Friday Evening Sign Rally – RAIN OR SHINE (Looks to be more SHINE than rain)

Friday November 1 at 5PM

At the corner of Main and Center Streets. 

Join us to rally for the Democratic Candidates.

Please make every effort to attend! Bring your signs from your yards if you can (we will have some on hand).

Zandri leads in donations

This is very defining in the amount of support I am receiving in my run for the seat of Mayor in Wallingford – thank you all for your commitment of time, money and personal effort. Please see the full story in the Record Journal - Zandri leads in donations

Five days remain to Election Day and we will be pushing every single day to get out that vote.

The goal is 50.1% voter participation – 25,100 residents were registered to vote in town according to the recent article in the Record Journal and that is pretty much par for the course so the effort now is to get at least 12,575 out to the polls.

It’s your town – get informed, get involved and VOTE November 5th.

Let’s roll.

Time for a change - Eric Cotton’s PERSPECTIVE piece in the Record Journal

Nothing more needs to be said on this – I cannot improve on it.

Time for a change - Eric Cotton’s PERSPECTIVE piece in the Record Journal

FINAL FUNDRAISER - LUNCH FUNDRAISER at Zandri’s Stillwood Inn SUNDAY OCTOBER 27, 2013 at 1PM

LUNCH FUNDRAISER at Zandri’s Stillwood Inn
SUNDAY OCTOBER 27, 2013 at 1PM

 

Scheduled Special Guest

Third District

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro

 

Assorted light Lunch items.

Suggested Donation - $25.00

 

Please make all checks out to “Jason Zandri for Mayor Committee”

The maximum PAC contribution is $1500. The maximum individual contribution is $1000.

 

 

Paid for by Jason Zandri for Mayor Committee, Nicole Consiglio, Treasurer Approved by Jason Zandri, candidate for Mayor of Wallingford

Working with the SEEC regarding the Wallingford Extra

While getting the second drop of the Wallingford Extra ready we discovered an issue caused by my campaign funding being used to show the entire slate of Democrats running on the back page. According to the explicit election rules we cannot use the funds meant for my campaign to promote the entire slate even when I am included in the advertisement.

With that, I called them today to work with them on the issue. It was unintentional but it didn’t comply with the rules so we need to move into compliance on that.

Once they have reviewed the issue and let me know what needs to be done to correct it, I will do so immediately.

The WALLINGFORD EXTRA digital copy is now online

An open letter to all the voters of Wallingford – Democrat, Republican, Other and Unaffiliated

Let’s be mindful of the fact that serving the public is in itself a daunting task; the hours are long and the work is generally unrewarding (except for personal satisfaction in most cases) but each of us does it for our own reasons.

The desire to run for public office is expensive in both real money and personal time.

At the end of the day WE, those of us that are running and / or presently serving, are the ones that should be in focus.

If you don’t like our policies and our plans then come take issue with them – come to a public meeting, raise us on the phone, or send us a letter or an email and bring up your comments and concerns.

This morning the sign below was vandalized by someone that acted on a “crime of opportunity”. I am not excusing it but that’s what it was - “hey look a sign” – car jumps the curb and takes out the sign. With the number of signs and locations that I have and with them being up for the past seven weeks I am honestly surprised I got this far without incident.

The Police were called but there is little they can actually follow up on and the most one could hope for is some front end damage to the car that hit it. The most unfortunate part of this damage is the impact to the unsuspecting homeowner for doing nothing more than supporting their candidate.

 

This one below is the one that bothers me actually. It bothers me because it was NOT a "crime" of opportunity but rather a targeted, premeditated and calculated effort which in my book makes it FAR worse.

Someone took the time to plan their trespass on my mother’s property specifically, remove the sign and intentionally put it in front of her car at the car port – blocking her in.

Neither situation is acceptable but this is 100 times worse than the prior.

