WALLINGFORD — The final day to register to vote by mail is Oct. 23. Applications must be received by this date.
All registrations must be in person from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 24 through Oct. 30, in the registrars’ office, Room 211, Town Hall.
The office will have extended hours until 8 p.m. Oct. 30.
Visitors may enter the Town Hall after 5 p.m.by the automatic doors in the left rear of the building.
For assistance with absentee ballots, contact the town clerk’s office.
As published in the Record Journal Tuesday October 9, 2012
By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ
WALLINGFORD - Another well-known Democrat may be entering the 2013 race for mayor.
Town Councilor Jason Zandri is mulling whether he’ll join fellow Democratic Councilor Nick Economopoulos in the race to unseat longtime incumbent William W. Dickinson Jr.
After a Democratic Town Committee meeting Wednesday night, Zandri, 43, said he was considering a run but had not yet made a final decision, citing family, work and town committee considerations.
The committee does not officially endorse candidates until the summer before an election, according to town Democratic Chairman Vincent Avallone. Economopoulos announced his intent after the November 2011 town election and reaffirmed it recently to the Record-Journal.
Vincent Testa, who has run twice for mayor and lost, also said recently that he hadn’t decided if he will run again.
Economopoulos said Wednesday night that if his Democratic colleague runs, he would likely throw him his support. If not, he will probably stay in the race.
“I just want a true, transparent, fair government, that’s it. And I’ll support anybody who will run it that way,” Economopoulos said.
Avallone confirmed that he and Zandri had had a discussion about a potential run about a month ago, and the two talked about what it would take, including personal and other sacrifices.
“He’s certainly qualified, energetic and well-known … if he wants to do it,” Avallone said, but added that Zandri had not made a decision and that the committee doesn’t endorse any candidate until the summer. “He has not announced — he has not made a decision.”
Zandri was elected to the Town Council in November 2011, after an initial failed bid in 2007 as an independent. He followed in the footsteps of his father Geno, a 10-year town councilor. The elder Zandri made his own unsuccessful run for mayor in 1999.
The younger Zandri would provide a marked contrast to the incumbent mayor.
While Dickinson has not been a proponent of technology in Town Hall — allowing only a few town departments Internet access — Zandri works as a computer systems engineer at Bloomberg in New York City. A blogger, he is also active on Twitter and Facebook.
He is well known in town, having organized several high profile events through his family’s restaurant, Zandri’s Stillwood Inn, including a recent presidential debate party two weeks ago that got him an interview on CNN. Jason Zandri and fellow Town Councilor Craig Fishbein, a Republican, have also created a fund to pay for the town’s Fourth of July fireworks, since they have been cut from the town’s budget.
Dickinson said Wednesday night that, in the midst of the 2012 election season, the 2013 race for mayor is not yet on his radar.
“I try not to concentrate on that until I absolutely have to,” Dickinson said.
Zandri said whoever runs against Dickinson will likely have to start campaigning soon.
“When anybody’s going to run against an entrenched incumbent you have to start earlier,” Zandri said.
Zandri
Testa
Economopoulos
WALLINGFORD — The final day to register to vote by mail is Oct. 23. Applications must be received by this date.
All registrations must be in person from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 24 through Oct. 30, in the registrars’ office, Room 211, Town Hall.
The office will have extended hours until 8 p.m. Oct. 30.
Visitors may enter the Town Hall after 5 p.m.by the automatic doors in the left rear of the building.
For assistance with absentee ballots, contact the town clerk’s office.
Sixty votes in total. This is the sentiment of just those 60 respondents for whatever it is worth.
The majority of the respondents in this poll felt that if Wallingford is going to make any type of investment it should be as close to equal as the property owners
Obviously this is not a full representation of the wishes of the voters.
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.
There is no way to say just what the nearly 6,900 voters would want unless you could poll them all.
I do expect this issue to come up again so with that I will be trying to solicit the input of the voters and I will be reaching out to try to do that.
For those that would be willing to proactively reach out to me I can be reached at Jason@Zandri.net or by phone at 860 614 6069
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.
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
Just got a robo call recorded by the Mayor regarding the NO vote on the Parking Referendum for Monday; must be [THIS] close for the PAC to have to leverage the Mayor on this.
If this is such as great deal for the town and the property owners then the benefits AND the cost burden should be shared and NOT 100% input from the town's budgeted monies for the fiscal year.
Whatever happened to that fiscal conservativeness of the Mayor and the Republicans (who are the majority of the "NO" supporters)? I guess as long as the conservativeness is on the "little guy" only it works.
