By Dr. David Chess
Executive Director of Stratford Forward and Community Activist
Interview Summary – Please view the complete interview above.
Anthony Afriyie is currently serving on Stratford’s Town Council, representing the fifth district. Tony is now running on the Democratic ticket to become our State Senator for the 21st District.
Anthony Afriyie grew up in the Bronx, N.Y. His parents are originally from Ghana, West Africa, and immigrated to the United States in 1997. They moved to Stratford in 2006. Afriyie attended local public schools, graduating from Stratford High in 2015. After college during COVID, he worked for AmeriCorps, helping to serve people in the southern and southwestern United States. He currently works as a staffer for Rosa DeLauro and has just completed his Masters in Public Administration, with a concentration in development and sustainability.
Tony believes that both his energy and age are assets, and that bringing a younger voice and perspective to our state capital is critical. He believes in a responsive government, and working with Rosa DeLauro, has seen how responsiveness makes all the difference in people’s lives.
Tony stresses the need for community development and in particular, creating workforce development with seamless paths from our schools to job opportunities. He also emphasizes the need for early education, such as Headstart and Universal Pre-K. He wants to create faster tracks between high school students and learning a trade.
On the Town Council, he believes his success rests on his bipartisan approach to collaboration. Working with all members of the Council to serve Stratford leads to “being efficient and effective”. One of his most important accomplishments to date has been supporting a $16.7 million bond to create a flood wall to protect our water treatment plant. He believes it is critical to make investments to protect our town from climate change. He laments that it took over eight years for the original recommendations from the Coastal Community Resilience Plan to be implemented. When asked why it took so long, he summed it up: “Lack of courage”. He knows that courage is definitely needed with these important issues. Taking on this debt is not easy for Stratford and will have an impact on our taxes.
Additional accomplishments include obtaining $500,000 of additional funding for our schools and supporting the implementation of red light cameras to make our streets safer.
Tony believes there is a way to have affordable housing and yet maintain the integrity of our neighborhoods.