I have so many different feelings right now and the writing helped defer some of them but I am going to make three final comments and then go outside in the yard to play with my kids:

1) Unlike how I personally and my supporters were unjustly accused of putting inflammatory paper posters up of the Mayor a couple of months back, I know that these acts were independently executed and not the orchestrated effort of anyone connected directly to any of the campaigns.

2) I do not condone any actions of this nature and will not – proactively or reactively, on me or on my opponents – there is no place for it. I do not expect escalation or retaliation and I will deal with both the same way; I will inform the police and if I catch it in the act I will take immediate actions.

3) I am running for office - I am fair play; my mother, my wife and my kids are neither – keep them clear of it.

I’m out – see you Monday morning from the train.

Wallingford in a changing universe

As published in the Record Journal (page D03) on Sunday October 20, 2013 – by Jason Zandri

The one constant in the universe is change. The greatest danger a business, a municipality or an individual can succumb to is an irrational fear of the unknown.

The CEO of Borders Books embraced technology use as well as the changes in the business landscape of the corporation he led. What he lacked was the true understanding of the depth of the change. Believing that loss leaders like the Nook and Kindle readers, the hardware of his competitors which lose money on every sale, should be something his company should avoid, he made a bet on what he knew best – his historical customer base and what he believed they wanted. They would always want to hold a real book in their hand.

His knowledge and understanding of his customer base and decades of experience would help him and Borders Books weather their financial storm.

Today that corporation is gone because it resisted the direction of their market; they were unable to see the full scope of the future of their venerable business, and the choice of losing money on devices for sales of e-books was not prudent in the short term. Yet that lesson is a core teaching in business and economics – “give away the razor, sell the blades.”

There are times in all our lives when we become so set on how we’ve always done things that we believe there is no better way to do anything and that we have perfected our craft.

Then something in the landscape shifts and all things are not equal. The shift has already occurred in Wallingford’s landscape and as we continue to do the same things we’ve always done, they are becoming increasingly less effective.

Change is inevitable, predictable and beneficial – it is a wave that you can choose to ride on or be drowned under but it is a force that cannot be ignored because it brings the future, a future that will not just happen but one that we will create.

Wallingford has the ability to do more, with less, even in “these trying times,” as that statement ends up being relative; it just depends on how you want to go about it.

Are times today worse than they were in 2007 when things were still booming? I suppose if you are just looking at the early and mid-2000s.

There are times in our country’s history that make the boom of the early and mid-2000s look paltry just as there were times in the 30s that make today look like paradise.

We can better leverage technology to complete more tasks and move projects along; this has the effect to allow us to get started on the next task sooner.

We can offer more services that offset some costs – by going to e-payments and e-billing as options for those that want them, we save postage and handling costs and paperwork becomes reduced.

The less paperwork that people in the offices need to handle, the more they are freed to do other things; this becomes an increase in service for things that must be done manually.

Proper planning for future expenditures via cost analysis allows Wallingford to project what should be deferred for “down the road” as costs look to decline (certain hardware and some technology) and where costs will increase like labor-based jobs such as road paving that also have a petroleum cost in the materials used – both of which increase year over year making it more prudent to review the cost of doing that work now rather than later.

Being more open and providing more access into how and what local government is doing and making residents better aware of what is going on and letting them feel like they can be part of the process fosters and grows that sense of collectiveness and ownership.

This is our hometown; let’s create Wallingford’s future together.

Jason Zandri is the Democratic challenger for mayor of Wallingford.

MY TAKE - Wallingford wins border dispute / Meriden Landfill / 91 N. Turnpike Road

Political cartoon as published in the Record Journal on Sunday October 20th, 2013

On Tuesday October 15th a story titled Wallingford wins border dispute was published in the Record Journal.

In the story the details that were outlined how the city of Meriden was denied a request for a special permit application to create a “disposal cell” on a six-acre portion of the South Meriden landfill, the portion that sits in Wallingford, which was capped in 2006.

Meriden submitted plans to the Wallingford Planning and Zoning Commission to reopen part of the landfill as their officials had hoped to store waste from street sweeping and catch basin remnant materials accumulated by the Public Works Department.

