Our Campaign Platform
We are often asked as candidates what we would do differently than the people currently serving in our town government. We offer six key tenets of what we believe an effective town government should do, and which differentiate us from the current administration:
1. Improve communication within the community.
- Produce and distribute quarterly newsletter to include updates about town developments, changes in policy, new/improved programs/services, announcements of upcoming town meetings.
- Update town website daily with meeting information for all town boards and commissions.
- Schedule standing monthly meetings between the Board of Selectmen and a representative from every town board and commission. This will get everyone in the same room regularly so everyone knows what is going on firsthand.
- Schedule standing bi-monthly meetings with a representative from every town organization (Historical Society, Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, etc.).
- Develop resident email database to send updates. The amount of e-mail received would be controlled by the resident.
- Identify a staff member to serve as a public relations contact person for local newspapers and produce frequent press releases to let residents and neighboring townspeople know what's going on.
2. Review the Town Charter for potential improvements.
- Appoint a committee to review the town charter for possible revisions. Areas to consider include: term limits, increasing Board of Selectmen and First Selectman from two to four years; staggering terms to provide continuity of government; limiting successive terms to two or three (depending on length of term) to prevent entrenchment of government.
3. Develop a Community Center and park for family recreational use.
- Aggressively pursue grant monies (federal and state).
- Solicit a public/private partnership to help fund development and further limit town borrowing costs.
- Seek out a central, easily-accessible location (i.e., Library Lane).
4. Develop the town center to ease the property tax burden on residents.
Put together a multi-staged project, with the assistance of professional town planning resources, to develop the town center in a manner that does not sacrifice the town’s character. The development could include, for example:
- Slowing down traffic on the section of Route 4 in center of town (between the Burlington Inn and Town Hall) with stop signs or traffic signals.
- Revising the Planning & Zoning setback regulations to allow commercial development to be closer to the road.
- Building sidewalks in the center to allow pedestrian traffic to move safely throughout.
- Creating on-street parking in the center.
With these modifications, we believe the center would be more attractive to potential commercial developers. This would allow us to actively pursue small business owners to the center of town, expanding the commercial tax base without the need for big box stores.
5. Facilitate better coordination between community groups.
- Establish working relationships among Fire Department, Constables, Food Bank, Chamber of Commerce, etc.
- Utilize the knowledge held by the individuals in those groups to take advantage of varied perspectives in solving the town’s issues.
- Develop protocols for balanced development across the community, considering the burden on town services and working to avoid resource constraints.
- Encourage various groups to coordinate their efforts when their goals are common (as an example, fundraising for the Burlington Food Pantry).
- Identify a contact person at Town Hall for confidential calls for assistance.
- Encourage neighbors/residents to contribute as they are able. Many residents have expressed to us a desire to help those in need, but unaware of a vehicle through which to do this.
6. Adopt a mission of continuous improvement in our town operations.
- Improve the efficiency of our existing operations and considering adding or deleting services to match the current needs of the town.
- Evaluate efficiencies that could be gained by regionalizing town services or sharing resources with other towns (Harwinton, New Hartford, etc.).