The Windsor Democratic Town Committee will be interviewing potential candidates for Town Council, Board of Education and Constables this month as the process for the 2013 fall elections gets into gear.   Members of the WDTC Nominating Committee are inviting all interested Democrats to talk with them regarding current or future interests in becoming a candidate for elected office in Windsor.

After the process is completed – by September 11, 2013 – the Democrats slate of 12 people for the fall election will include;
Town Council –             5 nominees:
Board of Education – 5 nominees;
Constable –                    2 nominees.
The 12 people who win their way through the process will be the Democrat slate on the ballot in the November 5^th election – on Row B – unless the law changes.

Anyone interested in talking with the WDTC Nominating Committee should contact party Chair Leo Canty at 860-794-6075.  Interviews are scheduled for May 23 and 29.  He will be scheduling interview times for all interested Democrats from 7 pm until they are completed on both evenings.

“Our election calendar for 2013 is in place and we need to be moving on filling our slate,” says Leo Canty Dem Chairman in Windsor.  “At this very moment we do not have commitments by every incumbent candidate to run again. Even if we did, we still like to invite democrats to interview and state their desire to hold office and why they could be a good candidate. It is a very important part of our process,” says Canty.   Windsor democrats do have a history of Primary elections and changed positions on Nominating Committee recommendations and not always supporting incumbents.  No party process guarantees a candidate will be on the November ballot prior to a Primary.  We have a multi step process that all candidates must endure to end up as the party nominees.  “Our process begins with the interviews in May.  Candidates then can get the Party endorsement at the June meeting.  There will be a Nominating Caucus in July and a potential Primary scheduled for September 10. Up to 4 tests must be passed by our slate before they achieve ballot status,” says Canty.

Canty and the Windsor Democrats are encouraging people to participate.  “In recent years we have often had more people seeking positions than slots to fill. That is a good thing, for the Democrats and for Windsor” says Canty.  “It is very important for us to be open and invite participation and make all candidates demonstrate why they will be the best for our town. Our Nominating Committee is very keen on selecting good, worthy candidates and that process has now begun,” he added.

Any Windsor Democrat can participate in the Democratic Party process.

If you are not sure where to go to vote go to this site and enter your address

http://www.townofwindsorct.com/registrar/index.php?page=112

VOTE FOR THE ROW B TEAM

The Democratic Team will be located on ROW B – due to a change from a court ruling regarding ballot placement -

WINDSOR’S ROW B TEAM

1 – B  President -             Barack Obama – Joe Biden
2 – B  US Senate -            Chris Murphy
3 – B  US Congress -       John Larson
4 – B  State Senate -       Eric Coleman  – Dist 2
State Senate -       Karen Jarmoc – Dist 7
5 – B  State House -        Brandon McGee – Dist 5
State House -        David Baram  Dist 15
State House -        Peggy Sayers Dist 60
State House -        Elaine O’Brien Dist 61
6 – B  Registrar -              Anita Mips

The budget was approved by larger margins than last year in 6 of the 7 districts in town but in Rainbow there was a lopsided no vote on the budget for our town.  It appears that voters angry over the outcome of the Dollar Tree warehouse decisions, which will bring economic development dollars into the town budget and help pay for services for everyone, pushed for the no vote to became  the only district to do so.   That issue was very local in Rainbow and did not appear to have any impact with voters elsewhere.

Now with the budget in place for next year – the town moves on….All day kindergarten and curriculum improvements will get back on schedule – services and repairs will go ahead.  Things our town needs and people can enjoy will find their ways into Windsor everyday life.

The question still lingers – why did 16,966  skip the vote?   Everything must be good for them.
More to come on the matter of participation and voting – stay tuned.

Mayor Trinks and Deputy Mayor Simon give a   
big thumbs up to the BUDGET YES outcome…                               The final tally  -

ON THE REVENUE SIDE
Windsor’s four major economic development projects have benefitted the town on the income side by bringing in $17 million in taxes over the last 5 years along with 4,500 jobs.  This translates to an approximate $935 tax savings over that period of time on a $200,000 home.

Add our budget savvy planning and implementation on the spending side to the mix and we  end up slotted in the 5th lowest spot of all 169 CT towns for tax increases over the last decade.   All that while providing services people really need and want for our children, seniors, homeowners and all who live, work and grow in Windsor.   Makes a  BUDGET YES! vote a vote for a better Windsor.

ON THE SPENDING SIDE
Every year our town government:
- Responds to more than 9,500 Emergency 911 calls, 1,400 fire calls, and 3,400 medical calls
- Offers more than 700 recreation programs
- Provides 12,000 meals to elderly residents
- Loans more than 300,000 library items
- Maintains 136 miles of roads
and so much more….

This budget will maintain those services for when we need them repair and improve where necessary AND invest in our much needed early childhood education by implementing full-day kindergarten and important curriculum changes.

Most people agree that we do have good services for our town and a solid program to keep them working well – for everyone.

2013 BUDGET
An appropriate budget for these times – 2.8% increase that includes a mere .79% increase from Board of Education, 1.2% town government operations increases and .82% adjustment for lost revenues.  We also have the impact of our revaluation phase-in.  So most people will have a total tax increase of less than 4% – you can go here to check out your tax increase by looking up your address at …
http://townofwindsorct.com/database/budget/fy13/search2.asp

MORE INFORMATION
If you need more information, specific details on the entire budget can be found at http://townofwindsorct.com/budget/

YOUR POLLING LOCATION
Voting will take place at ALL 7 Windsor polling locations 6am-8pm May 15 only – most people will vote at their usual poll location – but redistricting has moved a few people. If you are unsure where to vote – go here, http://www.townofwindsorct.com/registrar/index.php?page=112
enter your street and find your voting location  -

VOTE BUDGET YES MAY 15, 2012

Windsor’s Judge of Probate Candidate, Jim Welsh was one of the few to greet the whole crowd and make sure everyone was getting geared up for his Democratic Primary that will be held June 26.  All in attendance were also reminded to get on the phones and call friends and neighbors to get them to vote BUDGET YES on May 15.

