Blogs - The Election - What happened?

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Posted by: mjconroy

11/7/2007

Voter Turnout

Eligible Voters: 3751 Active Voters: 1778

That's a 48% turnout - identical to the 2005 election. Interesting...

Winners

First Selectman
Frank Chiaramonte (D)

Selectman
Sandra Davis (D)

Selectman
Andrew Kasznay, Jr (R)

Board of Finance
George Nashe (D)

Molly Whiton (D)

Margaret Arigoni (D)

Board of Assessment Appeals
Terrence Ferrarotti (R)

Planning Commission - 2007
Michael Orefice (R)

Planning Commission - 2008
Kathy Deprey (D)

Zoning Commission
Peter Brazaitis (D)

Zoning Commission - 2008
Nancy Laganga (D)

Zoning Alternate
Michael Conroy (R)

John DiCarlo (R)

Anne Marie Buonocore (D)

Zoning Board of Appeals - 2007
John Bigos, Jr (D)

Zoning Board of Appeals - 2008
Janet Duchaine (D)

So - what does this all mean?

Selectman's Run

NO change. Kasznay replaces Scarpelli as the token Republican on the Board of Selectman. Chiaramonte and Davis still rule the roost. In essence, the town voted for status quo. It could be that the town approves of what the current board is doing - or it could be they approve of what the board is NOT doing. Either way, the town has elected not to change horses.

Board of Finance

Nashe, Whiton, and Arigoni are all incumbents to the BOF. Once again, the town has voted for NO changes.

Board of Assessment Appeals

Ready? No change. Terry has served on this board for years. And he gets to do it again.

The Planning Commission

I don't actually know if either of the winners has served on the Planning Commission before. But I do note that Orefice, the 2007 winner is a Republican, while Deprey, the 2008 winner, is a Democrat. Although it's not always the case that Republicans and Democrats think differently, the fact is - it's a two-party system. So, Orefice's contribution may be negated by Deprey. Assessment - Harwinton has voted for no change.

The Zoning Commission

Both Republican and Democratic candidates were incumbents. Regardless of who won, the town was going to have little, if any, change. But, for 2008, we've added Laganga, a Democrat. In this instance, the town leans a bit more to the left - however, although Zoning Commission is partisan for election purposes, rules are rules and partisanship should play little role in what happens at Zoning meetings. So, despite Laganga's victory, I still contend there's effectively NO change.

Zoning Alternates

This one is interesting. Both Conroy and DiCarlo received the nod, along with the effectively incumbent Buonocore. So, the town has elected to stock the Zoning Commission with Democrats, while stocking 66% of the alternates with Republicans. Again, Zoning should not transact business in partisan fashion, so this probably makes no difference, although it's interesting.

Zoning Board of Appeals

So - the town has balanced out the election of the new Zoning and Alternate personnel, but both ZBA candidates are Democrats. One more time - Zoning shouldn't be partisan, so whether a Democrat or Republican sits on the board should make no difference - it's only the diligence and skill of the candidate that ought to mean something.

The Summation

Harwinton clearly sees no need to change. This is no shocker. The similarity in voter turnout from the past two elections clearly demonstrates 52% of the town could care less about who governs. The remaining voters who actually drove to the polls have voted for the status quo (effectively wasting more gas than those who didn't vote - whilst achieving the same net result). And why not? Two hot-button issues, the Mitral clean-up and the athletic fields, have been in the works for a long time - certainly surpassing the current administration's tenure. Regardless of who holds the Selectman seats, those projects have, and will continue to move forward. There have been no issues within the town to significantly sway voter opinion.

The Lessons

Their recent victories will probably bolster the confidence of Chiaramonte, Davis, and the other successful incumbents. However, given the voter turnout and relatively static results, they should not regard these results as anything but modest approval - Harwinton just doesn't think anyone is dropping the ball. As for our own party, we should be aware of the same - unseating an incumbent is difficult. Until a sitting candidate makes a mistake, or consistently fails to address the needs of his constituency, there's little hope in ousting them.

Regardless of the 52% apathy in town, there are 48% of voters out there who have cast their ballots and expressed interest. For those 48%, the elected officials must pledge to do right by them. An election is a powerful public forum. Those of us who volunteer to serve and be placed under the scrutiny of the electorate must strive to be true to principle and focused on the needs of the community, realizing that those with whom we serve will often subscribe to a different and sometimes conflicting ideology. As we look far ahead to the next election, we who would seek to change the demographics of town government must show Harwinton sound and compelling reason to do so. Anything less will result in deja vous in 2009.

