November 4th, 2008 Elections - 30 Oct 2008
It's already time for another bout of elections here in Derby. A concerned citizen just emailed me wondering what the ballot questions were. That prompted me to post them here for all to see. I pulled them from the Secretary of State's website. They are:
1) Shall there be a Constitutional Convention to amend or revise the Constitution of the State?
2) Shall the constitution of the state be amended to permit any person who will have attained the age of eighteen years on or before the day of a regular election to vote in the primary for such regular election?
Question 1 seems to be a big deal - I've heard radio ads claiming that lobbyists will be able to set policy if people vote yes to this. That seems a little ironic since lobbyists currently try to influence legislators as much as possible. And it's especially ironic considering the group airing the ad is a lobbyist group. The way I understand question 1 is as such: Do you think Connecticut individuals should have a say in setting policy besides just legislators (and to an extent, the executive and judicial branches)? With our legislators gearing up to codify the allowing of gay marriage, it seems that if on the whole individuals don't want to allow gay marriage, voting yes is the only way to be able to gain some control of the process.
Besides these important ballot issues, you'll actually have some people to elect to office. Here I've provided links to click to see who's in the running (click the link, then click on the "view report" button).
- President of the United States
- US House of Representatives - CT 3rd district
- CT State Representative, West Derby in the 104th District, East Derby in the 114th District
- CT State Senator - 17th District
- Registrar of Voters - no link provided here because two are running and two get elected
There were also going to be some Charter changes to vote on - see the Connecticut Post article for what those were going to be... except there was a timing snafu from the Secretary of State so they won't be on the ballot this time.
To find out specifics on each candidate you could do an internet search for state party websites. Good luck in all your research.
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Congratulations! - 7 Nov 2007
Congratulations to Tony Staffieri on his re-election, and to Ken Hughes and so many of the Board of Alderman. Ron Sill also returns to the BOA - he took time to show me around City Hall when I first went there to start learning about politics. Election results can be viewed on Derby's homepage. I think it'll be another two years before voting for any local officials. Until then, I hope you stay involved, ask questions, and help Derby along in its renaissance!
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WPCA... and Elections - 5 Nov 2007
WPCA stands for Water Pollution Control Authority. Those elected to the tax board actually get "double duty". They're automatically members of the WPCA board. The WPCA helps settle issues related to sewer and water services. The meeting occurs immediately after the tax board meeting on the 3rd Monday of each month. The tax board meeting starts at 7 pm.
In other news, the big voting day is tomorrow. You'll be able to vote for mayor, constable, treasurer, 3 alderman to represent the ward in which you live, 10 tax board members, and 9 Board of Education members. Check out the link to the 2007 candidates on the main page, and plan who you will vote for ahead of time. Best wishes to Derby on election day!
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Taxes - 18 Oct 2007
I had an opportunity to knock some doors with the mayor a couple weeks ago. A few people mentioned how high taxes have gotten. I think people still have the revaluations that were done on their minds. Every few years the town has to make a determination on the value of your property. Since these determinations were done at the peak of the housing market, the assessed values of homes increased a lot.
We're taxed X amount of dollars on every $1,000 of assessed value - it's called the mill rate. (FYI, the Board of Apportionment and Taxation is responsible for setting the mill rate each year.) So if my home's assessed value (70% of the appraised value) is $140,000, and the mill rate is 25, I would pay 25*(140,000/1000) = $3,500 in taxes.
What's tough to remember is that taxes are a little more complicated than a simple mill rate. Did you know that higher assessed values doesn't have to mean higher taxes? The town has to look at what it will probably spend the next year. If the city spent the same amount the year after revaluations as it did the year before, the mill rate would have gone down.
Here's an example of why thinking about the mill rate is more difficult than at first glance. When some people think of Greenwich, they assume that the mill rate there must be astronomical. In fact, the mill rate is under 10. It's because property values there are so high. And if you want to compare to other towns, you should probably start thinking about population size, number of schools, student population, etc.
Basically, it's hard to compare taxes to other towns "straight up", but what you can do is compare to your previous tax bills. As a newly appointed member of the tax board (and hopefully re-elected on November 6th), it is my goal to keep your taxes as low as possible while factoring in the needs of the city.
Two more things - now might be a good time to put a plug in for Keith McLiverty (who is the current city treasurer and running for re-election). He's the guy making sure the city is earning decent returns on the money we have. And he's extremely knowledgeable about procedure. He even encouraged and received a pay cut! (!) So I'd encourage you to vote for him this November. Also, here is a link to a table showing mill rates for different towns/districts in Connecticut. I found it at CT.gov. It's for 2006-7 so it's not current, but it's just fun to look at.
CT Mill Rates
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Ballots and Preparation - 22 Sep 2007
It's difficult to be prepared on election day. This year, thanks to Jack Walsh (who maintains the Derby website), it's easy to find out who is running for what position. But if you're new to the new voting machines, make sure to check out the following link. It will help you be all that more prepared on election day.
Optical Scan Instructions
Depending on the technology you're using, you should be able to enlarge the image from this link for easier reading. One way might be to click on it.
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Derby Blogs and Other Ramblings - 12 Sep 2007
A couple of weeks ago, the link to the Derby Blog on the Welcome page here went inactive. Today I finally discovered the site was back up and running again. Anyway, while it was down I got an email through this site. I give it below:
"Your blog isn't working but here is another:"
With a link to another Derby blog.
First of all, the site I link to is not my blog. Second of all, the email and name fields weren't filled in accurately - I can't reply via email because the email address was invalid. Thirdly, after visiting the blog, I've seen numerous statements talking about openness and asking for people to state their names when blogging and such. The contradiction in that blog and the email I received is hilarious. I support the idea of sharing your own name whether it be in an email, blog post, or on the website you manage.
In other news, the Democratic primary was yesterday, and John Orazietti beat Dina Weissman for the right to run as the Democratic candidate for mayor. Make sure to check out the link on the Welcome page for the complete list of 2007 candidates. I noticed this morning that only 10 people (6 nominated by Republicans, 4 nominated by Democrats) are running for the tax board, including "yours truly". Since 10 people are on the tax board, that means all of us will be getting elected. I wonder if someone who gets 0 votes still gets "elected"?
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Bradley Playground - 19 Aug 2007
Yesterday, Saturday August 18th, many people were involved in helping to fix up the Bradley Elementary School playground. Mayor Tony Staffieri and Board of Alderman President Ken Hughes definitely aren't afraid to get their hands dirty! Pictures are currently posted on Derby's homepage (thanks Jack!).
We were able to do a lot of painting, spreading of the new mulch (which is safer and longer-lasting than typical mulch), and litter cleanup. I was taken aback at how much trash was on the school grounds around the baseball diamond and playground area. Hopefully the improvements will continue and last! Thanks to Jim Stadt who spearheaded these improvements. Jim is running for the board of education this fall. Ken and Tony of course are running for re-election to their current positions.
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Hello - 10 Aug 2007
I'm new to politics, but I have been trying to attend meetings to get used to the lingo and procedures. One thing I've noticed is that people can become very vocal and passionate about issues dear to them. It's good to know that people want to affect Derby and change it for the better.
If you're in a public position, it's probably difficult to satisfy everyone. But it sure seems like a good idea to listen to the community and then do the best you can. During the process I'd hope that everyone could be civil and rational, understanding that difficult decisions have to be made sometimes.
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