The same type of street sweeping and catch basin remnant materials that Wallingford stored at 91 North Turnpike Road.

Meriden needed approval from the Wallingford Planning and Zoning Commission to move forward but in August 2007, they unanimously to deny Meriden’s application. Officials on the PZC at the time said the project posed dangers to public health, safety and welfare.

According to the article “In 1980, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection began studying the effects of the landfill on the aquifer. In 1987, dangerous levels of trichloroethylene – a human carcinogen – were found in one of the wells fed by the aquifer under the landfill. State Rep. Mary Fritz, D-Wallingford, said the state spent about $1 million to clean the site in 1989, and that she felt opening up the landfill for further use was not ideal.

Meriden officials said at the time they did not plan on storing hazardous materials at the site.

I would remind everyone that Wallingford fought this very hard because of a prior issue with what was in the materials and how it affected the protected aquifer. It didn’t matter that Meriden assured us that they were not going to store hazardous materials there; we didn’t want to take the risk. The PZC understood that potential risk and they denied the application and when Meriden took us to Superior Court to appeal the court agreed with Wallingford.

Fast forward to 2009 and we have a situation where DEEP and the Wallingford Inland Wetland and Watercourses Commission that it is in violation for it’s continued use of 91 North Turnpike Road, which sits on top of a protected aquifer, FOR THE VERY SAME REASONS WE STOPPED MERIDEN FROM RE-OPENING A CLOSED SECTION OF THEIR LANDFILL WHERE IT SITS IN WALLINGFORD.

And when I asked why we are still using 91 North Turnpike Road, the Director of Public Works tells myself, the remainder of the Wallingford Town Council and the Mayor as follows (as reported from the Record Journal):

The practice continued, McCully said, as a “very large load of sand from street sweepers” remained stockpiled at the site.

“There’s nowhere else to put the sand,” McCully told Zandri. In a given year, McCully said, the town purchases between 5,000 and 7,000 tons of sand mixed with salt. It needs to be kept somewhere, he said, and another location wasn’t found because “I had higher priorities.”

Zandri pointed out that McCully has had four years to address the issue. McCully said he looked into using the resident drop-off area for storage, but the material was not suitable to the area. Asked by Zandri if it was a fair assessment that “no effort was made over four years to find another location,” McCully agreed.

It wasn’t the intention to keep the material stored at the “dog pit” long term, McCully said, and the plan was to remove it after 2009, but “obviously it never got to that and I accept responsibility for that.”


So I ask the residents of Wallingford, if Meriden simply started using their landfill area again, the portion that rests in Wallingford, and “got away with it” for four years with the excuse of “there is nowhere else to put the sand” and backed that up with “we accept responsibility for doing that” would we be as forgiving and willing to just say “OK – well…. just don’t do it anymore”?

I do not believe so.

This Tuesday, October 22nd, there is an item scheduled to be on the Council agenda titled “Questions and answers of the department head of Public Works and the Mayor regarding the activities, total costs, and accountability to the taxpayers of Wallingford for town property located at 91 North Turnpike Road.  Activities to include, but not limited to, street sweepings, disposal of catch basin materials, discharge from the Vac Truck, and street millings” – I encourage you to attend the meeting or at the very least watch it on GTV once it is available for viewing; it will show that this is much more than a four year problem and it will show just how aware the administration was of everything going on.

Thank you regarding tonight's fundraiser at the Portuguese American Club / LAST EVENT is NEXT Sunday 10/27

Thank you everyone who attended tonight's fundraiser at the Portuguese American Club. It was a great event and it was effectively "sold out" with the room filled to capacity (A little over 100 people).

Special thank you to Peter Gouveia for setting everything up and the folks at the Portuguese American Club for an awesome meal.

The next and final fundraiser is NEXT Sunday (eight days from now) on 10/27 at Zandri's Stillwood Inn - see you there.

