Seymour’s Paul Roy Looks For A Second Term

PHOTO: Tony SpinelliFirst Selectman Paul Roy said Seymour has a story to tell — and he wants another two years in office to be the guy who helps spread the word.

During a recent interview at his campaign headquarters on First Street, Roy was happy to come across as Seymour’s unofficial cheerleader.

The town is a good place to raise a family, Roy said — just look at the all the large events held each year, ranging from the Pumpkin Festival to Founder’s Day.

It’s also a good place to locate a business. Even in a rotten economy, new businesses have opened in town, ranging from an AutoZone to the Valley Burger Shack, the First Selectman said.

Roy said his first two years in office were spent being frugal and smart with taxpayer funds. Example — the town restructured its debt to save more than $1 million, Roy said.

FILE“When you think of the fact the economy is lousy, you have to think of other ways to save dollars,” Roy said.

Now the goal is to market Seymour to businesses that find Fairfield County too expensive.

Roy believes Seymour is poised to grow commercially because it is situated off Route 8 and Route 67, with train and bus access. And, most importantly, land in Seymour is less expensive than in Shelton, the town with a corporate and commercial tax base the rest of the Valley desires.

“Shelton has done very well, and maybe when people realize Shelton is more expensive than they want it to be, they’ll move out to the Seymour way, with businesses too. It might be a bounce-over effect,” said Roy, 62, a retired U.S. Postal Service employee who worked in Ansonia.

Tri-Town Plaza

Economic development is a key issue for Roy, and he hopes to keep it on track with the town’s new economic development director, Fred Messore.

One thing Roy wants Messore to focus on is Tri-Town Plaza — a shopping center on Derby Avenue with two vacant anchor stores. The fate of those empty storefronts become a campaign issue in Seymour each election. 

Roy said he never promised to fill the stores — but during his first term the town did work out a tax assessment issue with owner Ron Spector, of Nevada. 

The ball is now in Spector’s court, Roy said. 

“It’s a shame nothing’s been done in there, but I know our economic development director has been talking to Mr. Spector and hopefully something positive will come of that,” Roy said.

Roy cited other economic development movements as achievements of his administration. Among them: a new shopping center being built on the corner of North Street and Route 6 and a new shopping center at the site of the former Actor’s Colony on Route 34.

Town Purchases

Roy had to make a few tough decisions since he was elected in 2009.

One was to push for new equipment purchases, even after voters and the Board of Finance rejected the spending. 

The equipment purchases included a new communications console for the police department and a dump truck and payloader for the Public Works Department.

The items had been part of the Board of Selectman’s capital improvement plan earlier this year. But the Board of Finance removed the Public Works equipment from the plan and then voters rejected the police department equipment at a referendum in February. 

FILEHowever, Roy said three major storms over the summer, including Tropical Storm Irene, forced him to ask for a Town Meeting so the items could be reconsidered. Click here to read his guest column about the move.

Voters who came to the meeting approved spending the money.

“We need to keep going, getting these and other projects done,” Roy said.

The Race

Roy, who served on the Board of Selectmen before getting elected in 2009, is running for his second term in the top seat.

He faces Republican candidate Kurt Miller, a former chairman of the Board of Finance and current member of the Board of Selectmen, as well as petitioning candidate Jeanne Loda, a former Democratic member of the Board of Selectmen and current member of the Board of Education.

The Valley Indy asked Roy if the three-way race makes it tougher for the incumbent, especially since there are two Democrats in the race.

“You never know what the voters are going to do and I would never try to predict what the voters are going to do,” Roy said. ​“I go out and sell myself, and if they like me they’re going to vote for me.”

One person who said he is going to vote for Roy is Democrat Mike Horbal, a member of the Economic Development Commission.

“I think he’s a good person who has the best intention of Seymour in mind and I just think he’s doing a good job,” Horbal said.

Theresa Conroy, the former Democratic state representative from Seymour who is running for Board of Selectmen, is a Roy supporter as well.

Conroy said one of his top goals is economic development, and she believes Roy is putting the town on the right track.

“Paul is an approachable leader who has made strides in just a short time in office to work diligently to make improvements in our town,” Conory said in an email response.

Click here to view Roy’s campaign website. 

Click here to view Roy’s Facebook page, and click here to view Roy’s Twitter feed.

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