New London's new mayor is adjusting well

NEW LONDON — For New London Mayor Toby Thomas, the village always has been home. Since returning to his hometown, Thomas won the mayor's election in November. He defeated incumbent John Martin. As a pastor, Thomas said he has been involved in the community. But as mayor, he's beginning to learn more about the needs of New London. "I am just learning more of the in-depth stuff about the village," Thomas said. "I'm trying to listen and hear what people are saying." He said he decided to run for mayor after "people just asked me if I would run" and wants to focus on the positive. "How can we help promote the good things about New London? The parks and rec are great, but there's more to New London than that," Thomas said. "Some of the small businesses we have are doing well." Thomas said another bit of excitement is the opening of a Fisher-Titus Medical Center office building in the village, which is "a positive thing." The new mayor's biggest goal is creating a strategic plan for New London that will lead it into years to come. "All of the departments have their own strategic plan but (not) an overarching vision of where New London can be in 20 years," Thomas said. "It's something I'm beginning to think about; I know it needs to be done." He said even if he's in office for only one term, he wants to find the vision for the village and at least get the plan started. "The beginning of my vision is to get out there and talk to people," Thomas said. "Let them know they're loved, let them know I care about them and let them know that I'm on their side, I'm not against them." Thomas has an open-door policy in his mayor's office and anyone can come in to speak with him. "I don't want to have a desk in between me and the people. If something comes up, they can always come knock on my door," he said. "I've begun to go and talk to some of the business owners and see if there's anything we can do." Thomas said he's praying for the departments and police in New London and hopes they can work together to make the village safer. "None of the tax dollars go to the roads in our village; I don't think people know that. Why do we want to put a tax levy on the ballot? So we can get our roads repaved," Thomas said. "What (we'd) like to see is enough money coming in from the levy, or however we bring the money in, we need a $100,000 a year and that would do one-tenth of the roads we have." Thomas said that over a 10-year period, every road would be resurfaced. "We need good schools. We need good roads," he said. "It would be nice to have a pharmacy in town." Thomas said he loves the family atmosphere of New London. "My mom died when I was 10 and, basically, the ladies in town took care of me," he said. "It's neat to walk down the street and see nieces and nephews. As you get to know people, it's all like family."