Tolland Candidate Profile 2019: Bob Abbate, Town Council

TOLLAND, CT — Tolland's election season is at its peak, and there are plenty of contested races with candidates eager to represent their town in November's municipal election. Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns, and has been publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Bob Abbate is running for Town Council as a Republican.

Occupation:

Program Manager - Financial Industry - 26yrs

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office:

no

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

I believe pressing issues facing out town are the Crumbling foundations and the state reduction in educational funding. In both these cases I will work with our state elected officials to ensure these issues stay in the forefront of their agenda's. Tolland relies on citizens property taxes and if homes have issues with their foundations, the town will not be able to collect the all the revenue needed in order to support the BOE or town services. If elected I would like to work the on behalf of tolland residents along side our elected state officials on both sides of the aisle to work to ensure the monies are available to fix homes and find a way to address ECS funding deficit. What I would like to work on is a way to not reduce of ECS based because of our issues with crumbling foundations.

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

I am project manager by profession, I like to plan and discuss solutions. I believe those two skills will be critical for the serious discussions that lay ahead over the next two years for figuring out Tolland's future. I don't like to focus on differences, yes there are differences in campaign platforms, but what I want to solution for are ways to move forward together, Tolland residents are looking for solutions and action to their issues.

List other issues that define your campaign platform:

Transparency, discussions and problem solving.

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

26 yrs of managing large Financial projects, plus I have lived in Tolland for 15 years. I was Treasurer of Friends of Tolland's schools and President of Tolland Little league. I know families in this town who have crumbling foundations, I know families in town that want a strong school system but don't want additional tax burdens. You can't ignore one issue for the sake of others, these issues are not mutually exclusive, they to be addressed together in an overall plan.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...

Don't do anything half-fast. My dad gave me that advice a very long time as a young boy. I would like to think over that over the course of both my professional and personal life I have accomplished things to which I set my mind too.

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

I am an extrovert. I have no issues talking with anyone, I enjoy talking with people about any subject. What I enjoy most are the times when people open up and share life experiences about any subject. We all can learn more about each other through open, honest and transparent conversation.