Newtown Candidate Profile: Philip Carroll Legislative Council

NEWTOWN, CT — The 2019 municipal election is heating up in Newtown and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office.

Newtown Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Philip Carroll is running for Legislative council as a Republican. He works as a motor vehicle license agent supervisor and is seeking a fifth term on the council.

Are you running for office in Newtown? Contact Rich Scinto at rich.scinto@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Newtown Patch.

The single most pressing issue facing our town/district is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Keeping Newtown affordable for all residents.

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

I have shown fiscal restraint with my voting regarding needs and wants.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:

Newtown always had a good school system blue ribbon at one point. Our test scores have fallen and our cost has risen. We have excellent teachers so we need to question how to get back to
the blue ribbon standard without driving up the cost that will hurt taxpayers. The roads are finally getting in better shape and there have been many improvement to the town that benefit the residents like the new community and senior centers, upgrades in the town parks, the new police
station, but we have to watch what is a need and what is a want so we do not push our debt too high.

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

I was on the ordinance committee when we past the gun ordinance for Newtown. In 2013, I went
to every town police department in our surrounding towns to check their regulations and brought that information back to our committee to help form our ordinance. we also had quite a large
public audience with gun right advocates, hunters ,sport shooters, and others to help us shape our ordinance to be as fair for all residents as possible. I also have been on the education budget sub-committee for the last few years as well as the municipal operation budget committee.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Make good choices and do no harm.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I talk to my neighbors and others about town issues to get a sense of what they think about issues so I can make better choices on how I will vote on a topic. I know Newtown is evolving and will to evolve more in the coming years. We need to stay focused so as not to go so far that the complete character of Newtown gets lost and we need to watch that we are not pushing some residents out because they cannot afford to stay here.