Newtown Election 2021 Profile: Debbie Aurelia Halstead

NEWTOWN, CT — Election Day is approaching fast, and a number of key positions in Newtown will be on the ballot.

To help readers make an informed decision on Nov. 2, Patch has reached out to local candidates to share their views on various topics of importance in town.

Patch will post these candidate profiles over the next couple of weeks, so check back often to see the latest.

Republican Debbie Aurelia Halstead, 56, is running for Town Clerk in Newtown.

Occupation: Town Clerk

Family:
I was born and raised in Newtown, graduated from Newtown High School in 1983.

My husband is Bill Halstead, former Fire Marshal for Newtown and currently the Chief of Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue for the past 43 years. We recently celebrated our 8th anniversary! Our blended family is blessed with 5 grown children, and 5 grandchildren! Our furry pets are Smokey the guinea pig and Buddy, a Chihuahua-Puggle mix who we rescued last year from the Newtown Animal Shelter.

Experience: Town Clerk

Family in government: My late father was elected to the Legislative Council District 1 for two terms, member Commission on aging for 5 yrs and an election worker for 8 yrs. My mother was the Republican Registrar of Voters for 12 yrs, and Deputy 5 yrs prior.

The single biggest issue in town is ______, and I plan to do this about it:

GOTV-Get Out The Vote.
I encourage our residents to visit the Town of Newtown's website at https://www.newtown-ct.gov/ and visit the Town Clerk's webpage and the Registrar of Voters for local voting information.

Critical differences between me and my opponents:

Over the past 16 years I have earned every accreditation available in my profession. I continue to use my experience, education and knowledge of daily operations and invested it back into our community by implementing better practices in cutting-edge technology, continuity operations planning, local government budgeting, and public relations and disaster recovery planning just to name a few.

Accomplishments:

Progress for Newtown while in office:
-Land records are scanned back to volume 132 and all 8, 000+ survey maps can be viewed and printed online. Since the pandemic, approximately $47, 000 in land record documents and maps have been purchased online.
-Online Dog registration.
-Fraud Alert registration for Land records.
-Historic Documents Preservation Program - I am always in the process of looking for ways to increase service to the residents and making my office more efficient without additional cost to the town. One way I do this, is annually applying to the Historic Preservation grant to update land records and to maintain and repair old vital records and upgrade software and hardware. Since in office, Newtown has been awarded over $100,000.

Other issues:

I have used my experience, education and knowledge of daily operations over the past 16 years and invested it back into our community by implementing better practices in cutting-edge technology, continuity operations planning, local government budgeting, and public relations and disaster recovery planning just to name a few.

What else would you like voters to know about you?

You may not know this but I have many titles:
Town Clerk, Registrar of Vital Statistics, Notary, Webmaster, and Election Official and Municipal Veterans Representative. To learn more about the many services the Town Clerk's offers please visit https://www.newtown-ct.gov/town-clerk