You may have heard there’s a U.S. election Tuesday.
But did you know there are local decisions to be made in Ansonia, Derby, Seymour and Shelton?
No?
Well, if you look under ‘Extra, Extra,’ on our home page, you’ll see links to a ton of Election Day endorsement letters.
Scroll down the center of our home page, and you’ll see podcast interviews with six candidates for state office, a story on a recent debate, and a 60-minute podcast discussion of Derby charter revision. We hope you take a few minutes to click play and give the podcasts a listen.
Before running down the hyperlocal questions, let’s throw out some hyperlinks.
Not sure where to vote? CLICK THIS.
Encounter a problem at the polls? The Connecticut Election Day Hotline is 1 – 866-733‑2463 or, by email, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Want to look at a sample ballot? Click here.
OK, now back to the local questions you’ll see on your ballots.
— — -ANSONIA— — -
First up, by virtue of the alphabet, Ansonia.
If you live in Ansonia, you’ll notice eight questions on your ballot Tuesday that have to do with borrowing money.
The Ansonia ballot is packed with text, so it is probably worth taking a look at a sample ballot before heading to the polls. Click this link to read Ansonia’s sample ballot, as posted on the secretary of state’s website.
For more information about Ansonia’s borrowing, click this link for a story we published Oct. 4.
If you want to hear what your neighbors in Ansonia said about the issue, we recorded the public hearing on it. Click here to listen on Sound Cloud, a website that hosts audio recordings.
A good chunk of the borrowing in Ansonia is to be used for a new police station. Click here for a story about a tour the police chief recently hosted.
— — -DERBY— — -
Now to Derby, where voters are being asked to approve or reject two questions about to the Derby City Charter.
The City of Derby has an election section on the city website. Click here to check it out. On the city website, you’ll find information on the proposed revisions to the Derby City Charter, along with an official document explaining the proposed changes to the public. You can also download the explanatory text by clicking here.
The Valley Indy provided extensive coverage of the Derby Charter issues, especially question number two, which asks voters whether the “dual office holding” rule should be deleted.
A majority yes vote on question 2 means the “dual office holding” section of the Derby Charter would be deleted in its entirety, and would “eliminate the prohibition against dual office holding by a member of the Board of Aldermen.”
It would “eliminate the prohibition against City officials doing business with or being employed to do any work for the City of Derby unless the prohibition is waived by the unanimous vote of the Board of Aldermen.”
The Valley Indy hosted a roundtable discussion of question 2 last month with a former Alderman, three current Aldermen, and a member of the Charter Revision Commission. The discussion is embedded below.
In addition, the Valley Indy received three recent letters about Derby’s charter questions. They are posted under ‘Extra, Extra, on ValleyIndy.org.
Scroll down to keep reading.
— — -SEYMOUR, SHELTON— — -
Seymour and Shelton are also seeking voter approval to borrow money.
The Shelton ballot includes a question about borrowing $5 million for road repairs. Sample ballots are available on the Registrars’ website.
The Shelton Board of Aldermen voted to send the question to voters in August. A list of roads was not discussed at the meeting, according to minutes.
Up in Seymour, voters are being asked to say “yes” or “no” to borrowing $6 million to repair roads and some buildings. The Valley Indy published a detailed story on the borrowing on Oct. 27.
There are two questions on the Seymour ballot.
Click here to read the story. That same story has a sample ballot embedded.
The Valley Indy also talked to Seymour First Selectman Kurt Miller a few months back about the borrowing. The podcast episode is embedded below.
