Letter to the Editor of the Record Journal by Christopher Rourke

The following is a letter to the editor, published on Thursday November 17, 2011 as written by Christopher Rourke

Editor: In the referendum this past Monday, I could not help but notice in the days and weeks preceding it a huge temporary sign in front of what used to be the library saying “Vote No.”

My understanding is that the building is now owned by one of the people who would profit from the referendum being turned down by voters.

It was allowed to stand, even though a very similar sign was erected in the same spot a few years ago in reference to the Wooding-Caplan property referendum.

This sign was ordered torn down by Mayor Dickinson (citing town ordinance).

Is it just coincidence that the sign ordered torn down and the one allowed to stand is based on whether Mayor Dickinson agrees with what is on it, or not? I think so. Cronyism and the “good old boys” need to end in Wallingford!

Letter to the Editor of the Record Journal by Michael Gagne

The following is a letter to the editor, published on Thursday November 17, 2011 as written by Michael Gagne

Editor: In my travels in Wallingford the other day, I noticed a huge sign in front of the former library building currently owned by Fred Ulbrich. This sign urged voters to vote “no” on overturning the parking deal — a deal which I believe would financially benefit Ulbrich. The last time there was a referendum in town, it concerned the Wooding-Caplan deal. At that time there was also a sign posted on that site.

The sign was opposed to the mayor’s position on the deal. At that time, public works employees were sent there to take down that sign as it was erected on town property.

This time, Ulbrich’s sign was untouched and unquestioned. The only difference this time was that the sign was in support of the mayor’s position. It seems that there is a different set of standards, and you can ignore the town ordinances if you agree with the powers that be.

Letter to the Editor of the Record Journal by Chet Miller

The following is a letter to the editor, published on Thursday November 17, 2011 as written by Chet Miller the Republican Registrar of Voters in Wallingford.

Editor: The registrars of voters would like to thank all poll workers for their work on Election Day and also to those who also worked the referendum just six days later. For the benefit of those people upset that this could not be on the election ballot and saw none of the explanations elsewhere, here is the true explanation. State Statute 9-369a prevented its being on the ballot. A second polling place on the same day as election was not feasible because SS9-289 requires one privacy booth for every 250 voters eligible to vote at a poll, which we don’t have (they cost $175 to $200 each and we were 80 short).

We also were lacking space, trained and certified poll workers to staff the second poll, and lacked the required number of scanner machines to operate legally. The old machines could not be used due to SS9-240a.

While I was personally attacked and blamed for this, understand that there are two registrars who work together and must agree on all decisions. There was no “clandestine meeting” as charged. Our job is to administer elections to comply with the law. We do not set dates or decide arbitrarily who can and can’t vote. We follow the law and our town charter, even if it may sound silly to some. We work with the school system and Senior Center to minimize disruption of programs. We kept traffic out of the elementary schools, which were in session, for safety’s sake. It never was a matter of what was convenient for us, but what was economically prudent and what complied with the law.

If law allowed things to be eliminated, combined or staff reduced, it was done.

Consolidation of polls saved $14,000, offset by the cost of $5,100 for the notification postcard.

Original parking pact still in place - Any changes will require notice

As published in the Record Journal, Thursday November 17, 2011

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225

WALLINGFORD — The future of a parking lot off Center Street remains unclear after voters overturned the town’s decision to enter into a 30-year lease agreement with property owners to upgrade the lot in exchange for continued free public parking.

Town Attorney Janis Small said a year-to-year lease agreement to keep the lot behind the buildings on Simpson Court public in exchange for plowing and other maintenance from the town remains in place, and that only one property owner, John McGuire, has given the required one-year notice to quit the arrangement. For any of the other property owners to consider charging or limiting access, they would have to file similar notice.

McGuire , who owns two of the four buildings involved, filed his notice to quit in 2009. Shortly after that, he withdrew his notice orally, but not in writing. He has said he would consider restricting access to his lots and possibly charging for parking if the 30-year agreement fell through. He was not available for comment Wednesday.

