First Selectman Kurt Miller announced Tuesday he has filed paperwork to seek a third term as the town’s top elected official.
“It has been my honor to serve the residents of Seymour for the last four years,” Miller said in a statement posted on his personal Facebook page.
His two-sentence announcement received 118 likes and 17 encouraging comments in under an hour.
One Facebook friend told him to fix Holbrook Road (it’s a $2 million repair job, the town is applying for federal funds to help, Miller said).
Miller, a Republican, was elected First Selectman in 2011, besting Democratic incumbent Paul Roy by about 350 votes.
He was re-elected in 2013, receiving 2,266 votes. He faced a challenge from write-in candidate Gary Bruce.
Miller has made stabilizing and strengthening Seymour’s finances a top priority.
To that end, Seymour received a bond rating upgrade last April, an indication of solid financial footing.
Under his leadership, the town created a 10-year strategic planning committee, a group whose purpose is to make sure sound financial practices become routine in town, regardless of who sits in the First Selectman’s chair.
Towns with solid bond ratings, low debt ratios and stable mill rates attract economic development, Miller said.
“Those things are not sexy, but our bond rating now is just below towns like Greenwich and Darien,” Miller said. “We’re saving residents money on long-term interest costs. Also, a fiscally strong town is going to attract more businesses. They are going to take a look at how the town is run and they are going to want to do business with Seymour.”
Miller also established a town Facebook page and revamped the town’s website, all in an effort to improve communication with residents.
The Democrats did not run a candidate in 2013.
However, Paul Roy, the chairman of the town’s Democratic Party and a current member of the Board of Selectmen, said his party is looking for a candidate.
An announcement could happen within the next four to six weeks, he said.
“We are talking to several people and we feel strongly that we’ll have a candidate,” Roy said.
Roy said he is not surprised Miller is seeking another term.
“He’s been fairly successful, he’s looking forward to it. Our whole Democratic Party expected him to run as well,” Roy said.
Right now there are two Democrats and five Republicans on the Board of Selectmen.
Miller said he would be happy to see the current crop re-elected, because they all work well together.
“When we disagree, it’s about the topic, not about the politics,” Miller said.
Rhetoric like in the above article contains mostly political buzz words one uses when seeking re-election. Comparing Seymour’s bond rating to that of Greenwich or Darien is much like comparing apples to oranges. If Mr. Miller finds it necessary to compare us with Greenwich, perhaps he should look at the revenue generation from commercial/industrial properties.
In all reality I, like most residents, have witnessed my property values decrease, my taxes increase, and our roadways crumple during Miller’s term. Tri-Town development is seemingly stagnant as it was four years ago, and the former Housatonic Wire and Seymour Lumber properties remain vacant un-developed eyesores in our “Down Town” area. Miller’s term has been characterized by debacles like the failed roadway chip sealing; a mere “Google search” would have revealed chip sealing is often problematic.
To move forward, we should thoroughly examine how Town business is conducted. The Strategic Planning Committee should be looking at outside and independent fiscal and efficiency audits and program effectiveness studies of all Town departments; furthermore, the budget development should resemble more of a performance based process. Additionally, we should examine further reaching spending, ethics, and nepotism policies. Only these changes can we reasonably ensure the prudent use of our tax dollars enabling us to invest towards improving the Town’s infrastructure and thereby nurturing business growth.
Just testing the commenting.
kyle’s not commenting
Bond ratings are used to provide evaluations of a bond issuer’s financial strength, or its ability to pay a bond’s principal and interest in a timely fashion. It’s a strong indicator of the overall financial health of a municipality, so Mr. Miller’s comparison is completely appropriate. Under his leadership the town’s bond rating was increased substantially.
Mr. Popik’s argument that a more appropriate comparison would be made by examining the “revenue generation from commercial/industrial properties” is inherently flawed given the geographical proximity of those towns to New York City. Seymour has no such advantage when attempting to attract commercial revenue streams, yet has earned a very strong bond rating due to sound fiscal decisions. If you take the time to research bond ratings throughout the State of Connecticut you’ll find that Seymour’s is located in the tier just below Greenwich and Darien. This isn’t rhetoric, it is fact.
With regard to the roadways, the town has leveraged its excellent bond rating to invest $5 million in paving the worst of these roads. The first phase began last fall to repair the faulty chip sealing job on Patton Avenue and the surrounding streets, and the second phase begins this spring.
The roads haven’t been repaved in over a decade, so to characterize the issue as one created by the current administration is disingenuous. Chip sealing has been used by most municipalities in Connecticut, including Seymour, for many years and is widely accepted as a legitimate option to extend the life of roads. Mr. Popik conveniently ignores the fact that most, if not all administrations prior to Mr. Miller’s have used this application to repair roads.