Wallingford Headquartered International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers LOCAL 90 Endorses Jason Zandri for Mayor

REMINDER - DINNER FUNDRAISER at the Portuguese Club THIS SATURDAY October 19, 2013

DINNER FUNDRAISER at the Portuguese Club

51 SOUTH COLONY ROAD, WALLINGFORD

SATURDAY OCTOBER 19, 2013 at 7PM

Pork Loin, Baked Chicken, Seafood Rice, Oven Roasted Potatoes, Salad and Rolls

Dessert and Cash Bar

Dinner cost - $25.00 donation

Please make all checks out to “Jason Zandri for Mayor Committee”

 

MAYORAL FORUM - Wallingford Candidates forum – Election 2013

WALLINGFORD — The Wallingford Community Women’s Club held the 2013 candidates forum on Tuesday, Oct. 15 in the Town Council Chambers of the Wallingford Town Hall.

Reporters from local newspapers, in addition to students from Sheehan High School, addressed questions to the candidates.

This session was the Mayoral discussion between Republican Mayor William Dickinson Jr. and the Democratic Challenger Jason Zandri.

Generational choice / Local Voter Turnout

Below is a letter to the editor published on October 11, 2013 in the Record Journal.

After that is the content from a blog post I published on Wallingford Politico titled “The most impactful voters are the ones that show up”.

Both indicate the importance of getting out the vote especially locally.

It’s your town – get informed, get involved and VOTE.


Editor: In 2012, Wallingford voters turned out and voted in the presidential election at an 83 percent rate. In 2011 for local elections it was only 39 percent. One of the differences nationally was that the younger age demographic increased in voting percentage. In 2011 local voters 18 to 25 came out at a 15.5 percent rate, age 26 to 35 17.5 percent, and age 36 to 45 came out at 30.5 percent for the election. In this election Wallingford faces a generational choice. We have a veteran mayor who has served since the days of Ronald Reagan. When the current mayor was elected computers were just beginning to be used by a wider populace, the Internet was an idea and cell phones were in their infancy. Wallingford has integrated as time has gone by but its leader remains rooted for better or worse in a previous time. His challenger comes from a generation that is comfortable with technology and quick to embrace its’ advantages.

This brings us back to voter participation. Will all of our registered voters (25,759) come out and make this a real choice? Will Wallingford’s younger demographic step up and voice its preference on how Wallingford meets the future? Can this election be the one when a new generation makes its choice for a generational change in leadership?

Laurence Morgenstein, Wallingford

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The most impactful voters are the ones that show up.

Different ages of people ask me why it seems (to them) that “the government” (and this could be federal, state or local depending on the conversation at the time) always seems to favor [THAT AGE GROUP] over theirs and the [GROUP] always seems to be an older age group.

The bottom line is – the squeaky wheels get the grease.

When you look at total number of registered voters, the older the bracket, the more they tend to be registered. At the same time too, when you look at the percentages of who turns out from those brackets, the older brackets turn out with a larger percentage as well.

The following is the information lifted from the last municipal election (2011) of a total of about 25,000 registered voters:

18-24 year olds – total registered 1,869 and of that 193 (10.5%) showed up to vote. You expect this bracket to be less in total number of voters as it contains only seven years of voters and all the others are ten but the 10.5 percentage across just those registered is very low.

25-34 year olds – total registered 3,051 and of that 456 (14.9%) showed up to vote. Nearly 50% more percentage wise on the turnout, nearly twice as many total registered and more than double the number in turnout which is all better than their counterparts in the 18 to 24 bracket but still low overall as you compare the older demographics.

35-44 year olds – total registered 3,433 and of that 913 (26.6%) showed up to vote. With nearly 3,500 registered voters, this block comes in with less than 1,000 total voters showing up to vote locally. When you consider this group (along with a portion of the prior demographic and the next) to be the main segment of the population that uses the largest portion of the municipal budget (education budget for those with children) you would hope to see higher turnout numbers.

