Wethersfield Republican Candidates Announced
WETHERSFIELD - The Republican slate for the coming Wethersfield Town Council elections will feature all of the current minority seat holders, with a couple of new faces as well.

       Incumbent councilors Stathis Manousos, Mike Hurley, Donna Hemmann and Mike Rell will be joined by current Board of Education member Charles Carey and newcomer Jodi Latina.

       On the Board side, Emerson Williams Elementary School PTO President Paul LaPerriere, former assistant town manager Diane Fitzpatrick, former Highcrest Elementary School PTO President Leslie Esoian, and Janet Oliveras Vasel, a volunteer with Wethersfield Safe Graduation.

       The lineup was announced at the Republican Town Committee caucus, held last Tuesday night in the Town Hall Council Chambers.

       â€"This is one of the best slates of candidates we’ve had in a long time,” said Republican Town Committee Chair Rich Roberts. â€"The opportunity is there if we work for it.”

       The Republicans are looking to regain the majority in a campaign that stresses responsible spending and the curbing of yearly property tax increases.

       â€"It’s not fun being in the minority,” Rell said. â€"I wish we could have been with these guys when they were the majority party. I’m hearing from a lot of residents that it was easier on their wallets.”

       But when the Democratic Caucus was held in the same room during the prior week, candidates on the majority party’s slate referred to this year’s 3.7 percent town budget increase as a result of, among other things, a compromise between the Council and Board of Education that allowed the district to pursue initiatives such as the new K-6 math program without an excessive jump in property taxes.

       For towns like Wethersfield, which struggle with overdevelopment and often-stagnant Grand Lists, the budget process typically involves striking a balance between maintaining services and not overburdening taxpayers in the absence or shortage of other sources of revenue.

       But the opposing parties will nevertheless disagree on how, or how well, that is done. During the budget process, Republican councilors said that they would have liked to dig deeper to find reduction areas, citing concerns from residents who say that they are becoming unable to afford to live in town.

       â€"Wethersfield is a great town, and we don’t want it to become unaffordable,” Manousos said in a press release put out by the Republican Town Committee.

       Board of Education candidates, some running for the first time, are looking toward the wave of education reform currently sweeping the country.

       â€"Knowing where education is going and how it starts at the local level, it’s really important to get involved,” LaPerriere said at the Caucus.

       Many of the town and board candidates are already involved in other aspects. Esoian, a town resident for 14 years, runs the local website Wethersfield Town Talk.

       â€"I’m passionate about education and trying to raise the bar for our kids,” she said. â€"I’m not afraid to speak up.”

       She says that she has a cross-party appeal.

       â€"You can vote for me if you’re a Democrat [or a Republican],” Esoian said. â€"It’s not about the party--it’s about the person.”
MORE WETHERSFIELD NEWS  |  STORY BY MARK DIPAOLA  |  Aug 10 2015  |  COMMENTS?