Mayor of Stamford and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Dan Malloy spoke at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house as a part of the Beta Lecture Series Wednesday night. Malloy spoke candidly to the audience of twenty students about his career as a politician and how his public life has affected his private life.
Malloy began the talk by giving information about his background. He was born and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. As a child, Malloy overcame a significant learning disability to attend college and law school, and eventually became an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn, New York.
After living in Brooklyn for a number of years, Malloy gave up city life to move back home to Stamford, where he served on the Board of Finance and the Board of Education before being elected Mayor. Malloy has served as mayor for ten years.
“Everybody should have a dream,” Malloy said. “For some people it’s to make a lot of money, or to become a doctor. But for me it was always to be active in government, to make change – institutional change.”
According to Malloy his career in public service is a testament to his dedication to improving the quality of life for all.
After his lecture, Malloy opened the floor to questions that ranged from local and city level issues to larger statewide concerns. He also explained his overarching goals as a candidate and politician.
“Leadership that sees its job as communicating with the public on an ongoing basis and inviting dialogue is more likely to engender support – and participation” he said.
Malloy also repeatedly referred to the fundamental problem with thecurrent political situation. He suggested that culture must change before the problems with today’s general political outlook can.
Malloy responded optimistically to a question about the elimination of Connecticut’s blue laws, which are the laws that prohibit the sale of alcohol on Sunday.
“They’ve been revised before and they could be revised again,” he said.
“I felt like he was really open when he was talking about his personal life,” said Raffi Stern ’08. “But when he addressed the issues, he generally digressed into the usual political speak. I was impressed with the stance he took on the death penalty, though.” Malloy is staunchly opposed to capital punishment.
The lecture was organized by Charlie Taney ’05. Taney served as Malloy’s personal aide last summer, working on both Malloy’s mayoral duties as well as on the beginning stages of his campaign for governor.
For Malloy, the next step will be winning the primary election to secure the Democratic nomination.
“People who listen to him like him,” Taney said. “The biggest hurdle will be getting Malloy known outside of Fairfield County.”
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