45-54 year olds – total registered 5,167 and of that 1,995 (38.6%) showed up to vote. This group is the second largest in total number on the registration side but at just 38.6% in turnout (while better than their younger counterparts) they impact about the same as the 65 to 74 demographic but less so than the 55 to 64 group. With its sheer numbers matching, they could have more presence if they could move their turnout numbers higher.

55-64 year olds – total registered 5,211 and of that 2,350 (45.1%) showed up to vote. This group is the largest in total number on both the registration side and the turnout number. On the percentage side at 45.1% they turnout at the third highest percentage as well but because of their total numbers of registered, this group’s turnout numbers have the highest impact regarding total vote tally.

65-74 year olds – total registered 3,329 and of that 1,876 (56.3%) showed up to vote. This group is the third largest group with 3,329 registered. Their turnout percentages are very good locally at 56.3% which generated 1,876 voters at the polls. They are the second highest impacting group because of this.

75-84 year olds – total registered 1,958 and of that 1,146 (58.5%) showed up to vote. As people age onward and pass away it impacts the demographic. This group has the highest percentage of local voter turnout at 58.5% but as their total numbers dwindle their voter impact lessens. Despite the handicap, they are still a very impactful group.

85 and older – total registered 1,292 and of that 547 (42.3%) showed up to vote. At just a hair shy of 1,300 registered voters and 547 turning out, this group nearly singlehandedly outstrips the impact of the 5,000 registered voters in both the 18 to 24 and the 25 to 34 demographics combined as in both those groups only 649 people voted locally.  

It’s your town – get informed, get involved and VOTE

Mill rates and your taxes

Recently Mayor Dickinson’s campaign mailed out a flyer on Wallingford’s mill rate and the mill rate of surrounding towns trying to make it seem like the lower mill rate was something to be all excited about. It is and it isn’t and it depends on what you’re looking at.

First – a definition of what the mill rate is: (http://www.ct.gov/opm/cwp/view.asp?Q=385976)

A mill is equal to $1.00 of tax for each $1,000 of assessment. To calculate the property tax, multiply the assessment of the property by the mill rate and divide by 1,000. For example, a property with a assessed value of $50,000 located in a municipality with a mill rate of 20 mills would have a property tax bill of $1,000 per year.

In the state of Connecticut, all towns use 70% factor to reach the assessed value.

So you have the apprised value of a home and for the sake of simplicity let’s say that is $100,000.00 and let’s assume a mill rate of 30.00 mills.

The you use the 70% factor to reach the assessed value which is $70,000.00; that is used for the purposes of taxing the owner.

Then you have the mill rate and this is used as follows:

Assessed value of $70,000.00 divided by 1,000 = 70.

70 times the mill rate of 30 equals $2,100 – those are your taxes.

So how do the towns compare?

Meriden estimated median house or condo value in 2011: $192,738
70% value to calculate taxes = $134,915
Meriden mill rate 34.99 (outer district); taxes = $4,720
Meriden mill rate 37.09 (inner district); taxes = $5,003

http://www.city-data.com/city/Meriden-Connecticut.html

Wallingford Estimated median house or condo value in 2011: $275,514
70% value to calculate taxes = $192,860
Wallingford  mill rate 26.22; taxes = $5,056

http://www.city-data.com/city/Wallingford-Connecticut.html

Meriden has more services; part of the city has trash pickup and all of the schools have full day Kindergarten.

More services and the taxes are STILL less for the same MEDIAN priced home.

The lower mill rate means nothing in this situation; you are paying MORE in Wallingford.

The argument will be made that the home in Wallingford if more expensive than the one in Meriden but it is a relative cost of a median priced home. The old saying is “if I could pick up my house and drop it in Meriden is would cost less to buy” and this is reflected in the differences is the cost for the “same” median priced home between the towns.


There are many additional arguments to have; someone or a family chooses a given town for one reason or another, for a set of services one town offers over another, the relative safety of one town over another, the ability to buy more of a home in one town over another for the same amount of money and so on.

At the end of the day the actual discussion is “how much have the taxes changed” NOT “what is the mill rate” because the mill rate WILL go up and down based on the changes in property values.

