The rumors are true – I am running for Town Council in November

I have had a number of people approach me about this over the past couple of weeks as the topic of who will be running for Town Council has been brought up at various meetings and at some public events.

Despite having the responsibility of getting to work daily in New York City (and I’ll tell you – with the snow storms recently that IS a challenge), balancing my home life with my family and some of the other projects I am working on, I have approached the Wallingford Democrat Town Committee and the chairman regarding my desire to run for Town Council this November.

The committee has to still decide who that are going to nominate – there are three councilors present that I expect will be seeking the committee’s nomination and there are others that are still coming forward with their interest in running for Town Council and Board of Education but I did send along my letter of intent to seek the domination of the committee. (I am the district leader of District 4).

With that being said, I want to clarify a couple of points way in advance of any rhetoric that might rear its ugly head.

As far as my efforts go with the Wallingford Fireworks Fund and anything that happens to get spun up with regard to action on a playscape for Kendrick Park – those things are totally separate and non-political at least as far as I am concerned and I intend to keep it that way. In fact, it is my intention to not begin any real campaigning of any type until AFTER July 4th so that should at least address the Wallingford Fireworks Fund part of the equation.

If that should become political (and I am not necessarily expecting it to but you never know) it would be from any opponents bringing it up and not me – I am saying that here and now.

As far as Kendrick Park goes, as I had stated in prior discussions and newspaper articles “ “I know the ropes to help somebody, but I can’t lead it,” Zandri said.”

I have a number of issues I am going to be running on as part of my campaign platform but as I mentioned above, it is my intention to not begin any campaigning of any type until AFTER July 4th so I do plan to wait until after that date to list them or discuss them in any detail.

The sole purpose with communicating even this much information now is because the details are “leaking” and the nominations will probably occur sometime in March or April and the news will be out at that time anyway.

I also expect that upon receiving a nomination from the party that I would no longer be able to write my semi-monthly FROM WALLINGFORD column in the Record Journal so this also serves as a notice of sorts for that as well. I know many people enjoy reading my contributions to the paper there but if everything falls into place I would be expecting to have to let that go as well.

I’ll always be on the blog so you can read my input here and on Facebook as well.

As I make my comments to all of “it’s your town; get informed and get involved” I mean that in as many ways as possible and I practice what I preach.

I’ve done as much as I can with the free time I have and from my current position as “resident of Wallingford.”

If the voters will have me as such come November, I will continue those efforts and more by taking it up a notch as “Town Councilor”.

In the meantime, I will see you around town and on the Internet.

Thank you everyone for the encouragement and support.

Follow up from “FROM WALLINGFORD - Be a neighbor: clear a hydrant”

With the most recent storm that dumped a few additional inches on the ground and the potential of more for this upcoming week I thought it made sense to put my post back up.

FROM WALLINGFORD - Be a neighbor: clear a hydrant

If you can lend a hand, please – be proactive and clear your nearest fire hydrant.

FROM WALLINGFORD - Be a neighbor: clear a hydrant

As published in the Record Journal, Sunday January 16, 2011

by Jason Zandri

From Wallingford Fire Department IAFF Local 1326 on its Facebook page: “After the recent record breaking snow, most fire hydrants in town [are] covered with snow. The fire and water departments don’t have the resources to clear all the hydrants. Please take time out to clear the fire hydrants near your house. The time you spend now may save your life or your neighbor’s in [the] event of a fire. Don’t take the gamble; wintertime is the busiest time of the year for house fires.”

No one likes to clear more snow than they need to, especially in a winter like this one.

It takes just a few extra minutes to clear the fire hydrant on or near your property. I cleared the one on the corner down the road from my house after the last storm (one week ago) when I couldn’t even see it driving by. After Wednesday’s storm, if it’s still buried when I get home I’ll clear it again, as it is the closest one to my house. I know it’s there; the responding fire unit(s) may not. The last thing they need to be doing when responding to an emergency is to be searching to find a working source of water and then having to dig it out. Time is critical when battling a fire; spending time doing these tasks during a fire emergency adds to risk of injury or the possible loss of life.

