The Round Table interviewed the newly-announced candidate for Mayor of Stamford, Caroline Simmons, on February 15 to discuss her ambitions for mayor, ways to deal with COVID, her plans for the Stamford schools, and more details about the mayoral election. 

When asked why she wanted to run for Mayor and what her ambitions were, Simmons expressed her love for the city of Stamford and her optimism for the future of our city.

“We need new leadership with bold visionary ideas to help bring people together,” Simmons said. “If we can continue to come together with a spirit of collaboration and determination and if we tap into the diverse talent that we have in our city, we can come out of this stronger than ever and also make our city one of the best cities in the country to live in and to raise a family in.”

A specific “bold visionary idea” that Simmons mentioned is launching a Stamford Service Core that helps unemployed workers by giving opportunity to gain employment by doing public works around the city (including vaccination).

Simmons also clarified that she expects to run against Mayor Martin, Mary Lou Rinaldi, and Chris Malloy in a primary election. She also shared why she thinks she is the best candidate for the job. Although she thinks that having multiple candidates is a good thing for the Democratic party, Simmons also thinks that her collaborative leadership mindset, strong state government relationships, and focus on constituent input separates her from other candidates in the mayoral election. 

Simmons put a lot of emphasis on her passion for helping Stamford Public Schools as much as she can. She said she wants to make sure that the mold in buildings is eliminated and that Stamford schools have a safe learning environment. As mayor, Simmons said she would focus on making school as COVID-safe as possible while still providing a great place to learn. She puts focus on getting students tested to ensure the safety of everyone as well as doing a better job with contact tracing.

Simmons also said she has plans to relieve the struggles for ESL students, and students with learning disabilities during the difficulties of COVID. 

“We need to make sure that all of our students have access to quality education and we need to make sure that we’re not leaving anyone out. There’s no substitute for in-person learning and especially for vulnerable students, I want to do anything we can to get them back into the classroom safely with extra support for students who need it,” Simmons said.  

She hopes to add summer programs and work with SPEF (Stamford Public Education Foundation) to make this equity for challenged students possible.