Council Candidates Clash at Saturday’s Debate
By Robin Vinci | Editor at October 23, 2023 | 8:00 am | Print
Two separate debates for Alderman at Large and Ward Candidates were held during Saturday’s League of Women Voters debate at Trinity on Main. Both saw differences of opinions on a variety of subjects.
First up was Aldermen at Large. The first question asked involved whether or not there should be a daytime shelter for the homeless.
“I do believe we need to have facilities for homeless folks in town during the day,” said Democrat Suzanne Bielinski.
“Efforts done in the past few years have been incredible,” said Daniel Salerno, a Democrat running on the Republican slate. “It is important as the community in the building process that the mayor’s office continue and they make the decision. Maybe not a day center, but a combination of things as a one stop service center.”
The second question asked about giving the Board of Education more money, less money or keeping it flat funded.
“The previous administration had an accounting error with their school budget of $4 million,” said Republican Chris Polkowski. “Because of that we have increased funding to the school system. With that I would look at flat funding and going through a fine tooth comb what they are budgeted.”
Republican Daniel Davis who is presently on the board of education said that there is never enough money.
“I served on the Blue Ribbon Commission, and the City and the Board of Education need to look at better ways to consolidate our assets,” Davis said. “We need to eliminate waste.”
“Yes. I would increase school funding. Children are the future,” said Democrat Duane Hinkson. “Strong education will bring more families to the City.”
“When we are looking at a budget, education should not be the first thing we are going to cut,” said Democrat Jahaira Jimenez.
Democrat Michael Trueworthy said. “at the end of the day you have to have a sound education system in order to make the City grow. Young families will not move into the City if they know the schools are not adequate.”
The next question asked was if the police department was adequately staffed.
“We are one of the most fortunate cities in the country where we can call them, hope for the best and not worry about the worst happening to you,” said Democrat Brian Keith Albert. “We have a wonderful police force.”
The next question involved councilmen’s vision for downtown east.
“With the Fastrak complete we have a lot of developers looking at that area,” said Republican Jim Sanders Jr. “I would focus on bringing the Fastrak together to work with our chamber of commerce and development office to go out there and actually seek more businesses.”
At the debate for the Ward candidates, a question on tax increases led to interesting debate.
“I would look at other ways to generate revenue before touching taxes,” said Ward 3 Republican Candidate Ray Smith. “Last year the homeowners and tax payers took a big hit. I would look at other fees to give the taxpayers less burden.”
“We had to do a tax increase and we now need to cut back on our spending,” said Ward 3 Democratic Candidate Shirley Black. “It affected a lot of us.”
“We had no choice this year. If we did not raise taxes we would have been bankrupt,” said Ward 1 Republican Candidate Willie Pabon. “We are seeing the benefits.”
“We were faced with a fork in the road two years ago. Either continue to kick the can down the road or fix the problem and do what is right,” said Ward 1 Republican Candidate Jamie Giantonio. “That is what we did. We are in a much better place than we were two years ago.”
“It bothers me that we have an $8 million surplus,” said Democrat Ward 1 Candidate Mike Gorzoch. “Something went wrong.”
“I think raising taxes is hard,” said Ward 1 Democratic Candidate Abby Chamberlain. “I think there is a better way to go about it than a large increase all at once.”
Jerrell Hargraves, Republican from Ward 2, said residents cannot handle another tax increase.
“The surplus of $7.8 million - it is required by City ordinance that we retain 5 percent of our budget. We don’t know if a tornado will come over Main Street,” said Hargraves. “A tax increase is not needed at this point.”
“Let’s go back in time, when the mayor went into office she was facing deficits of $19 million in one year and $30 million in the other. She had to try to clean up the mess of the previous administration,” said Republican Ward 2 Candidate Kristian Rosado. “Now we are in great position economically because of sound fiscal judgment.”
“I realize there should have been an increase,” said Democrat Ward 2 Candidate Tonilynn Collins. “I just think it was too much at one time.”
“I voted against all tax increases,” said Democrat from Ward 2 Adam Platosz. “Eleven percent is outrageous.”
“Something went right two years ago,” said Ward 4 Candidate Unaffiliated running as a Republican Don Naples. “It was a difficult decision to make. It had to be done to get our finances in order.”
“As your Alderman I will never vote for a tax increase,” said Ward 4 Democrat Wyatt Bosworth. “I talked to hundred of residents and they are struggling to get by.”
“We have to look at expenses rather than just looking at budget,” said Ward 4 Democrat Larry Hermanowski. “Ninety percent of the budget is made up of personnel costs.”
Ward 5 Republican Candidate Miriam Geraci said, “It was a hard decision for the Mayor make to increase taxes. We were left a huge deficit. It needed to be done.”
“In my first four years I did not support one budget,” said Ward 5 Democrat Candidate Carlo Carlozzi, who did support the increase. “We were facing a junk status bond issue. We did not have enough money to pay our bills. We had no other choice.”
The complete debate will be shown on Nutmeg TV. See station for dates and times.