We can have the discussion about whether or not this is already budgeted into the departments’ costs to clear all the hydrants in town after each storm or whether we are or aren’t getting value out of our taxes paid to the town.

You can’t put a price on safety or insurance.

You pay for auto insurance in case you have an accident. You may pay for more coverage for uninsured motorists because you don’t want to run the risk of getting sued out of everything you own in the event something bad occurs.

The same is true for your renter’s or homeowner’s insurance; you pay for these things “just in case.”

It costs nothing except a little extra labor to clear the snow from that hydrant.

Let’s make a New Year’s Resolution that’s easy to keep and makes for a better town — let’s try to be better neighbors in 2011. Even if we already are good neighbors, let’s take it up a notch. If you have never put a lot of active thought into it then it’s a great time to start. Neighborly things still occur, (my neighbor around the corner pushed me out of the snow when I got stuck the other day), but they seem to occur with a lot less frequency these days.

Some people don’t bother to clear their sidewalks in the winter (despite the ordinance that they must). In the autumn there are some that don’t bother clearing and bagging the leaves in their yard. These folks either blow leaves to the curb loose, or worse, they do nothing and let them blow all over the neighborhood. People park their cars in their driveway to a degree where they stick all the way out to the street and block the main sidewalk. These are just some examples — all minor things with none that is really life threatening.

The inability to put out a fire for lack of water supply is the exception to those points above — it’s a major thing and could be life threatening to both victims of a fire and would-be rescuers.
If you haven’t already, be a good neighbor; put the paper down, head up the street, and clear that hydrant.

I hope it never needs to be used for an emergency in your neighborhood but if it does you’ll be glad you made the effort.

Activist’s workshop aims to inspire Hispanic youth

As Published in the Record Journal Saturday August 7, 2010

By Samaia Hernandez
Record-Journal staff
shernandez@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2266

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WALLINGFORD — His activism helped save the town’s annual fireworks celebration at the 11th hour, but can Jason Zandri inspire civic participation in Hispanic youth?

He gave it a try Friday at the Spanish Community of Wallingford, discussing topics such as voter turnout and grass-roots activism, like the kind that occurred during the debate over the town-owned Wooding-Caplan parcel.

Nearly 40 middle and high school students attended the lecture Friday as part of the Adelante America leadership program, which sponsors weekly educational lectures and activities for Hispanic youth in Wallingford. The program is sponsored by a grant from AT&T’s educational initiative and is administered through the League of United Latin American Citizens. It aims to help lower the high school dropout rate among Latino youth by exposing students to post secondary ideas and concepts.

The program, hosted by SCOW, is set to end in August. Maria F. Harlow, the agency’s director, is hoping to gain funding for next year to keep it going yearlong.

“It’s supposed to be for the kids that are at risk,” Harlow said, “But we have many kids who are motivated already. ... We’re looking for role models to bring here to talk to them and inspire them about what to do with their lives.”

Zandri’s visit is also a way of leading by example.

He gave a presentation on technology to the group last month, but was originally connected with the agency after hearing about its renovation under Harlow, who took over this year after serving as chairwoman of the board.

“He sent an e-mail and said, ‘How can I help?’ ” Harlow said.

Zandri, a senior technology account manager for Microsoft, put his expertise to work and upgraded all 12 computers at the center. He also unlocked a blocked computer and fixed a wireless router thought to be permanently broken.

“Now people can come to the center. If they have their own computer, they can connect on a laptop,” Zandri said.

Friday, however, was focused on community involvement, one of Zandri’s passions outside of work. “I take issue with a lack of civic involvement,” he said. Valencia Mendoza, 16, a Wallingford resident and Wilcox Technical High School junior, said this summer’s program is much more entertaining that last year’s, which was halted halfway into the summer due to lack of participation.

“This year is better. We’ve been going on field trips a lot,” Mendoza said. Meeting people in the community including engineers and members of the armed services has piqued her interest the most.

“Now I know that there’s so much more out there,” she said.