I will maintain what I have said prior in my Wallingford Taxes – MYTH and REALITY post – from the prior revaluation (2005) residential properties went up more than commercial / industrial so when the mill rate was adjusted downward to offset that, the burden shifted to the residential homeowner and has stayed there.

Between that shifting and the annual changes / increases to the budget the residential home owner is paying, on average, 40 percent more now than in 2005.

As I have also stated prior and will continue to maintain that you can check for yourself – call the tax office at 203-294-2135 and get the taxes for where you live, even if you didn’t live there in 2005, and you will see the changes for yourself.

 

Wallingford mayoral candidates file financial reports / upcoming fundraisers

Thank you everyone that has supported the campaign to date – while the donations have exceeded my expectations I am still in need of more so if you can come to the dinner and lunch fundraisers and have something to eat (with the cost of your meals as a donation) I would greatly appreciate it. (More on that at the end of this post).

In one filing period the Republican machine raised 60 percent of the totals we have since the start of the campaign.

As reported in the Record Journal story by Andrew Ragali – back in July Mayor Dickinson hadn’t started fundraising. As of Thursday October 10th (three months later) he had contributions totaling $17,623. Mayor Dickinson spent $6,802.89 during the three month reporting period, leaving him with $10,820.11 on hand. Dickinson spent $216.44 out of his own pocket, and as of Thursday, he had outstanding expenses of $263.

By the July reporting period we had recorded $10,107.20 on hand. Over these past three months we have been able to bring in $12,025.22 in additional contributions thanks to your support. I have just about $3,000 of my own money into the campaign and I plan to continue to personally fund about 10 percent of all the expenses. In the past three months, the campaign has spent $9,281.97, leaving us with $12,850.45. (I presently have about $1,595.60 in outstanding expenses).

In total, our campaign has brought in $28,294.79 to date; that is only possible because of all of you. Thank you.

As I mentioned – as much as I hate to keep going on about it, we need more help.

If you can make an additional donation please do so:

Donations:    Jason Zandri for Mayor Committee
                         c/o 23 Cardinal Drive
                         Wallingford CT 06492

I would much prefer that you come and make a donation, have some food, and spend some time with friends so rather than just considering cutting a check please think about possibly attending one or both of the upcoming fundraisers:

DINNER FUNDRAISER at the Wallingford Portuguese Club

51 SOUTH COLONY ROAD WALLINGFORD
SATURDAY OCTOBER 19, 2013 at 7PM

Pork Loin, Baked Chicken, Seafood Rice, Oven Roasted Potatoes, Salad and Rolls
Dessert and Cash Bar

Dinner cost - $25.00 donation
Please make all checks out to “Jason Zandri for Mayor Committee”

 

 

 

 

LUNCH FUNDRAISER at the Zandri’s Stillwood Inn

1074 SOUTH COLONY ROAD WALLINGFORD
SUNDAY OCTOBER 27, 2013 at 12:30PM

Scheduled Special Guest

Third District Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro

Lunch cost - $25.00 donation
Please make all checks out to “Jason Zandri for Mayor Committee”

 

Once again – thank you for all the help and support; I am going to get this done and it will because of the support from all of you.

Thank you

 

More support and Letters to the Editor

Time for change
Editor: Wallingford needs a change. Jason Zandri is our man. He’s wise, intelligent, young, energetic, knowledgeable about issues, community- minded, a watchdog of the Town Council, a man of the people and for the people and, especially, a family man. Yes, Wallingford — Jason Zandri is our man for mayor, 2013.

Ben F. Klimczak, Yalesville

Wallingford taxes
Editor: I moved to Wallingford in 2007. My taxes were $3,860.00. They were $4,300 in 2011. Mayor Dickinson and the Republican block tout how they are holding the line on “expensive” employee salaries (you know, the people doing the actual work). They brag about 1.4 percent average annual salary increases over three to four years of a contract (after additionally paying arbitration costs because they don’t negotiate fairly). So tell me — why have my taxes gone up 12 percent in those same four years? Salaries are barely 5.5 percent of that. The other 6.5 percent? What are we spending it on?

