Orange Candidate Profile: Mitch Goldblatt For Board Of Selectmen

ORANGE, CT — Election day in Orange is drawing closer, and to help residents make an informed decision on Nov. 5, Orange Patch asked candidates for various elected offices to answer questions about their campaigns and the issues in town.

To say Mitch Goldblatt has some public office experience would be an understatement. The 61-year-old has made serving the public a passion, whether in his current position as the Director of Human Resources for the Town of Guilford, to holding several elected and appointed posts on-and-off in Orange for nearly 40 years.

Those posts include:

• Board of Selectmen 2005-Current
• First Selectman 1999-2005
• Board of Selectmen 1993-1999
• Town Plan and Zoning Commission 1981-1993
• Town Constable 1979-1981
• Orange Recycling Committee, Chair
• Orange Inland Wetlands Commission, Chair
• Orange Pension Board
• Orange Bond Oversight Committee
• Case Memorial Library Building Committee, Chair
• Orange Fire House Building Committee, Chair

Goldblatt is married to wife, Abby, and they have a son, Carl, and a daughter, Shayna.

The single most pressing issue facing Orange is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The Town of Orange must face the fact that the Orange School District should be consolidated into the Amity K-12 School System to not only save significant tax dollars, but also to coordinate the curriculum of 4 school systems that are currently disjointed. We need to work with Bethany and Woodbridge administrations to make this happen before they abandon us and/or the State of Connecticut legislature forces regionalization in a way that would not be beneficial to our town or it's residents and students.

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

My support for an Amity K-12 System

My support for making Orange a Sustainable Community

List other issues that define your campaign platform:

Transparency in Government
Recycling as a town priority

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

26 years on the Board of Selectmen including 6 as First Selectman

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Cherish Every Day

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

I have lived in Orange for 60 years and I have enjoyed serving my community my entire life and see no reason to stop now.