Danbury Mayor’s Community Advisory Committee To Hold Inaugural Meeting

**News Release Submitted by Office of Mayor Roberto Alves**

Feb. 15, 2024

Tonight, Mayor Roberto L. Alves will hold the first at-large meeting of the Mayor’s Community Advisory Committee (MCAC) at Western Connecticut State University. After Mayor Alves’ announcement of the formation of the MCAC, over 250 individuals from the Danbury area applied to serve as Community Advisors. The inaugural group is made up of 84 individuals serving across seven subcommittees and was chosen based on diversity of experience, demographics, and interests.

The Mayor’s Community Advisory Committee will work until May to identify and provide insight and input into existing challenges facing our city, strengthen partnerships throughout Danbury, and recommend policies and programs in a final report which each subcommittee will present to the body at the MCAC’s final meeting.

In addition to city staff, the MCAC Executive Committee, comprised of nine subject matter experts will serve as a resource for each subcommittee, offering insight when needed, helping to connect Advisors with various local or regional organizations and stakeholders, and helping provide background and context into each topic subcommittees delve into as needed.

“One of my Administration’s primary goals in the first 100 days is to make sure members of our community don’t just have a seat at the table, but become part of the process of building a brighter Danbury. Everyone is welcome, and anyone who wants to contribute should be given the opportunity to do so,” said Mayor Roberto Alves, “This is about building long term solutions to the issues we face, and addressing every day concerns whether it’s a simple adjustment on the city website, or a new public-private partnership that helps create equity, and opportunity for everyone,”

“It’s no secret there is a great deal of work that needs to be done to address the challenges our city faces. Not everything can be solved in the short term, but this is a significant step for our community and we’re going to work together to get back on track. I couldn’t be more excited to see the results of the hard work our Community Advisors will do this session.” Concluded Mayor Alves.

Executive Committee Members:

Arts & Culture: Lew Wallace
Education: Kate Conetta
Public Health & Social Services: Dawn Myles & Kevin McVeigh
Public Safety & Emergency Services: James Antonelli & David Applegate
Economic & Workforce Development: Helen Brickfield
Housing: David Cappiello
Rec. & Community Services: Mary Arconti Gregory

MCAC meetings are open to the public. Tonight’s meeting begins at 5pm at White Hall at Western Connecticut State University’s Downtown campus.