Ansonia needs effective leadership in City Hall. That is why I am endorsing 25-year business owner Dave Cassetti for mayor.
I have nothing personal against Mayor Della Volpe. He is a nice fellow who looks friendly enough in his campaign mailers. For me this race is not about who can smile the best. It is about substance. That’s what we desperately need in city hall.
I appreciate that Mayor Della Volpe when he talks about saving taxpayers’ money, but the reality is that Ansonia now has the ninth highest tax rate in the state! I also don’t understand how a candidate can boast about cutting costs when his city budget towers over those of surrounding towns (it’s up to $61 million, which is $10 million higher than Seymour and $20 million more than Derby).
Effective leadership does not need to make excuses. Yet that’s exactly what Mayor Della Volpe has been doing: blaming revaluation for Ansonia’s tax trouble. But every city goes through revaluation! It’s only Ansonia that is stuck with having the ninth highest mill rate in Connecticut.
There are also ways that Ansonia could have dealt with revaluation. Did you know that Ansonia had the option of phasing-in revaluation over five years? The state legislature gave towns that option just last year. A phase-in could have saved taxpayers a lot of pain. Not only was this option not pursued, I don’t even think the idea was publicly discussed once in city hall.
The Mayor also talks about success with education, but the Ansonia school system is ranked 165th out of 176 Connecticut school districts, despite the city’s $61 million budget. That does not sound like a success to me.
Finally, it is nice to see Mayor Dell talk about his plans for the future of economic development. But where were these plans 14 years ago? Anyone can go downtown and see acres and acres of empty factory space sitting idle.
Dave Cassetti is a breath of fresh air. I read his Game Plan for Ansonia, which is a 14 page layout of goals and solutions for Ansonia. I like the idea of having a Cost Cutting Commission to search for savings on a monthly basis. I like the idea of putting responsibility for setting the budget in the hands of elected officials, rather than an appointed board. The idea of creating a task force to develop factory space downtown is promising as well.
I know that the ship has sailed on phasing-in revaluation. However, Dave’s plan for state reimbursable senior tax relief seems very compassionate, and smart given the heavy impact taxes have on older residents.
I would say that this race is shaping up to be “smile vs. substance.” However, I think Dave has a pretty nice smile himself!
It is my hope that voters really look at their options this fall. We need effective leadership in Ansonia.
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