I have had the opportunity to meet many Ridgefield candidates and elected officials over the past couple of years as I have worked with my neighbors to protect our neighborhood from inappropriate development. This has left me with observations on many and insights into some of our collective issues.
As we look at our issues, we have to look at who is responsible for them and who has the authority to address them. Over-development (which increases traffic) falls under the responsibility of the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) not the Selectmen. 8-30g housing is due to our state laws and must be fought on a state level. Such is the discussion on tolls as well. I believe it is misleading to say Rudy Marconi is to blame for these issues and Dick Moccia will fix them. At this point in time, P&Z needs to control development.
The goal of 8-30g regulations is good thing. The problem is it allows builders to avoid all zoning regulations. Our state congress representatives have not been able to get the law changed. It is nice if Mr. Moccia wants to be creative to get a change made, but it will take tremendous pressure on Hartford from many in order to do so – a First Selectman alone won’t make a difference.
In regard to our elected officials, I am not a fan of people involved in Real Estate and development involved in decisions that relate to land use. As you know, we have real estate agents and builders on P&Z (it will be 2 more years until their terms are up) and 2 Selectmen. These are people who can and will make good decisions at times but we must wonder where their perspective is compared to the rest of us residents. As much as some people like Steve Zemo, he is smart but was challenged by conflicts of interest and has more 8-30g's in our town than anyone else.
With P&Z, we have a chance to add some new blood that will be open to changing regulations to protect our quality of life. They may also be willing to reject an 8-30g if there are Health & Safety issues (the current Commission has not embraced that angle).
Below are my endorsements on a few positions.
First Selectmen (vote for 1):
Rudy Marconi - I have gotten to know Rudy the past couple of years. He is a good, honest man who truly cares about this town. He pushes for what he thinks is best for Ridgefield whether or not it is popular. He has integrity and tries to do what he thinks is right. We have to remember he is only 1 vote on the Board, however.
P&Z (vote for 4):
Susan Consentino - smart, knowledgeable on regulations, strong neighborhood supporter, a GREAT candidate
Ben Nneji - nice, intelligent, great guy who is a strong neighborhood supporter
Robert Hendrick - another nice and smart candidate who appreciates neighborhood issues
Dean Cohagan - gave strong, solid answers for interview questions
John Katz – I like John and appreciate all he has done on the Commission over the years but sometimes he’s the voice of reason and sometimes misses the boat - although he always tries to do what's best. My problem is he can be stubborn and closed-minded and completely against changing regulations to build in protections for residents. He is 100% in favor of flexibility given by loose regulations - the negative side of which is that it encourages inappropriate applications that we must then fight. This town has changed too much to say what worked 50 years ago will still work.
Inland Wetlands Board (4 year term - vote for 4):
There's 4 people for 4 positions – luckily, they are all great choices and should be thoughtful protecting our wetlands.
IWB (2 year term - vote for 3):
Kory Salomone - is an experienced land-use and zoning Attorney in Westchester; he understands the need to protect the wetlands and knows the regulations (and I hear he is nice as well)
Carson Fincham - was a civil and environmental engineer before he became an attorney and is on the ZBA (great background for this)
Tim Bishop - this is someone with the perfect background: Project Manager of GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., Commissioner on Conservation Commission, Chairman of Ridgefield Flood & Erosion Control Board
ZBA Alternate (5 year term - vote for 1):
Aaron Lockwood - Aaron is nice, smart and a neighborhood supporter
