The Honorable Mayor Neil M. O'Leary
Mayor
O'Leary joined the Waterbury Police Department in 1980 and rose through
the ranks, becoming Chief of Police in 2004. Chief O'Leary served in
that role until his retirement in 2009. Following his retirement, he was
recruited by the town of Wolcott, Connecticut to serve as Police Chief
to help rebuild the management structure and modernize the department.
In 2011, O'Leary stepped down from this role to successfully run for
Mayor of the City of Waterbury, taking office in December 2011.
Mayor
O'Leary's career has been marked by a deep commitment to Waterbury with
a "cando" attitude to effect positive change through collaboration and
co mm unity building. As Police Chief of Waterbury, his innovative and
aggressive approach to law enforcement has been credited with steadily
decreasing the city's crime rate. In 2004, then-Police Chief O'Leary
founded the new Waterbury Police Activities League (PAL), which has
become a national model for police prevention and service. Developed to
serve inner-city at-risk youth by providing educational and athletic
opportunities, the organization has grown from a membership of 100
youths to over 4,000 today. Under O'Leary's guidance, a campus-like PAL
facility has been built and now includes a renovated former school
building for after-school programs, a recreation facility, and boxing
center. With the help and support of community partners, a nearby
brownfield has been remediated and has been transformed into a park and
recreational fields.
In 2007, O'Leary's career in law enforcement
received national attention. His tenacity in standing by a local rape
victim, known to the public only as "Jane Doe," and ultimately solving
the crime eleven years later, became the focus of an NBC Dateline report
originally aired that year. Mayor O'Leary now serves on the Board of
Directors of "Jane Doe No More," a nonprofit founded by Donna Palomba to
"improve the way society responds to victims of sexual assault."
O'Leary's
commitment to community extends beyond law enforcement to encompass a
holistic and grass-roots approach to community building. In 2009, he
became a commissioner on the City's Board of Education, with the goal of
identifying new and innovative approaches to public education that
would help raise the City's educational attainment rates. Upon becoming
Mayor in 2011, O'Leary's earlier efforts came to fruition, with the
opening of three new pre-K through 8th grade elementary schools, and the
Waterbury Career Academy High School.
Since his first day in
office, Mayor O'Leary has stressed renewed accountability and
responsibility at the government level to help forge new community
partnerships and renew community trust. Responding to neighborhood
concerns with blighted housing and vacant lots, O'Leary coalesced
neighborhood groups and community leaders and launched a comprehensive
anti-blight initiative with mutual tasks and responsibilities. The
initiative has resulted in an aggressive approach to blight and litter
enforcement, increased demolition of substandard housing, new data
collection standards and stronger community partnerships. Using a
similar approach to park maintenance concerns, O'Leary developed a
summer youth corps that worked with Park Department staff to
systematically address
routine maintenance issues throughout the
City's park system. He also enlisted Waterbury officially in the
national "Cities of Service" coalition, which uses citizen service as a
serious strategy to address pressing local challenges.
Partnership,
community building and improved quality of life have also been key to
O'Leary's early success in stimulating economic development in the City.
Balancing the budget, achieving an annual surplus and personally
visiting the major rating agencies in New York and Boston, to convince
them to raise the City's bond rating to A+ have been the hallmarks of
O'Leary's financial acumen and his determination to keep the City's
financial foundation strong. Working with the state and federal
government, he has also championed an aggressive and successful
brownfield corridor redevelopment program that is reclaiming old
industrial sites along the river-rail spine of the City, the site of an
alternative transportation riverfront greenway.
Mayor
O'Leary believes Waterbury has the right mixture of natural assets,
strategic location, strong neighborhoods, financial stability and
innovative leadership to position itself for sustainable growth. He is
making that happen.