Ansonia voters overwhelmingly endorsed eight ballot questions asking them to approve up to $18 million in borrowing for various capital projects Tuesday.
Mayor David Cassetti said the voters made the right decisions.
“It’s definitely worthy,” he said of the planned spending. “It’s the smart way to go.”
Public officials spent months deliberating over how to present the proposals to voters, ultimately deciding to break the proposed borrowing into eight separate ballot questions totaling $18.3 million.
The proposed borrowing for a new police department — $12 million — made up about two thirds of the overall borrowing proposal.
Click here for a previous story about the police station.
Cassetti pitched the projects to about 60 voters at a “Mayor’s Night Out” event last month.
In the run-up to Tuesday’s vote the city’s Democratic party renewed criticisms they had made as officials deliberated the borrowing measure.
They said the city did not do enough to publicize their meetings about the spending proposal and hadn’t provided enough information about the proposal to build a new police department. The Dems also questioned the wisdom of borrowing money for so many projects, some of which could be paid for in other ways, they said.
A question-by-question breakdown is below.
Question 1: Board of Education $1,565,000
Yes: 3,806
No: 1,478
Question 2: Culture-Recreation $510,000
Yes: 4,159
No: 2,074
Question 3: Infrastructure $215,000
Yes: 3,859
No: 2,269
Question 4: Public Safety $1,035,000
Yes: 4,442
No: 1,754
Question 5: New Police Station $12,080,000
Yes: 4,086
No: 2,388
Question 6: Public Works $720,000
Yes: 4,481
No: 1,739
Question 7: Roads $1,015,000
Yes: 4,255
No: 1,725
Question 8: Vehicles $1,155,000
Yes: 4,429
No: 1,829
