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Melissa Kane
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Jim Marpe
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Kane (D)Westport is a wonderful place and it deserves effective leadership. The state is facing many challenges; we need proactive leaders prepared to protect what we value most. Status quo stewardship won’t work anymore. Economic stability / fiscal responsibility: We’ll build a robust commercial grand list – to keep taxes flat - with a sustainability plan that supports local businesses. We’ll fully support and advocate for our schools to keep attracting young families. Preservation of our character and values: We treasure and will better maintain the charm of our neighborhoods, our environment and our many town assets: Fix Compo’s too long neglected infrastructure and crowding problems. Preserve Saugatuck’s character-defining Cribari Bridge. Finally provide housing and options - not empty promises - for our seniors who built Westport. Traffic: It’s gotten much worse, but nothing’s being done. We’ll reconfigure our worst intersections - Rte. 33/Post Road and the Main/Easton/Weston Roads nightmare - and address numerous other dangerous Post Road intersections. It’s time for real action. Rob and I will roll up our sleeves to ensure Westport’s vibrant future. |
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Marpe (R)- Protecting Westport’s quality of life from the state’s fiscal crisis: Secure Westport’s financial future by continuing to practice fiscal discipline and responsible management. This allows us to protect our schools from budget cuts, keep our tax mill rate steady and still provide high quality services and improve our infrastructure and amenities. - Mitigating traffic congestion: I-95 and Merritt congestion, phone apps like Waze, narrow intersections and our Town’s success are contributing to increased traffic. Placing traffic officers at critical intersections, adjusting traffic light timing and working with the state to find data-driven solutions on state-controlled intersections and roads to address traffic issues . -Promoting Westport’s economic vitality: We must retain our existing businesses and attract new ones. We have made ongoing outreach efforts to our Town’s major employers to find opportunities to work together; celebrated over 100 business openings in the last 4 years; and are improving the quality of our major shopping areas. We are participating in Fairfield County Five, a new initiative aimed at attracting service, marketing and technology businesses. |
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Suggs (PC)I’m running as an Independent because I want our community to turn away from partisan politics and listen to one another. I’m also running because I want to implement common sense solutions to address our major challenges--school funding, traffic congestion, revitalizing downtown and preserving our quality of life. I’ve outlined my solutions in detail in weekly position papers available on my website and Facebook page. Here are my top three: (1) school funding—let’s share half of the town’s yearly pension reform savings with the schools (first year $350,000-$650,000); (2) traffic—let’s retime traffic lights at our worst intersections and save the Cribari Bridge, which prevents 18 wheelers from using our local roads; (3) let’s give all Westporters a say in our future— I’ll reinstate weekly brown bag lunches at Town Hall for everyone to discuss any issue they choose, I’ll start a walk-the-town program so I can visit you in your neighborhoods to learn what’s on your mind and I’ll forge relationships with neighborhood groups to be more responsive to neighborhood concerns. |
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Elgin (PC)Westport is facing yet another local crisis. We are losing our sense of security, and our local departments losing their pensions. In order for Westport to grow as well as maintain its deep roots we need to wake up and realize that the current parties are flawed. We need to restructure and reform our towns government, stop the increase in taxes, build efficient and cost effective sustainable energy structures. I am President at the National Institute of Science, we are currently working on a cleaner, and safer way to provide access to fresh water. I plan on bringing more business to the town and will ensure structuring third-party entities to create more wealth while also avoiding tax increases and budget cuts. We'll avoid over development but welcome sensible growth. I will work hard to make sure our schools stay safe, are well-funded for proper education. We will create initiatives for progressing the students to allow more opportunities for them to grow and develop. I am supported by the Libertarian Party of Connecticut. |