale, and they got the mission done. The commanders that spent their time blaming others and pointing fingers or telling me what a great job they did inevitably led units that performed poorly and lacked discipline and morale; I could not count on them to get the mission done.
Elected officials are no different; you want them to own failure and share success. As you prepare to vote, who is going to own failures and still find a way to succeed? Who has the proven ability to adapt and overcome regardless of what they are faced with? Who will be accountable and get things done for you?
Approved by James E. Bowen, Jr.
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