But Ernest Frattini , treasurer of the Masonic Temple Corp. and one of three principal owners of the building that houses the Half Moon Cafe, said he doesn’t think charging for parking is feasible.

“You’d have to pay someone to work there, and it would hurt the businesses in the area,” he said.

Councilor John LeTourneau, a Republican who owns Wallingford Lamp and Shade on Center Street and supported the lease agreement, said that it’s possible a new lease could be negotiated.

“There are always alternatives,” he said. “It can be renegotiated, the term of the lease, the amount of the improvements.”

LeTourneau said that despite the outcome of the referendum Monday, he wasn’t afraid to re-enter negotiations with the property owners.

Craig Fishbein, a Republican councilor who opposed the lease agreement, said that future negotiations would require “all parties to come to the table.” Fishbein said he didn’t think it was fair for the town to foot the entire bill for repairs.

“I’d like to see fair, open and frank discussions,” he said.

Fishbein said there was still some anger over the referendum, and that he would “wait for the smoke to clear” before bringing up any alternatives for the lot.

Frattini, however, said he believes opponents of the council’s earlier decision would be against any spending by the town on the lot.

“No matter what we do, it’s still tax dollars being spent on private property,” he said. “How can we negotiate?”

But Robert Gross, the local resident who started the petition drive that forced Monday’s referendum, said he didn’t want to comment about any future lease agreements for the parking lot.

“It’s tough to speculate when it’s not on paper,” Gross said.

Gross said that any future lease agreements were something that the town and the property owners would have to work on.

The referendum, Gross said, simply puts the situation “back at square one.”

“That’s all it does,” he said.

Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said he felt the council’s lease agreement “had the best prospect of success.” The agreement overturned by the referendum was negotiated for nearly 10 years, he said.

While opponents of the lease agreement said the money could be spent to improve the Wooding-Caplan property and make a parking lot there, Dickinson said that does nothing to help the Simpson Court area.

“I don’t see Caplan-Wooding as replacing Simpson Court,” he said. “I don’t think one lot is adequate or convenient enough to be a solution for the loss of any parking.”

3rd Annual Wallingford Emergency Shelter FUNraising Banquet

Dear friends of the Shelter,

Since this time last year, the Shelter Board and various committees have been working non-stop toward making the dream of emergency housing for families a reality.

We are preparing to break ground this November on the Martin B. Rubin Family Center

Please consider joining us on November 18th for our third annual “fun” raising event at Zandri’s Stillwood Inn, located at 1074 South Colony Road from 6PM to 10PM

This year’s program will be more relaxed and casual and will include a wide variety of activities including a DJ for great music and dancing, fun and exciting games, a tea cup raffle and silent auction. And of course there is the full dinner at Zandri’s which is guaranteed to be great.

Tickets are $45.00 each.

Checks should be made out to Wallingford Emergency Shelter Inc.

Additional information is available online via http://www.wallingfordshelter.org

You can also email for more details to matt@wallingfordshelter.org

Townwide vote overturns Wallingford parking deal

Mayor sees ‘negative effect,’ with parking ‘not replaceable’

As originally published in the Record Journal, Tuesday November 15, 2011
By Robert Cyr
Record-Journal staff
rcyr@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

WALLINGFORD — Voters turned out in near-record numbers Monday night and overturned the Town Council’s controversial decision to enter into a 30-year lease with downtown property owners to upgrade their common parking lot behind Simpson Court in return for free parking.

The referendum, just six days after the municipal election, drew 6,888 voters, with 2,768 in favor of the lease and 4,120 against. To make the process binding, 20 percent, or 4,956 people, needed to vote. More than half that number had already voted by 1 p.m., with polls closing at 8 p.m.

The referendum drew almost 28 percent of the 24,780 registered voters in town; the Nov. 8 election drew 39.8 percent.

