A Teenager's Viewpoint of the Republican Town Committee Debates: Part One

On Thursday, June 16, I attended the Republican Town Committee's in .  This debate was open to the general public and is available for viewing on Channel 79 every evening at 9 p.m. through this Wednesday evening according to James O'Hora, Chairman of the Republican Town Committee.  I encourage all of you to watch it and hear the debates before you cast your vote!

Gail Lavielle, State Representative from Wilton, served as the impartial moderator of the debate.  Ms. Lavielle posed three questions to candidates and who alternated in their responses.  The first question concerned current First Selectman Jeb Walker's comment that things "fell to the cracks" regarding prompt communication to the and members about the $650,000 arbitration award that the Town had to pay to its contractor for the Lakeview Avenue Bridge.  The next question concerned budgets and how far into the future do you plan for it?  Finally, the question asked concerned downtown New Canaan: What does each candidate think the people of New Canaan want to see happen in downtown?  Is it moving in that direction and what would each candidate do to make it happen?

In my opinion both Messers Giusti and Mallozzi gave dynamic speeches that would impact New Canaanites in different ways. Mr. Giusti's speech complimented what New Canaan has gained since earlier times such as New Canaan High School's gain from seventh position to firsst position in state ranking. He said that through hard effort we can maintain this educational position. In addition, Mr. Giusti felt that oversight was needed in our present government to prevent important issues from falling through the cracks.

Rob Mallozzi expressed dissatisfaction with the way the economy was impacting businesses in New Canaan. He felt that we had enough studies done and that we needed to act now. He was concerned about "machine politics" in our present government. He agreed with Mr. Giusti that oversight was important in our local government.

Running for Selectman are Nick Williams and John Engel. Three questions asked of each candidate concerned what area of responsibility would they like to be assigned to, what steps would each recommend to encourage seniors to remain in New Canaan or encourage all ages to choose New Canaan as a place to live, and what each envisioned doing to help merchants  to increase foot traffic and help store owners to improve their financial circumstances.

On the first question both candidates agreed that the downtown area needs revitalization.  On question two Mr. Engel spoke of his involvement as a founding member of while Mr. Williams agreed that nothing was more important than giving our seniors a place in our town such as the CCRC.  Finally, on question three Mr. Williams spoke of thinking "outside of the box" to help downtown merchants. Mr. Engel talked about his discussion with the First Selectman of Darien as a focal point of what was successful.  He mentioned private-public partnerships that in the past helped save the and .

At age 16, I am too young to vote in this election. However, I encourage all eligible young people to register to vote as soon as possible, to attend the next debate on Thursday, June 23 starting at 7:30, and to go out to vote. Just as RTC Chairman Mr. James O'Hora mentioned in his opening remark, all candidates are working towards a common goal to make this community the best it can be. I agree with this statement.  Now it is up to all of us to decide who we feel is the better candidate for the job.