Michael Cicarella, Wallingford

Deferrals
Editor: Regarding the elderly tax deferral program and Republican commentary (R-J letters, 9-18) “Does somebody making $71,000 need tax relief ?” It depends on the individual. Someone at $55,000 may, and that person is currently excluded from the current program despite being more than 20 percent below median income. “If more people have property taxes deferred, the rest of us would have to make up the difference.” Overall, that isn’t true; in the short term, while there are more deferrals taking place than settlements, it is possible, but the entire point of “deferral” is that the town is made whole over time.

Charlotte Ayers, Wallingford



GOP spin machine
Editor: The Republican spin machine is at full RPM. A letter-writer (R-J, 9-18) indicated Jason Zandri wanted to “expand the elderly/ disabled tax deferral program to people with incomes up to $71,000. No reason, except that Durham and Guilford do it” — couldn’t be further from the truth as those towns were examples. The reasons are in his blog, “I don’t want to have anyone move from family and the town that they grew up in or have called home because they can no longer afford the taxes in Wallingford.” My vote on 11/5 goes to Zandri for Mayor.

Patricia F. Mills, Wallingford

More voter support via Letters to the Record Journal

Since the screen shot above is a little difficult to read here is the text of that letter from Christopher Regan:

October 8^th, 2013

Jason Zandri via jason@zandri.net

Subject: My original submission to the Record Journal / Op-ed (unedited)

Editor: Jason Zandri's campaign slogan "Moving Wallingford Forward" is exactly why I endorsing him for Mayor in this community. As a CEO with a national business headquartered in Wallingford and also as a resident I was stunned at the lack of any type of economic development incentives for business for when I moved my organization into town. Eight years later -- Wallingford hasn't advanced forward in any appreciable means as far as business owners are concerned.  We are not close to Wallingford Center, although we appreciate the work and support the efforts to beautify our town and make frequenting downtown businesses an enjoyable experience.

Jason has proven to me that he has fiscal responsibility, wants to take advantages of integrating modern day solutions to receive efficiency gains, gives full thought about impact to the community, and solicits opinions using tools that the modern day business executive has as its disposal (email, blogging, social media, etc.) in order to effectively communicate with the people he works for.  I like the fact that I can talk to him every day any day or read his views and opinions openly and honestly.

We recently became frustrated with the town's lack of response to a residential street issue.  We reached out to the Mayor's office, to the Town Council at large, and to the Department of public works.  The only response we received was when Jason came out, on a weekend and on his own time, with a video camera and documented our issue.  It was only until then that we then received a call from public works informing us to what was going to be done.

I applaud his work in the past, for the fireworks fund, and for this town's forward momentum.

Christopher J. Regan

President & CEO

MY TAKE - Wallingford council rejects union contract

As reported in the Record Journal article, during the Town Council meeting where seven of nine Councilors voted down the negotiated contract the sentiment that was echoed a few times was “there was no zero percent wage increase” as well as “we’ve been negotiating across the three years (with the zero in the mix) at about 1.8 percent average on the wage increases” (this one came to 2.07 percent so it was .27 percent too high for some people’s tastes.)

Allow me to stop the spin on the “there was no zero percent wage increase” – the last contract had one; I asked the question twice for the record.

Arbitration over this tiny amount could cost up to $20,000 in legal fees and we could be compelled to pay this out anyway but the big sticking point was that last year – that 2.25 percent wage increase even though in bargaining unions of similar size across the state, an increase close to 2.25 percent is normal.

Linda Winters, business manager - $127,079
Sharlene Wong, food service director - $90,594
Randall Backus, director of information technology services - $104,005
Mark Deptula, supervisor of buildings and grounds - $105,245

So what is the difference of .27 percent in wages?