“Seymour has no such advantage when attempting to attract commercial revenue stream….” – really Len? Our location alone, being 15-20 minutes from both I-95 and I-84, not to mention Routes 8, 34, and 67, should make Seymour a very attractive option in both the New Haven and Fairfield County markets. Although granted we are not Greenwich, Mr. Greene, who willingly explains the “history of chip sealing,” completely and conveniently ignores that our business growth should be far greater than we have had in the last couple of years.
Nearby Shelton, with a mill rate of 22.31, is a perfect example of a success story. Without getting into a “principles of economic development” debate with Mr. Greene, Shelton’s success is very straightforward – true fiscal responsibility and effective/efficient town-wide management that stimulates business growth. A strong commercial base ultimately reduces the tax burden on the residential homeowner and increases property values. Unfortunately, I do not see these basic principles with many of Seymour’s elected and hired management officials. I did get firsthand experience with one of our Town department’s practices of budget administration; actually, “budget manipulation” would be a much better descriptive of what I witnessed.
If Len and Kurt really want to improve Seymour, they should probably re-read paragraph three of my first post. Perhaps then the folks of Seymour will be provided with some meaningful action rather than mere political re-election rhetoric.
I’m glad Mr. Popik brought up these points. With regard to his recommendations in the third paragraph that I apparently needed to “re-read”, I’m happy to say that several of his suggestions have already been taken into account in ongoing initiatives. Department efficiency, particularly operational efficiency, is something that I am absolutely committed to seeing in Seymour. This is why at my very first meeting as a member of the Board of Selectmen I proposed a performance management program, which is currently underway in the Public Works Department. Kurt has fully embraced the concept and is in the process of preparing an expansion to other departments in town. This will not only find efficiencies and “program effectiveness”, but also enhance the budget process to a more “performance based” style of budgeting as Mr. Popik recommended.
Independent fiscal audits are already conducted regularly. We have an ethics committee charged with enhancing ethics policies, so perhaps Mr. Popik has some specific proposals for that entity. I’m not sure what he means by “spending” policies, but this Administration has instituted strong “spending” policies that includes measures to reduce costs to the taxpayers. Mr. Popik also mentioned enhancing nepotism policies. As this Administration has never hired family or friends I’m not sure what he is concerned about. In fact, Mr. Miller created a Human Resources Department specifically to handle personnel matters such as hiring, so nepotism in Seymour is not a concern under this Administration.
As Mr. Popik mentioned, I have no interest in engaging in a principles of economic development debate in this venue, but I will say that Shelton is an excellent example of success. Mayor Lauretti has done an exceptional job attracting business to his city for over 20 years, leading to lower taxes and a strong base. Mr. Miller has not had nearly as much time to do this, but has made significant progress on this front in his short tenure as First Selectman. I didn’t “conveniently ignore” our business growth over the past few years, I strive for improvement. Luckily strong fiscal management policies, which elicit bond rating increases like those that we have had under Kurt’s leadership, will help us attract more private investment in our town. That takes time.
As anyone who knows me understands I am a fiscal conservative to my core, and my ultimate vision for Seymour is one with a strong economic base that offsets the need for high property taxes on residents. My voting record in the Connecticut General Assembly, the Seymour Board of Finance, and the Seymour Board of Selectmen reflects this. I teamed up with Kurt Miller because he shares my vision and is willing to do what it takes to make Seymour better. I fully support his candidacy and I’m looking forward to joining him on the campaign trail.
I must say that I do enjoy reading Mr. Greene’s speech-like and eloquently written posts, but at times I do feel that I am reading the script to a late night infomercial for an unwanted product. Mr. Greene can put any “spin on the ball” he wants, but for me the facts remain: my taxes have increased, the mill rate is at 34.04 and climbing, my property value has decreased, and commercial growth is poor. The vacant eyesores at Tri-Town Plaza, the former Housatonic Wire and Seymour Lumber properties should be thriving large businesses, but they are not. Sadly, if one wants to do any real shopping or dining, it is not happening in Seymour. How much more time is needed for meaningful progress? A former First Selectman was lambasted for Tri-Town after one term while Kurt has had two stagnant terms.
Spending and budget policies need to be enhanced and further reaching in Seymour. Mr. Greene has asked what I meant by “spending policies.” I refer to these policies as ones that control the way our generally incremental budget is managed. Overall, policies that create the best practices for greater accountability, more thought, scrutiny, and justification during the development and administration of the budget are needed. Also, greater attention and justification should be placed on the manner in which transfers are made during the fiscal year.
As for nepotism and cronyism, please remove the blinders Mr. Greene. I will say no more on this topic, as my intent here is not to embarrass anyone, but let it be known I have had a crystal clear view of Seymour Politics.
While I do not plan to continue this distracting and rhetorical debate with Mr. Greene, I will admit some gains have been made, but there is room for vast improvement. Change is often the catalyst for improvement, and change is exactly what the residents of Seymour need in order to move forward in a positive direction.