Supporters of the lease, including Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. and the owners of four buildings along North Main Street, fronting Simpson Court, considered the defeat a loss for Wallingford.

Dickinson said it was a major setback for economic development and he didn’t know what would be next for the parking lot or the continuation of free parking at the lot, which the public has used since 1961.

That year, the town entered into a year-to-year lease with the owners of the properties that stipulated that the town would maintain the lot. Five years ago, when owners said the town was not holding up its end of the agreement, the town began working on contract language that went into the current lease agreement: The town would spend up to $500,000 in set aside Electric Department revenues to repave and install lighting and landscaping at the lot between Church and Center streets, in return for continued free parking.

“There will be a decided negative effect and it will be difficult to move in any direction,” Dickinson said. “I know people have lots of other suggestions for use of the money, but if we should lose those parking places, that’s not replaceable by anything else.”

But lease opponents, including two members of the Town Council, said it was inappropriate to invest town money in private property. Robert Gross, a resident who has run unsuccessfully for the council, started a petition drive a day after the council’s decision, raising the 2,491 signatures needed to force a referendum.

Lease opponents have also said that the money should be used to repair the Wooding-Caplan property, a town-owned lot sitting vacant behind the Police Department and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on North Main Street, close to the shops on Simpson Court. The parcel has been a proposed site of a new police station.

At least one property owner threatened to pull out of the year-to-year lease if the 30year agreement were to be overturned. John McGuire, who owns two of the four buildings involved, has said he’d consider restricting access to his lots and possibly charging for parking. He was not available for comment Monday.

The opposing camps set up large gatherings on opposite sides of town Monday night to await the final count. Christopher Diorio, vice chairman of the Republican Town Committee and head of the political action committee supporting the lease, reserved the lounge of Michael’s Trattoria on Center Street.

Diorio was joined by several town councilors, including Jerry Farrell Jr. and John Le-Tourneau, who owns Wallingford Lamp and Shade, down the street from the restaurant. LeTourneau said he knew voter turnout had been high early in the day.

“I guess it was steady all day,” LeTourneau said.

Diorio said he was disappointed by the results but glad so many had shown up for the vote. He has spent the past several weeks trying to garner support for the leases and getting people to the polls, he said.

“The other side definitely got their vote out and the townspeople spoke,” he said. “Life’s going to go on, and the town of Wallingford will move forward. This will go on to the town government and property owners, and we’ll see what happens.”

Inside the bar and lounge of the Italian restaurant, local business owners — including some who were part of the lease agreement — talked of a vague future.

Fred Ulbrich is chairman of the board of Ulbrich Steel and owner of the former library building at 60 N. Main St., one of the four buildings with a lease agreement. He said he did not know what he would do with the 22 parking spaces allotted him in the nullified lease but said he would consider charging for parking. The leases outlined 130 parking spaces with 90 passes for the buildings’ owners to give to businesses and employees.

“If I have to charge, yes,” he said.

The town has had an easement through the parking lot to connect Church and Center streets since 1961, and that may have to change now, he said.

“There’s going to be a real push to take away that right-of-way. It served its purpose,” he said.

Across town, at the Gross residence on Long Hill Road, the street was packed with cars and a party was in full swing to celebrate the win. It isn’t the first time Gross has teamed up with Geno Zandri, owner of the Zandri’s Stillwood Inn, on a referendum.

The pair successfully petitioned and forced a referendum on the Wooding-Caplan property five years ago. And although they lost their push to have a local developer build in the lot, more than 7,000 people went to the polls, Gross said.

“I had anxiety going into today — you never know how the voter’s going to vote,” he said.

Zandri, chairman of the PAC that fought the leases, said he was glad the referendum was over.

“We put a lot of hard work into this, and we’re happy with the results,” he said.

