Final Posting - Political Prefernces

This article was originally written and printed in the media a few weeks ago. There has been much discussion and some disagreement on who to vote for and what bond issues to support since that time. But the issues and the facts, in my opinion, have not changed. So, as my "final note" on the subject, I am submitting this to you folks again. After the elections, I do not plan to write about local politics as actively as I have in the past. As a part-time journalist, one can only accomplish so much. Other interests have been taking a back seat, along with traveling and working on the house. And I'm not getting any younger....some folks even tell me its beginning to show.

  Many of us were frustrated by the Council's treatment of the Noank School Re-use Committee members, who were denied the opportunity to explore funding sources in order to renovate portions of the former school building. Almost the entire Council utilized a petition organized by Robert Frink ( now running for Council, who publicly favored residential development of that property), as an excuse for this denial. The one exception was Councilor Dean Antipas, who felt that the Committee should be allowed to seek funding and report back to the Council before any further action was taken. Dean showed good judgement, as always, and we need him on the Council as a voice of leadership. Don't "paint him with the same brush" as the other Council members.  

The majority of the Council then moved to have reserve money be utilized to take down the school buildings as soon as possible. Genevieve Cerf and a large majority of the RTM deserve credit for voting to deny the Council any use of that money for tearing down the school, thus leaving the matter open for future review. It was a very wise move, as there now appears to be interest in creating a public garden on the site that would also utilize part of the existing school building.  

 When my wife and I purchased our house back in the '70's, Groton taxpayers who owned property but had full-time voting residences elsewhere, like ourselves, were still allowed to vote on local (but not national) issues by write-in ballot. However, some members of the Charter Revision Committee in 2008 - 2009 decided to quietly remove the right of non-resident taxpayers to vote locally, thus eliminating perhaps as many as 1000 taxpayers from proper representation. In essence, the Town was saying "we're happy to take your money but you have no control over what we can do with it"... which was very unfair. Some folks w consider this to be a form of "taxation without representation." Thus far, neither the Town Manager nor a majority of the Council members appear to be willing to address this problem, despite my own recent efforts to draw attention to the problem.  

 I therefore support Genevieve Cerf and Richard Moravsik as "new blood" on the Council this term. Both have considerable Groton experience on the RTM and a number of Town Committees and both have indicated a strong desire to alter the Town Charter for the benefit of non-resident taxpayers. When this occurs, adjustments should also be made to the Charter permitting a Referendum on the Annual Town Budget in the event that any proposal by Council/RTM will exceed a cost-of-living index. This will directly protect the taxpayers from excessive increases, but only when needed, and this step is long overdue.  

I'm happy to see Bill Smith campaigning for the RTM as "new blood." He has an excellent business background plus local community involvement and an appropriate future candidate for Town Council. And I'm glad to see RTM member Jack Sebastion willing to continue his budget battles with the Town, since he actually received the largest number of votes in his district during the last RTM election.   

We need some changes on the Board of Education and the situation involving a previous Superintendent was a mess. However, consistency and previous experience is mandatory. I'll vote to keep Robert Peruzzotti on the BoE because of his financial knowledge and close attention to school security for the safety of our children. Bob is sincerely concerned about the kids and I recognize the validity of his efforts. 

 Barbara Tarbox ran the Town Clerk's office for many years with the respect of both political parties before retiring. Betsey Moukawsher has done the same since 2010 and is efficient, saves us money and provides   guidance to those (like myself) who might make mistakes. She should stay aboard. 

 The $5.3 million Bond plus interest to upgrade the Town Police Station is reasonable and proper, considering the condition of the facility. The improvements were discussed piecemeal for many years previously but were never acted upon for budget reasons. We need to act. Prisoners need to be safely transferred and supervised. Police Officers need to be properly trained and re-trained with firearms in a convenient location to avoid wasting valuable time driving to an outside range. This is a very important project involving the entire community and we should support it. Failure to do so will result in more delay and more issues with how to do things piecemeal...just like before. The old method of trying to put it on the annual budget did not work. 

 However, the approximately $10 million Bond (which results in costing much more with final interest) to extend water and sewer up Flanders Road is expensive and unlikely to produce a return on the investment for the taxpayers. From information dating back as far as 1977, the industrial land behind Town property West of Flanders Road is not very environmentally suitable for development. Furthermore, in 1985, the full development of the Route 117 industrial property off Pohagenut Road near what is now the Marriott Hotel did not occur as initially predicted, nor did it reduce existing property taxes for Groton citizens, as initially promised. Moreover, the anticipated major construction of a 4-year University failed to materialize.  

 Therefore, more focus and energy needs to be directed into developing that property off Rt. 117, bringing it up to full usage capacity, rather than voting in favor of the very questionable Flanders Road Bond. Let's finish what was started back in 1985 so that it will benefit the taxpayers, as initially promised, before jumping into another financial commitment that involves even more risk. 

 So, in summary, please vote for :
Council: Antipas, Moravsik & Cerf                                              
 RTM: Smith and Sebastian             
 BOE: Peruzzotti                                              
 Referendum Bond: NO on Flanders Road,
                               YES on Groton PD  

Thank you all for your time. 

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