Woodbridge
Local Coverage about events in the Town of Woodbridge, CT
Woodbridge Municipal Election Pre-Game
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 04/30/2017 - 20:29Tomorrow is the 2017 Municipal Election in Woodbridge, CT. In a small town election there isn’t often polling done, so just about everyone’s predictions is based on anecdotes or personal experiences. I thought it might be interesting to look at the race from several different angles.
For First Selectman, we have Beth Heller running against Tony Anatasio. It is an open seat since current First Selectman Ellen Scalettar chose not to run again. If we look at this in terms of the previous First Selectman candidates, in 2015, Ellen narrowly defeated Cathy Wick, 1579 to 1523. In 2013, Ellen defeated Cathy 1616 to 1207. So, over the past two cycles the Democrats have won, but it has gotten very close.
In the past two cycles, both Beth and Tony ran for selectman. In 2015, Tony got 1565 votes to Beth’s 1548. In 2013, Beth got 1655 votes to Tony’s 1153. Like with the top of the ticket, we saw the Republicans pick up votes, and in this case, Tony picked up enough to pass Beth.
It is likely to be a very close race. I like Tony. I’ve often spoken with him at events and around town. However, I don’t think his plan for Woodbridge really makes sense. A key part of his platform is “Engage professionals to market the CCW property for sale to independent golf course operators”. I strongly doubt that they are can find an independent golf club operator who is willing to buy the Country Club of Woodbridge at a price and terms that the people of Woodbridge will find acceptable. I’m also very concerned about some of the negative campaigning and misinformation that has come out by people supporting Tony.
I will vote for Beth. She has consistently done great things for Woodbridge and is geniunely a good kind person. She has resisted responding negatively to the nasty attacks.
For the Selectmen, the Democrats have Teri Schatz, Joe Crisco, and Mica Cardoza running against the Republicans Dave Lober, Spencer K Rubin, and Joe Dey. Joe is the only incumbent. In 2015, he received 1505 votes, sixty less than Tony. In 2013, he received 1158 votes. I have long been critical of Joe, going back to 2013 when I wrote, Joe Dey's Missed Opportunity.
Former State Senator Joe Crisco is running for Selectman. Last November, he lost his Senate seat to George Logan. However, he did win in Woodbridge, getting 2,574 votes. People have attacked him for being too close to Gov. Malloy others have lauded him for the long list of things he has done for Woodbridge. It will see how many people that voted for him for State Senate will vote for him for Selectman. I certainly will.
On the Republican side, Spencer K. Rubin is currently serving with me as a fellow alternate in the Zoning Board of Appeals. He is young, energetic, and all my interactions with him have been positive. In 2015, he received 1705 votes for ZBA Alternate. The only person receiving more votes in 2015 was Cynthia Gibbons, who received 1846. In my mind, Spencer is the best candidate the Republicans have for Selectman.
Looking at the rest of the candidates, we have to look at other information. Teri Schatz was one of the leaders of the efforts to get Pease Park built. She has done a lot for Woodbridge and deserves our vote.
Mica Cardoza serves on the Board of Fire Commissioners and prior to that as a member of the Economic Development Commission. I know Mica socially. When my wife and I bought our house in Woodbridge, his wife was our realtor.
The only Selectman candidate is David Lober. I know him by site and by what’s written about him online, but that’s about it.
Heading down the ticket, for Woodbridge Board of Education, my top choice is Nancy Yao Maasbach. I know her through politics and have always been very impressed with her. Steven Fleischman is running on the Republican side for a third term. Back when I used to cover the Woodbridge Board of Education, I found him to be the most reasonable of the Republicans on the board. I don’t really know the rest of the candidates for Woodbridge Board of Education, so I’ll skip over those. Likewise, I don’t really know either of the candidates for Board of Assessment Appeals all that well so I’ll skip those.
When it comes to the Zoning Board of Appeals, however, I know several of the candidates. Henry Nussbaum is the one incumbent. Four years ago, he received 1342 votes. He and I do not always agree on various appeals, but he is very experienced and well thought out. Other than myself, of course, he is the candidate that I most support. I know Jeffrey Atwood all that well, but the interactions I’ve had with him have always been very positive.
On the Republican side, Mary Hill is running. I serve with Mary on the Government Access Television Commission. I believe she is the best Republican candidate. I’ve met Wanda Luciani-Kesses but don’t know her very well. I’m sure she would be fine. I don’t know anything about Kim Giangrande other than what I’ve read online.