Wallingford votes today on 30-year lease agreements

As published in the Record Journal, Monday November 14, 2011

By Robert Cyr
Record-Journal staff
rcyr@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

WALLINGFORD — As voters head to the polls today to decide whether or not to support the town’s 30-year lease agreements for a municipal parking area behind Simpson Court, groups that back either side of the issue will make their final push to sway residents to cast their ballots in favor of their viewpoint.

The Town Council in August approved the lease agreements, which say the town will supply up to $500,000 in upgrades and maintenance to the parking area owned by four building owners in exchange for municipal use of the lot. A successful petition drive forced today’s referendum.

The Simpson Court parking deal has been a hot-button issue since the council’s action, and signs from two political action committees far outnumbered campaign signs for candidates in last week’s municipal elections.

Republican Councilor Craig Fishbein, one of two councilors who voted against the lease, said he would be handing out leaflets to en­courage people to vote “yes,” which would repeal the lease agreements.

“I’ll be out there telling people what they need to know about this — there seems to be a lot of confusion,” he said.

Christopher Diorio, vice chairman of the Republican Town Committee and head of the political action committee Support Our Downtown, said more than 400 signs have gone up at homes and businesses and a staff of a half-dozen volunteers would spend the last days calling up registered voters. Support Our Downtown is in favor of the 30-year lease and improvements to the parking area. A final effort will be made today to hand out flyers at post offices and grocery stores, in addition to ads in local newspapers, Diorio said Friday.

“It’s certainly been a challenge because people are very confused, and they want to know why it’s not on Election Day, and they’re confused about the yes and no situation,” he said. “It’s less of a challenge than a process.”

A “No” vote keeps the leases in place.

Council members voted to hold the referendum on a separate day after the Republican Registrar of Voters Chester Miller told them it would be a strain on the voting system due to the limited number of ballot machines and minimum space needed.

VOTING LOCATIONS listed incorrectly in the Sunday Edition of the Record Journal

The polling locations as listed in the Sunday edition of the paper were incorrectly listed.

The proper locations can be found via http://wallingfordpolitico.blogspot.com/2011/11/wallingford-parking-lot-referendum.html and / or http://www.500kparkingdeal.com/html/voting_locations.html

WALLINGFORD NOTICE OF REFERENDUM

http://town.wallingford.ct.us/images/customer-files//RefPollPlaces111411.pdf

OFFICIAL BALLOT Referendum WALLINGFORD, Connecticut November 14, 2011

http://town.wallingford.ct.us/images/customer-files//RefBallot111411.pdf

Wallingford to hold referendum on lease agreements Monday

As published in the Record Journal, Sunday November 13, 2011

By Robert Cyr
Record-Journal staff
rcyr@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224

WALLINGFORD — A referendum on the lease agreements for a series of adjacent parking lots in the center of town is set for Monday, just five days after the municipal election.

In August, the Town Council agreed to enter into 30-year lease agreements with the owners of four commercial buildings along North Main Street. The leases stipulate that the town will spend up to a half-million dollars to repave and refurbish the parking area behind the buildings with the guarantee that the property will remain open for free municipal parking.

A group of residents collected enough signatures to force a referendum on repeal of the council resolution. While the signatures of only 10 percent of registered voters were needed to force Monday’s referendum, the Town Charter requires voter turnout of at least 20 percent for the referendum to be successful. On Election Day, 39.8 percent of registered voters went to the polls.

Two political action committees have formed over the issue — one supporting the lease agreements and one against the plan — and the opposing signs quickly became common throughout town. The town had been in a similar, year-to-year lease with property owners there since 1961.

Town Councilor Nicholas Economopoulos, a Democrat who opposes the deal, says it’s inappropriate to spend town money on private property and supports using eminent domain to secure a section of the parking area and void any lease agreements. It’s the latest idea in a cauldron of talk between residents.

“It’s a heck of a word and I don’t like to use it,” he said of eminent domain, “but if you’re just taking a piece of land and you’re going to use it for what it was used for in the first place, it’s not as bad.”

Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. and lease supporters have called the parking deal vital to the attractiveness and business health of the downtown area. The money for the improvements would come out of a fund given to the town by the Wallingford Electric Division every year for capital non-recurring projects.
One property owner in the lease, John McGuire, has said he would bar public parking if the referendum overturns the agreements. McGuire, who headed a push for the agreements after he said the town was not maintaining the lots properly, said the town is really spreading up to $500,000 over the years since 1961 until 30 years from now.

The lease stipulates that business owners will be able to give out up to 90 parking passes to their employees to use any of the planned 130 parking spaces for more than four hours. Public parking will be restricted to four hours.

Republican Town Councilor John LeTourneau, who owns Wallingford Lamp and Shade on Center Street, supports the lease agreements.

“We have to have a clean, vibrant, well-lit area to attract businesses,” he said. “How can we ever think of wooing a business when our downtown doesn’t look good? It’s our front yard.”

But Republican Town Councilor Craig Fishbein said last week that the money from the Electric Division should be put toward repairing the town-owned Wooding-Caplan property for use as a municipal parking lot.

Polling places for the referendum will be open Monday at the Lyman Hall High School Vo-Ag Center, Moran Middle School and the Wallingford Senior Center from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Wallingford Final election results as published in the Record Journal

Click on the image to enlarge

Thank you again for the support!

Wallingford Parking Lot Referendum November 14, 2011 VOTING LOCATIONS

Thank you

I wanted to thank everyone who came out to vote yesterday, first and foremost. Whether you supported me or not, you decided it was important enough to invest the time to come out and be part of the process.

And it is very important.

Beyond that, I want to thank everyone who offered their encouragement, support and who gave me their vote.

Those votes I received, unofficially 5,542 in all, landed me in the #2 spot within my party, just 29 votes behind #1 John Sullivan and and 5th overall.

Those votes were based entirely on faith and goodwill as I have no formal prior record of service to the Town of Wallingford.

Now that the campaigning is over, I will spend the next few weeks prior to being sworn in further preparing to take office and serve the town and all her people to the best of my ability – just as I had promised prior as part of my campaign.

My first pledge now formally as a Wallingford Town Councilor (elect) will be to work hard enough to earn each of those votes I received this past November 8th.

Thank you again.

2011 Election Results from Wallingford

Click on the image to enlarge.

Winners are highlighted in yellow.

Totals at this point are unconfirmed.

The unofficial counts from Democrat Headquarters

BOLD denotes the winner

MAYOR
Dickinson (R)    6,213
Testa (D)                  3,558

TOWN COUNCIL
DEMOCRAT
Sullivan              5,571
Hettrick                      4,095
Harwood                    4,878
Zandri                  5,542
Reynolds                    4,687
Eco                      5,370

REPUBLICAN
Fishbein             5,642
LeTourneau       5,728
Parisi                  5,809
Rascati               5,270
Cervoni              5,531
Laffin                  5,195

BOARD OF EDUCATION
DEMOCRAT
Cei                      5,632
Castelli               4,985
Reynolds           4,790
Leonardo                  4,304
Ford                           4,667
Votto                   5,277

REPUBLICAN
Bachand                    4,600
Miller                   5,094
Brooder              5,094
Mansfield            5,297
Mckay                  5,237
Marrone               5,065

 

Election totals are coming in…

I am at headquarters and collecting totals on the fly.

If the Record Journal has them first I’ll let you know.

You can check in there via http://www.myrecordjournal.com/election/2011/wallingford/

Record Journal Voter Guide - Wallingford polling places

As published in the Record Journal, Sunday October 30, 2011

WALLINGFORD — Here is the list of polling places for the Nov. 8 election.

