By Steve Grant
Maybe you’ve seen Paul Cianci in Devonwood. He’s a young married guy, a runner, who likes to go for a jog while often pushing his 19-month-old son in a stroller. Cianci and his wife, Angela, are expecting another child in January. His summer was a busy one, running as a challenger in the Republican primary for a Town Council seat. “We have a lot invested in this community,” he says. What is needed is a strong school system while keeping taxes reasonable, he adds. He did not like the proposed $135 million high school renovation project, which was resoundingly defeated by voters, 5,029 to 2,411, in a June referendum. “We want to make sure we put forth responsible budgets and keep Farmington affordable,” he says.
Cianci and his wife met at Villanova University where they both earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in civil engineering while specializing in structural engineering. Today, he is a structural engineer and a small business owner who works with his father in their family owned business, Cianci Engineering, LLC, which provides a wide range of services, including but not limited to design services and forensic investigations.
As the town moves forward deciding how best to upgrade and modernize the aged high school, Cianci sees his structural engineering expertise as especially valuable. “I feel I have a great skill set as a structural engineer,” he says. That will be most helpful in determining how to renovate the high school “in a cost-efficient manner.” I think the building needs upgrades,” he says. “Where I think a lot of people disagreed with the original proposal, myself included, was on the cost and impact to current students. I know it can be done in more cost efficient manner than was originally proposed.” What the eventual cost should be, Cianci says will best
be determined by further review and plenty of input from town residents. Cianci sees himself continuing to be involved in public service. “It is important to me to help make the world a better place for my children and their generation.” Meanwhile, expect to see Cianci and his family outdoors.
“In my spare time, I really like playing sports with family and friends. Any kind of athletic activity, playing sports, going to events, anything where I can get outdoors in an athletic environment,” he says.The family enjoys travel and getting away. “I don’t have one favorite vacation spot,” he says. “We try to see as many great places as possible.” Of course, with a baby and another on the way, “we are doing more kid-friendly vacations in the near future.” As he campaigned during the summer, Devonwood residents often expressed a concern, he says. “I have met a lot of Devonwood residents. They have expressed, independent of party affiliation, the feeling that they don’t always have a voice on the Town Council.”
Whatever his future in politics, Cianci says Devonwood residents should know “any neighbor in our community can call me or stop by and know there is a representative nearby.”