Four years ago when I ran for Zoning Board of Appeals Alternate, I felt it was important to go to a ZBA meeting before the election so I would have a good sense about what I was getting myself into. I’m glad I did that. As far as I know, the only new candidate for ZBA or ZBA Alternate this year to do this is Yonatan Zamir. I’ve had several great discussions with him and I believe he will be a great ZBA Alternate. The Republican candidate for ZBA Alternate is Robert Wiznia. He received 1164 votes for Amity Board of Education four years ago. I’ve seen him on the campaign trail, but really don’t know him very well.
Finally, for Amity Board of Education, I’ve already mentioned that Pat Cardoza was our realtor when we bought our house. I hold her in the highest regard and strongly support her re-election. Four years ago, she received 1509 votes. Also running as a Democrat for Amity Board of Education is Robyn Berke. Currently serves on the Amity Board of Education, having been appointed to fill a vacancy. She has always been involved in town and is a valuable member of the Amity Board of Education. I hope she gets elected to a full term.
Hal Smullen is running again as a Republican. Two years ago, he received 1348 votes.
Woodbridge, CT - May 4th 2015
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 05/04/2015 - 22:05It has been a very long day, starting off with people wishing “May the Fourth” be with you, or singing, “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming.” I thought about Kent State. I was there ten years later. I thought about Baltimore, and Texas and how divisive our politics has become. Some friends have been saying it’s going to be a long hot summer.
But I had work to do. I took the day off from my paying job to volunteer to help get the vote out in the Woodbridge municipal election. There was a lot of data entry and number crunching, but not much time for reflection.
Now, I’m finally home, and I can reflect, but I’m too tired to go into detail. The incumbent Democratic First Selectman, Ellen Scalettar narrowly won re-election. The Republican under ticket did well, and it looks like, after a very divisive campaign, we will have mixed government in Woodbridge, perhaps doing as well as our mixed government in Washington has done.
Election Eve
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 05/03/2015 - 20:32It is Election Eve in Woodbridge and Bethany, and a few other towns around Connecticut as well. There are a handful of towns that have their municipal elections in May.
For the past week, I’ve been doing what I can to help with the Democratic ticket. Most of my focus has been on data. The signs are all up and we are ready for the election.
As I drove home from election headquarters, I felt a certain excitement. Elections are important, especially local elections, and too many people don’t appreciate that.
My writing has fallen behind schedule over the past week, but I’ve managed to organize some of my thoughts, so I hope to get back in the swing of things soon.
However, April was a very busy month and May is looking the same, so we’ll see.
Political Comments
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 05/01/2015 - 20:54A comment and a post I put up on Facebook today. The comment was in response to a friend who posted about “a segment of the population that acts as if anyone who is accessing their government benefits, they paid into their entire lives, is ripping off the government.”
I often think that people who protest too much about one thing or another are actually reflecting their own fears or weaknesses. They worry about others ripping off the government, because deep down inside, they know that they are getting more out of society than they put in.
I believe that I get much more that what I am justified receiving, not only in terms of services from the government (good libraries, schools, roads, police and fire, etc) than I actually pay for in taxes. Yet I believe that this also reflects the greater condition of mankind, receiving more from God's abundant grace than we deserve.
The other was a snarky comment about a post that one of the campaigns in this year’s Woodbridge Municipal election made about people in local politics having spouses that are involved in local politics. I noted that my campaign manager from my 2012 may have been a distant cousin of mine.
All of these are things I’d like to expound open, if I wasn’t so tired. The next three days will be pretty busy, but then I hope to get a little down time.
Woodbridge Crooks and Liars
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 04/29/2015 - 16:42Today, in a Facebook discussion about the upcoming Woodbridge municipal elections, one person wrote, “All politicians are liars” and another responded, “They are all a bunch of legalized crooks”. Much of the venom was directed at the challenger, Cathy Wick. It was pointed out that on her website she says she believes zoning commission members should be elected, but that when asked what she would do about issues in the flats, she talked about wanting to appoint someone from the flats to be on zoning.
You can’t have it both ways, the writer complained. I’m not sure these comments are really fair. As much as someone believes zoning commission members should be elected, until that’s the case, they are appointed. One could easily say, I believe members of the zoning commission should be elected to make sure all sections of town are properly represented. Until that happens, I will do everything in my power to make sure that the members are appointed in a manner that I believe best achieves this, including appointing someone from the flats.
Actually, I have to give Cathy a lot of credit for running, twice. Running is hard. I know. I’ve run twice for State Rep and was also elected alternate to the zoning board of appeals. I do not believe that either Ellen or Cathy are crooks or liars. They both have their visions of what’s going on in Woodbridge, and what should be done.
Cathy may not have spoken clearly. She may have a different view of what’s going on in Woodbridge than I do, but I won’t call her a liar. I’ll just acknowledge that Ellen’s description of what is going on in town and what should go on in the future better matches my view.