District 1: Pond Hill School gym, 297 Pond Hill Road.
District 2: Stevens School gym, 18 Kondracki Lane.
District 3: Moses Y. Beach School gym, 340 N. Main St.
District 4: Dag Hammarskjold Middle School gym, 106 Pond Hill Road.
District 5: Cook Hill School gym, 57 Hall Road.
District 6: Parker Farms School cafeteria, 30 Parker Farms Road.
District 7: Yalesville School cafeteria, 415 Church St. (Route 68).
District 8: Senior Center, 38 Washington St.
District 9: Rock Hill School cafeteria, 911 Durham Road.

Voter information: (203) 294-2125

From the Editorial Page of the Record Journal: Vote with confidence

As published in the Record Journal on Election Day, Tuesday November 8, 2011

Voting is Democracy’s bedrock — a truly American activity which should not be taken for granted.

Elsewhere on this planet other societies don’t have it so well. In recent Arab Spring uprisings, thousands risked lives to demonstrate in favor of ballot-based elections, rather than further remain subjects beneath despotic leaders who abuse authority and employ violence to retain power. For centuries we have enjoyed what these modern protestors fight for. Today we can celebrate their efforts, and our first-world freedoms, by exercising one of a U.S. citizen’s most important rights — voting.

At last, Election Day has dawned. Local political clamor will soon yield to results. In copious political opinion letters to the Record-Journal, readers have expressed preferences for individual candidates and thoughts on pertinent issues in oft-times unequivocal terms. But mistake not the numerous political-letter- writers as enough interested individuals to decide an election. Every vote counts, and it is your responsibility — not someone else’s — to register your opinion.

As our country continues preparations for next year’s presidential race, municipal voting comes to have its own unique flavor in comparison. People familiar with one another in the same community get to express support, or lack thereof, for local candidates who are neighbors, and not TV personalities or names in a newspaper. It’s a chance for civic leaders to see what sits well with voters — issues and allegiances come into political alignment.

Campaign season is a long haul, and even though many candidates enjoy getting out and meeting people, it’s just possible some have rung enough doorbells by now. Nevertheless, let’s not forget that extensive efforts by political hopefuls and their supporters add impetus to the fullness of Election Day’s turnout and significance. Underscore this point: voting — it’s part of a great American tradition and the exercise of a powerful right in democracy — a freedom not to be wasted or squandered.

And before exercising such rights, residents should fulfill their responsibility to make informed, confident decisions. Do research. Learn not only about candidates as community members but also where they stand on important issues. For instance: in today’s entrenched fiscal stagnation, those running for municipal office have by now expounded personal financial and economic development policies of all sorts. Citizens should identify which proposed monetary measures they believe as best suited to propel more expeditious economic recovery, and vote accordingly.

In coming days, supportive signs will swiftly dwindle from front lawns and political ads will disappear from television air time. Election Day will fade into tomorrow. But the results — candidates authorized to take office, some replacing incumbents while others gaining additional terms — will last for two or more years. Thus, we hope that all voters participating in today’s election have done reasonable, if not thorough, homework. Make that vote count — know your mind. Vote with pride.

ELECTION DAY Locations to vote in Wallingford

District 1: Pond Hill School gym, 297 Pond Hill Road.
District 2: Stevens School gym, 18 Kondracki Lane.
District 3: Moses Y. Beach School gym, 340 N. Main St.
District 4: Dag Middle School gym, 106 Pond Hill Road.
District 5: Cook Hill School gym, 57 Hall Road.
District 6: Parker Farms School cafeteria, 30 Parker Farms Road.
District 7: Yalesville School cafeteria, 415 Church St. (Route 68).
District 8: Senior Center, 38 Washington St.
District 9: Rock Hill School cafeteria, 911 Durham Road.

If you need additional information:

Registrar of Voters

45 South Main Street, Room #211
(203) 294-2125

Registrars:
Samuel Carmody
Chester Miller

http://www.town.wallingford.ct.us/Content/Registrar_of_Voters.asp