I support the YES vote but I encourage everyone to get the facts on their own and get out and vote.
Don't forget to vote! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wallingford-Parking-Lot-Referendum-November-14-2011/107225926053398
VOTE TODAY – TUESDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2011
About Vinnie Testa
Vinnie Testa for Mayor - http://videoalive.com/vinnietesta/
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Vinnie-Testa-for-Mayor/118934548181765
vtesta@comcast.net
Born in Wallingford; / Wallingford Public Schools;
B.S. Fairfield University;
1 son in college, 1 teaching in Washington, D.C.
Current Minority Leader, Wallingford Town Council
Wallingford Town Council – 8 years, 1 term as Vice-Chairman
Wallingford Board of Education – 8 years
Wallingford Wetlands Commission – 2 years
CCD Teacher and Lector Most Holy Trinity Church
Wallingford Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors
Child Guidance Clinic Board of Directors
Yalesville Little League Executive Board
Baseball, basketball, soccer coach, founding coach of Wallingford Lacrosse
Cub Scout Leader
Wallingford Dream Foundation (Founding member)
Wallingford Education Foundation
Golf Tournament Committee
Business Network International Development Ambassador
Modernizing Government
With 20 years experience in local government, Vinnie knows how we can save money by:
Leading Economic Development and Creating Jobs
Based on 25 years of success in corporate business development, Vinnie has a specific plan for bringing new businesses to Wallingford by:
Ensuring Public Safety
Providing a Great Education for Our Kids
Vinnie served on the Board of Education, helped develop the long-term strategic plan for our schools, and he teaches in the Wallingford school system. He understands the challenges we face in preparing our children for success in the 21st Century.
“I am proud of my service and commitment to our community. It would be an honor to serve you further as your mayor. It’s time we moved forward, together, to make this town we love an even better place to live and raise our families.
Sincerely,
Vinnie Testa
VOTE TODAY – TUESDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2011
Goals as your Town Councilor:
If elected, I will listen to town residents first before I make a decision and I will execute to the best of my ability the responsibilities of the office for the good of Wallingford and her citizens.
Background:
- Born and raised in Wallingford; attended Pond Hill Elementary, Moran Middle School and Mark T. Sheehan High School
- Married father of four children; two are in the public school system
- President of the Wallingford Fireworks Fund
- Auction Manager for Wallingford’s annual MDA Party for a Cure
- Information Technology Professional - Senior Systems Engineer with 13 years experience in the field; responsible for operational support, service management, and technical planning
- Avid writer, wrote the FROM WALLINGFORD column for the Record Journal for three years through spring of 2011
- Involved with the local political scene since the late 1980s
- District 4 leader, Wallingford Democratic Town Committee
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
As originally published in the Record Journal Sunday, September 27th, 2009
It was also cross posted to my personal blog – From the Mind of Jason Zandri
The item regarding the Charter Revision vote is out of date and no longer relevant but the rest of it as timely as it ever was.
According to some research I have done recently, in the 2008 Presidential election the number of Wallingford people registered to vote aged 18 to 30 that came out and voted was about 2,800.
For people aged 60 to 72 that number was a little more than 4,000.
Both age sets encompass a span of 12 years.
In 2008, 22,000 of the nearly 26,000 registered voters in Wallingford generated an 85 percent voter turnout rate.
In the 2007 local election the number of people aged 18 to 30 that came out to vote in Wallingford was about 500.
Of the nearly 4,200 people aged 18 to 30 that were registered to vote only 500 showed up—that is a paltry 12 percent.
For people aged 60 to 72 that number was about 2,800 out of 4,700 or 60 percent.
When we talk about the impact for better or worse of the largest voting block the discussion always focuses around the older folks but it is not just because they are larger in size (as they are so by only about 500 voters) but rather due to the fact that they show up in greater numbers. In order to get to 2,800 voters showing up in a voter block for the 2007 local election you have to include everyone aged 18 to 47 — a bracket of 29 years.
That is a total of 11,400 registered voters to yield the same 2,800 turnouts.
Let me say it again— you have to leverage 11,400 registered voters from the 18 to 47 demographic to get the same turn out number of people aged 60 to 72 where 2,800 out of 4,700 showed up.
2,800 people aged 60 to 72 out of 4,700 is 60 percent.
2,800 people aged 18 to 47 out of 11,400 is 25 percent.
I understand that the numbers in total drop below 50 percent for local elections; in 2007 voter turnout was 46 percent.