 All in attendance got to say hi and chat with Governor Dan Malloy,  AG Gerorge Jepsen, US Senate candidates Chris Murphy and Susan Bysiewicz making for a relatively “speechless” event.

Funds raised by this and other events help suppport the high level of campaign activity that 2012 has already brought and will bring in the coming months.  And it offers a chance for great Windsor friends and others to get together and have a delightfully relaxing Friday evening— at the clubhouse.

Many thanks go to Tradition staff – they were terrific.

The Town Committee meets Thursday and Friday is the WDTC Spring Fling Fundraiser at Tradition Golf Course Club House from 5:30-8:30.  Governor Malloy and Comptroller Kevin Lembo will be visiting.

May 12 is the Democratic State Convention, May 14 is the 1st Congressional District Convention and May 21 and 22 are state Senate and State House Conventions – For the 1st time in 30 years Windsor’s Democratic Party will choose a nominee for State Representative in the all new 5th House district that will have a good chance to win the seat. More to come on that.

May 15 is Budget referendum Day – don’t forget to go to the polls and support our Town Budget.  It is a tight budget with little room to move and has a minimal increase.  Windsor, with the efforts of our Council and Board have held the line on costs and made sure we still have good services.  Our town is in the bottom 10 of CT’s 169 towns when it comes to tax increases over the last 10 years – CHEERS to the good work of our Democratic Team!!!   And visit with all the dems as we all find time to enjoy Shad Derby Day on May 19 -  

The Saturday election was  run as an experiment to see if people would be more interested in participating in an election if it was held at a more convenient time instead of the usual Tuesday election day.  Not sure that worked.  Windsor is a good sized town and there was very limited exposure to the concept – by many measures – so most people were truly unaware of the event.   The most direct contact was from the 3200 or so calls made by the Windsor Democrats to voters urging their participation and yes vote in the Saturday referendum.

The issue was not a huge motivator, in that, it was more form over substance.  A referendum is needed to approve the bond for the repair even though the vast majotity of the costs will be paid by an insurance claim.  That says more about bad charter rules than anything – why should we have to spent a few thousand dollars on a referendum that will only cost the town $180,000 or so as they bond and get reimbursed for a couple million in expenses.  Thats the rule – so we must comply.

And the issue itself – fix the roof or waste the High School space – as it would be unusable – is a no brainer vs a controversial issue by its substance.

The jury is out on the Saturday election thing.  Congressman Larson has proposed a bill for Saturday elections. Probablly not wise to use Windsor’s test to support the concept.  Who knows how it would work in a more voter motivated environment.

Meantime – the town will go ahead and fix the roof.  Thanks to the voters who did come out and participate and approve the plan.

Windsor was politically punished in the 1981 redistricting cycle and banished to political Siberia as it was carved up into 3 State House districts none of which had a majority of Windsor residents included in the district.  The nasty punishment of this political retribution has been overturned by the 2011 Redistricting Commission as they created a new district boundry for the 5th House District that includes the north end of Hartford and the southern half of Windsor. Windsor will have a majority position in that district.

The town will now have a somewhat more complicated position as it moves from 3 State House distrits to 4– 5th, 15th, 60th and 61st. The previous 3 districts will have smaller portions to accommodate the larger portion in the new 5th.   But the new 5th District affords Windsor its rightful and better opportunity to have a local Windsor person elected in the district.  People from Windsor, since the invention of CT in the 1630′s, have played a role in shaping and deciding the focus and direction of the state.  That role was stripped away with the retirement of Ruth Fahrbach in 2009 – A 375 year streak of windsor inclusion in state legislative decisionmaking was ended as a consequence of the political hacksterism that was inflicted on the town in the 1981 redistricting carve up of the town.

Fairness and district justice has been restored – and it took a good deal of effort.

The Windsor Democrats were leaders in the charge for that change. The Town Committee endorsed and allocated resources to support the new district fight.  The Town Council made a majority district for Windsor a legislative priority.  People testified at hearings, wrote letters, contacted legislators and made it a high profile media issue.  Leo Canty WDTC Town Chair invited comments and suggestions and developed a proposal that was submitted to the commission in August - much of which ended up in the final district plan that was approved November 30.

Bottom line – all the aspiring politicians who knew the process left them out and saw no fuure prospect for legislative election for the last 3 decades  are now free to compete in a district that will very likely elect a Windsor Democrat to the State House of Representatives to be sworn in January of 2013. 

Interested politicos start your engines – The race to continue the slightly interrupted commitment to be apart of Windsor’s 375 year historical contribution to our state is about to begin – anew. 

This is truly a BIG DEAL – We’re back in the game – let’s get to work.

Add to those challenges a dose of civic duty and igniting some democracy.  An 18% turnout is about as low as it’s ever been – 82% of the voters opted not to participate.  That really needs to change. and We will work on that.

Mean time – managing the after effects of a lousy economy – making sure our kids have good schools and our seniors have appropriate services – police, fire, roads and making sure we keep the great service structure that helped get us through the after effects of Storm Albert are all on the list.

Let’s get going – we all have a lot to do to make Windosr a better place to live, work, grow and prosper.  And thanks to those who understand it all starts with picking the right leaders with a good plan and commitment to make it all work…for all of us.