2023 Glastonbury Election: Larry Niland, Town Council

GLASTONBURY, CT — Larry Niland is running for a seat on the Glastonbury Town Council in the November election.

Name

Larry Niland

How old will you be as of Election Day?

60

Does your campaign have a website? If so, include the URL here.

https://www.glastonburydems.co...

What city or town do you live in?

Glastonbury

What office are you seeking?

Town Council

If you are running in a district, you can specify the district here.

Please give us your party affiliation.

Democrat

Education.

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Penn State Univ

What is your occupation?

Infrastructure Engineer

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.

Wife - Nicole
Son - Jack (19), Sophomore @ University of New England
Son - Alex (16), Junior @ Glastonbury High School

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

Wife, Nicole is a teacher in West Hartford
I am employed by the City of Middletown in the PD doing IT work

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?

Yes, Glastonbury Town Council - 3 terms (6 years) as Councilor, Majority Leader, and currently Vice Chairman

Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your reasons for running and your general views on politics and government. First, why are you seeking this office?

I wish to continue to maintain the thoughtful, respectful, and responsible governance of our town that we have cultivated during my tenure. We have managed to provide services for all of our residents while providing lower spending and tax increases than our predecessors. Along with my colleagues, I have fought to maintain the New England charm of our town, purchase open space, and provide housing that is affordable to all of our residents. We have also worked to protect our schools and our students without giving the school system a blank check.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is \_\_\_, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Maintaining an affordable tax rate. Revaluation hit many of our residents hard, and while spending was up well under the rate of inflation, too many of our residents faced significantly higher tax bills - mostly due to the tax burden being shifted from our commercial buildings and onto our residents. I am among those people, and I want to keep my taxes as low as possible also. We are ever mindful of this when we discuss our budgets. We are currently working on creative ways to keep our budgets and our tax rate as low as possible over the next few years, including working with how best to use our current surplus (generated through better than expected investment returns by the Town) to offset difficult inflationary pressures.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

All of the candidates from both parties care deeply about our town. While the majority of the things we do, we achieve on a bi-partisan basis, we can and do disagree on occasion on how best to maintain one of the best communities in the state. Some areas where we have differed include is in protecting our schools - our colleagues have pushed for greater cuts to the school budget than recommended by the Board of Finance that would increase class sizes throughout our district, especially in the elementary schools. We have fought for aid to our farmers using ARPA funding, and some of our colleagues have made clear their opposition to this use of funding. We have also put forth aid to our small businesses in town, also using ARPA funding, and again our colleagues have pushed against this assistance. We have worked extremely hard to provide housing that is affordable to our workforce in town which will help us on our way to stop further 8-30g developments like the proposed Hebron Ave/Manchester Rd monstrosity. This was also met by significant opposition by our colleagues.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

Currently an incumbent

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

We need to finish the projects that we have begun - design guidelines for the downtown area, affordable workforce housing, purchase of open spaces, and several other projects, while at the same time working with the inevitable new situations that present themselves on an ongoing basis.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

My experience, leadership, and record on the Town Council over the past six years is something I look back on with pride. I enjoy having the honor of sitting out the Council, I respect the work that is before me, and I have worked tirelessly with all of our residents in mind when we make decisions.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

To be good, and do good, is the whole duty of man comprised in a few words. -Abigail Adams

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Serving Glastonbury has been an exceptional honor. I hope that you will consider allowing me to continue on the good path of being a responsible steward of our community.