The reason for this is mainly due to the younger generation of people not showing up.
This is especially concerning tome as a parent of four little children. At 40 years old I am in with a group of people that seem not to be willing to take control of their own destiny for themselves or their families.
Say whatever you want about how you can’t change things, politics is all dirty and it caters only to this group or that group or whatever— it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy when you don’t show up to vote.
I feel that local elections impact you more than any other election you could participate in. All the voters are from Wallingford, there is no other election that you could have a greater impact on by just voting.
In a Presidential election you are casting your important vote among millions of others; in Wallingford it is one vote of about 12,000 or so.
Your locally elected officials directly affect everything from what you are charged in taxes by way of the budget and what allocations get handed off to support the schools that your children are attending and so on. They provide the platform and funding for or removing it from all the local services you may use.
There are many changes offered to the voters in the 2009 election from the incumbents that are running for office again to all the newcomers throwing their hats into the ring.
There are changes being proposed to the Town Charter. This document dictates the guidelines of how elected officials are to discharge their duties in service to you and the town and it is the first time any changes are being offered in 18 years.
You as a voter directly get your say as you get the opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” to each of the proposed changes.
Democracy at its best— all you need to do is show up.
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.
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
It’s not often that you get your chance to have your say, really have the opportunity to voice your mind and thoughts.
You do get an optimum chance on Election Day more so than any other time of the year.
There is no body of government that can affect you as much and that you have as much effect on as your municipal government.
Your municipal leaders regulate your ordinances, set the local budget for the town and the schools, as well as maintain and manage the tax base of the town.
If you voted in the federal election in 2008 you were one voice in 169 million registered. (About 133 million showed up to cast a vote).
86 million democrat - 55 million republican - 28 million others registered.
Of those voters there were 132,645,504 total voters out of an eligible voting age population of 212,702,354, which gives you a 62.4% participation rate.
For the elections held at the state level here in Connecticut as of 2010 the total number of registered voters is a hair over 2 million.
The largest group of registered voters in Connecticut is unaffiliated, accounting for 831,962 voters. There are 743,580 registered Democrats and 413,854 registered Republicans.
So when 73 percent of the state voters turnout, your voice is one in 1.46 million.
You as the voter in Wallingford during a municipal election are one of about 25,000 registered. During our last municipal election only 35.6 percent of the registered voters turned out.
Your voice there is one of about 8,900.
Where do you think your voice is the loudest?
Where do you think your voice is best heard among all the noise?
Wallingford is your town – get informed, get involved and VOTE on Tuesday November 8th
Let’s make 2011 the year of 50.1 percent turnout.
In 2009 the number dropped to 36% (and I have been telling people incorrectly 37%)
Vote November 8th
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has signed an executive order extending the registration deadline for the local elections to Monday, Nov. 7.
In his order, Malloy notes that the storm's aftermath has caused widespread transportation problems and forced many town halls to close.
The majority of the state's 169 cities and towns will hold municipal elections on Nov. 8
Age: 57
Address: 15 Blossom Lane.
Occupation: Chief financial officer and president, Ulbrich Stainless Steel & Special Metals Inc.
Education: B.S., business administration and accounting, Boston College.
Platform: Prepare students for 21st century challenges by developing critical thinking and math, science and communication skills; implement five-year strategic plan; oppose multi-year financial commitments that lack funding, without cutting services or compromising strategic plan; support pupil personnel programs; implement a state-of-the-art guidance and career planning program for all grade 6-12 students.
Misc.: Seeking third term after being appointed to board in 2006; chairs Curriculum/Instruction Committee; co-chair of School to Career Committee; board liaison and member Strategic Planning Committee; helped create high school financial planning course and internship program and reactivate Big Brothers-Big Sisters program; board member Ulbrich Boys and Girls Club, Blue Cross-Constitution Healthcare Division and Ulbrich Stainless Steel; United Way divisional chair; former youth basketball and baseball coach.
Address: 35 Lincoln Drive
Occupation: Computer systems administrator, Bloomberg LP
Education: Mark T. Sheehan High School
Platform: Raise new revenue sources for town beyond raising taxes; more efficient use of town capital and resources; proactive and strategic multi-year planning for town operations and growth; solicit input from residents and business professionals regarding town decisions.
Misc.: Helps lead annual fundraising for town's fireworks display as president of the non-profit Wallingford Fireworks Fund; ran unsuccessfully for council in 2007 as an independent.
Website: www.jasonzandri.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/gunderstone
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/gunderstone
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