"The city can't be all it can be, unless everyone is involved."
Having taken the Oath of Office on New Year's Day, new Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam is hoping to inspire civic activism by asking city residents to take an oath of their own. During prepared remarks Thursday marking the start of his term, he presented his oath to an audience of supporters and clergy members at the Old State House:
"Will you pledge that for the next four years as a community, we will put aside our divisions, put aside our vitriol, put aside our cynicism, put aside our old way of doing things, and that we will work together for the sake of the city?"
"Will you promise to fight for hope, for light... to fight for each other, to not just support each other but to uphold each other?"
"Will you promise to sustain, support, to uphold with passion and purpose everything we need to do to bring this city forward for the next four years?"
Later, Arulampalam explained, "We pay a lot of attention to the people who get into elected office, but the role of citizen is so important. Everybody needs to be at the table, everybody needs to be engaged if we want to truly build a 'city on a hill.' So, I asked people to take an oath because I really want everybody to feel like they are an integral part of what the future of the city looks like."
After getting in a few days of work as he moves into City Hall, Arulampalam took some time Thursday to celebrate. There was an interfaith prayer service at Center Church, where his wife, Pastor Liza Arulampalam, presides (the church is across Main St. from City Hall). The mayor then made his opening remarks at the Old State House, followed by his sold-out "Believe in Hartford" inaugural ball at the Connecticut Convention Center.
Members of the couple's extended family are in town for the ball, and four of their five children will be attending. Liza says the children (8, 8, 9 and 12 years old-- the 2-year-old is staying home) have age-appropriate concerns for the night:
"They're mostly, right now, just excited about getting dressed up and attending a ball with unlimited soda, things like that."