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Re: The Election - What happened?

By Scott Ragaglia on 6/16/2008

As a Republican it is easy to see what happened. Quality candidates were elected over inferior candates. I supported who I felt were hard working and honorable people and so did the rest of the voters. Sadly, the quality and charater of Harwinton's Republican party is lacking. Their leadership is petty and malicious and so self focussed that they can't find harmonious ways to work with the Dem's to do what is right for the town. The committee has alienated their fellow Republicans, those who care more about the town then personal gain and party politics. As a result, Candace and her antics and under the table dealings were sounding rebuffed. The residents of the Town of Harwinton are decent people who care about the town and will not be easily manipulated by either party's candidate who lack compassion or character. For the record, the Chiaramonte/Davis Campaign team was made up of primarily of very bright and talented Republican's who were sickened by Candace's tactic's and the direction that the Harwinton Republican Party has taken over the past 5 years. Until that changes, there will be no changes.

Re: The Election - What happened?

By mjconroy on 6/16/2008

Talk about latency... I hadn't checked this post in a while.

I find myself once again prejudiced a bit by Mr. Ragaglia's writing style... It's full of spelling and grammar errors. Such mistakes used to be a sign of inadequate education, but having seen a lot of this lately, I suppose that can no longer be a reliable qualifier. Even some newly minted doctors with whom I've had the privilege to work have been grammatically challenged. Mr. Ragaglia is a VP, holds an MBA, a JD, and is a member of the CT bar. And he writes like a 10th grader. No offense, Mr. Ragaglia... but re-read your last post. Or just copy/paste it into MS Word and witness the Christmas tree of green and red wavy underlines.

But I digress...

AND I disagree with Sandra's husband.

While I would agree that the previous campaign tilted towards the negative more than I would have liked, to state that both Mrs. Jones-Pacholski and Mr. Kasznay lack compassion and/or character is to say you don't know them. I believe that both candidates truly have the best interests of the town at heart.

Consider - no one runs for these positions unless they *want* to serve. Or unless they are trying to build a resume. Many times, these political roles are thankless. Candace and Andy took the nominations because they believed they could do a good job. I strongly doubt either of them is trying to pad their resumes at this stage in life. I'm unsure of the other candidates.

That said - I don't discount that both Mr. Chiaramonte and Ms. Davis are doing their jobs. I believe this was a tough election year for Republicans because there has been a significant series of missteps, dishonesty, and just plain old graft occurring at all levels of government up to the White House. As Ricky would have said, "Our party has some 'splainin' to do." And we do.

Let's see how we all fare next election cycle when everyone drives up and sees the newly clear cut fields behind the town hall. I'm not happy with the new look... are you?

Re: The Election - What happened?

By Harwintontruth on 6/26/2008

Scott Ragaglia does have a bizarre sense of reality doesn't he?

The man married to Selectman Sandra Davis (elected as Democrat First Selectman Chiarmonte's running mate) is telling all why Harwinton Republicans did not fare well in November 07.

Surely, everyone will take his opinions as an unbiased truth, right?

In fact, while he IS a registered Republican, the local political party Ragaglia is aligned with in reality does not provide the opportunity for people to publicly discuss issues affecting Harwinton taxpayers on the Internet, as is provided here.

Most unfortunate.

His claims above have no basis in fact.

Anyone reading this has may wonder: "The Democrat Party of Harwinton was victorious in November 07, why would someone who supports them say such bitter, nasty things months after winning?"

The answer is simple: They cannot help themselves.

Rather than discuss issues and any positive things their candidates may have done or hope to do, they are negative, negative, negative and chose to attack and even lie about opposing candidates. It is a strategy designed to bully people away from public office in town.

This was demonstrated throughout the Fall of 2007 campaigns and town residents can expect the ongoing nasty letters to the editor from members of the Democrat Town Committee's "Letter Writing Gang' (LWG) to continue in the coming months.

The fact is Mr. Ragaglia, clearly a very bitter individual, needs other outlets to release his venom.

This blog is best used for constructively discussing issues important to all Harwinton residents, not as a forum to continue the negativism that he and his friends insist on using to poison the town and ensure only those aligned with them seek positions in local government. Maybe he can post such nastiness on the Democrat Town Committee blog....if there ever is one. Surely it would find a better reception there.

After all, if someone interested in serving on our town government read his post above and the many vicious letters from the LWG, it would clearly discourage, not encourage participation.

Harwinton deserves better.

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