You add the salaries together from the above and the total is $426,923

If the contract had been passed, wages in the contract would increase expenses by $26,502 over the three years. The contract would have saved $5,573 by removing the insurance premium cap so the overall cost increase impact was $20,929 on the school board.

That is $6,976 each year.

So let’s go back to the “big issue” – that 2.25 percent wage increase. “I could get on board with this if that last year was 2 percent”. Two Councilors effectively said that.

The difference in cost of $426,923 at .25 percent for that final year?

$1,067

Wallingford in now going to spend in the neighborhood of $20,000 in arbitration for the matter of $1,067.

Vote for change (thanks Mom).

Editor: Wallingford has a new “Son” that’s full of vision, determination, and enthusiasm. He stepped forward saved our fireworks celebration, then became a council member and now he’s a mayoral candidate, so much done in so little time. He can be counted on to listen to concerns, he invites input, and he loves a challenge. Just by what he’s already accomplished, you can see the momentum, and Wallingford needs this expansion, this change. Vote for Change, a New Direction, and Jason Zandri for Mayor of Wallingford. Voting is a privilege and a way to be heard, go out and vote.

Lorraine Zandri, Wallingford

MY TAKE - THE NATURE OF PROPERTY TAXES (FROM WALLINGFORD written by Mike Brodinsky)

This morning in Record Journal (Sunday October 6, 2013) the FROM WALLINGFORD column addressed “The nature of property taxes” in the op-ed piece that was written by Mike Brodinsky.

I would encourage you to read the whole article as it goes into some detail about just how you property taxes are calculated.

At the same time – it reinforces my argument from my Wallingford Taxes – MYTH and REALITY blog post:

Because of the change in the property values of residential properties being different than the rate of that of the commercial and industrial counterparts the burden has shifted to the residential property owners.

From this morning’s column:

”Using the fiscal year ending 6/30/06 as a base , according to the most recent data available, non-education spending has gone up about 10 percent over the following 6 years. This equates to almost 1.8 percent per year”

So with the revaluation changes from 2005 and the lack of additional growth of the Grand List (no real measure of additional homes, businesses or other developmental growth to add to the tax base) all of that has shifted to the residential homer owners.

Don’t take Mike’s word for it.

Don’t take the word of the Republicans who are trying to spin this “Wallingford is terrific place to live and raise a family. As a result, property taxes have risen slightly, but are still the envy of most towns in the state” (because we’ve risen on average at about 40%).

Don’t take my word for it and the data I have supplied prior.

The Wallingford Tax office is 45 South Main Street, Room #209 and the phone number is 203-294-2135.

Call and ask for your own taxes as paid from before the prior revaluation. If you didn’t live at the property ask for what it was anyway – it is public information.

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance” is a favorite saying of mine; 20 years of doing things “quaintly” and “old school” have cost the tax payer more money than needed to be spent. It’s one thing if you’re good with that, it is another if you are unaware.

It’s your town, get informed, get involved and VOTE.

Local 478 of the International Union of Operating Engineers endorses Jason Zandri for Mayor of Wallingford

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

I received a letter today from Local 478 of the International Union of Operating Engineers endorsing our campaign efforts for the seat of Mayor in Wallingford.

Speaking on behalf of the local, Business Manager Craig Getz wrote in the endorsement letter “I am writing on behalf of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 478 to inform you of our decision to endorse you for the office of Mayor of the Town of Wallingford.”

Craig added “Throughout your years as President of the Wallingford Fireworks Fund and as a member of the Wallingford Town Council, you have a proven track record of assessing the needs of the town, engaging the residents and leading viable discussions about the changes and improvements that need to take place.”

The endorsement continued “As an organization that respects the input of every member, we applaud you for the way that you reach out to the residents of Wallingford as you seek to insure that their voices remain an integral part of the town’s vision.”

The endorsement finishes with “Your commitment and passion for the Town of Wallingford is rivaled by few. Therefore, without qualification, we endorse your candidacy and promise to work diligently to see that the hard working families who reside in the Town of Wallingford benefit from your leadership as Mayor.”