Mayor-Elect Martin Kicks Off Stamford Government Center Tour Series

Stamford's Mayor-Elect David Martin went for a stroll through the top three floors of the Stamford Government Center Wednesday in the first of a series of tours he will conduct to familiarize himself with the employees of the building and, he said, show them he will be a mayor who's present and involved.

Martin started working his way from the top down Wednesday, meeting employees in a variety of the city's departments. His message of being around and directly involved was something about which a number of employees were excited.

"We have a really great team," said Sandy Siegartel, a grants technician and "peon," as she jokingly declared herself, in the Community Development Office. "You need to be a team player."

During the tour, Martin was unable to cross paths with current Mayor Michael Pavia, who was in Washington, D.C., Wednesday conducting a slew of back-to-back meetings with members of the Senate and Congress for a variety of different causes, office staff said.

However, Pavia and Martin has met a few times already, Martin said, and Pavia has shared with him some personal and profound advice. Martin kept most of their talk private, but said one of the best pieces of advice he'd received was about taking an extra bit of time to make any kind of decision.

"I basically shared with [Pavia] that I would be talking to people in various departments but that he is still the mayor and that it is his authority that counts until I take office," Martin said. "Some of it was the sort of advice you share mayor-to-mayor [...] He said, before you finalize a decision sleep on it one night. Give it another day. You may have made a decision, but give it another day before you finalize it. He said that about three times."

Martin made his way through floors 10 through eight before taking pause just shy of 11 a.m., having started the tour at 9 a.m., promising he'd be back to finish touring the remainder of the building's departments.

"There is a phrase used in management textbooks, that they talk about: 'Management by Walking Around.'" Martin said. "It has to do with the the mayor or the executive of some organization needs to go out and see what people are actually doing. It gives them reassurances that the mayor is actually paying attention."

A number of times on Martin's tour, government employees wished him luck in his new seat. Martin's response was the same each time: "I don't need luck. I need your help." Martin said that motto developed from the idea that, while he will be overseeing a city, those are the people who will be getting the job done everyday.

"They're the front lines. They're the ones doing the work," he said. "I'm supposed to lead and manage, but fundamentally, you know, the guy that's on the front line gets the work done. Truthfully, yes, I need their help in order to succeed."

Martin shook hands with everyone with whom he crossed paths, and a couple of times held brief, 30-second, closed-door meetings with a few workers, including Stamford Director of Legal Affairs Joseph Capalbo, who Martin said looped him in on a couple of immediate legal issues he'd be facing coming into office.

A transitional team to help Martin and Government Center employees get acclimated to the switch in position of power will be introduced Thursday morning, which will be led by by Chair Tim Curtin and Vice Chair Martin Levine.