2019 Municipal Vote: Champagne, Janowski Squaring Off In Vernon

VERNON, CT — It's an election showdown in 2019 between two longtime Vernon residents who are now veterans of the political scene.

Incumbent mayor Daniel Champagne is squaring off against Claire Janowski. Champagne was a police officer in Vernon from 1990 to 2012 and retired as a sergeant, In in 2013 he was elected mayor. In 2018, Champagne was voted in as state Senator for the 35th district. Janowski served as Vernon's state representative from 2001 to 2017. In addition to representing her Vernon constituency, she chaired the Executive & Legislative Nominations Committee and served on numerous legislative committees.

Here is Janowski's official campaign statement:

Claire Janowski has lived in the Vernon community for over 40 years. Her two children, Eric & David attended Vernon public schools, graduated Rockville High School. Both are graduates of Eastern Connecticut State University.

Claire holds a BA from Trinity College in Hartford and an Associate Degree from Manchester Community College where she was nominated the School’s Truman Scholar Nominee for her commitment to public service.

She has over 25 years of government service experience including the General Assembly, the Vernon Town Council and service on local Commissions and Boards. She knows how government works, what our town needs are and how vital it is to work with others to get things done. She values the importance of good communication to best promote our town. She will be a strong voice for Vernon and will give our town the full priority it deserves.

Claire served as Vernon’s State Representative at the CT General Assembly from 2001 – 2017 chairing the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee for six terms. She served eight consecutive terms and is the longest standing elected official to hold the Vernon’s 56th Assembly Seat. During her tenure she served on the Transportation, Higher Education & Workforce Development, General Law & Public Health Committees.

She was also appointed to represent Connecticut on the Transportation Committee of the National Conference of State Legislators and on the Economic Affairs Committee of the Eastern Regional Conference of State Governments.

Claire has focused on quality of life issues for Vernon seniors, children and families and has a proven record of bringing millions of dollars to Vernon for special projects, economic development, beautification and town infrastructure, including:

- $1.55 million for Rockville Public Library addition  $283,000 for Vernon Historical Society Museum addition

- $9.4 million rehab for Talcottville and Roosevelt Mills now back on the tax rolls

- $2.5 million Special Grant for school construction

- Increased state education funding

- $5.5 + million for River, Talcott, Phoenix St. bridges

- $1.6 + for roads and sidewalks

- $1.2 million for beautiful Council Chamber rehab

- $1.5 + million special funding for Rockville Hospital

- Saved Rental Rebate Program for Seniors & Disabled

- Saved local Dial-a-Ride Transportation Funding

- Safeguarded the Medicare Savings Program

- Elevated Veterans’ Committee to full “standing.”

- Worked to exempt Veteran Pensions from Income Tax Liability

As strong supporter of quality education, Claire also fought for special education funding and special grants to help struggling students reach peak learning performance. She fought for millions in state school construction aid enabling the addition of the new High School Auditorium and acquired a special grant to cover cost overruns at great savings to local taxpayers’.

She took numerous leadership roles on state-wide issues. In 2009 she succeeded in restoring all funding to the statewide Local Bridge Program saving towns millions in local projects. In 2011 she worked with both Democrats and Republicans to restore oversight by the Office of Health Care Access over hospital services. In 2013, she led the charge to stop the Electric Energy Auction assuring the state procured Standard Offer would continue, saving consumers from unrealistic spikes in electric fees.

Claire has been recognized with numerous awards and honors for her public service and advocacy for Children, Seniors, small businesses, consumers and education:

- Children’s Champion Award, CECA

- Friend of Transportation Award, (CACT) for Dial-a-Ride  AARP Leadership Award

- CWA “Patron of the People” Award  CEDF Microenterprise Business Award

- MCC Distinguished Alumni Award

The Italian-American Legislative Caucus Education Fund recently honored her for her public service and for promoting Language Arts in Italian Studies at Central CT State University and Trinity College.

Prior to her service at the General Assembly, Claire served seven years on the Vernon Town Council. She successfully fought to pursue a Youth Services Grant leading to the establishment of Vernon’s current Youth Services Bureau. She won incentives to promote Rockville’s downtown development including the establishment of the Main Street Program and served on the Rockville Downtown Association Board. She also chaired the Human service Commission for five years.

Prior to the council, she served on the Vernon Planning and Zoning Commission for seven years.

WHAT CLAIRE WILL DO AS MAYOR: Claire will give our town full attention and full priority – no distractions, no confusing priorities. The current Mayor who was elected State Senator last November represents 94,000 people and 13 towns as Senator and is doing that job in addition to being Mayor. Claire will give full attention to Vernon and be in Vernon full-time.

She DOES NOT and WILL NOT hold two elected positions at the same time. She believes the Mayor’s office should have a full voice and will put the needs of our residents first. Claire will give the crumbling foundations crisis local priority and establish a “Crumbling Foundations Outreach Unit” at Town Hall to support and help residents through the crisis.

She knows that more needs to be done locally to avoid the pitfalls of people walking away from their homes because of costly repairs or the structure may be too unsafe. She believes it is vital that the town be pro-active and be a “go to” place for guidance before and during the reconstruction process so people don’t walk away or abandon their properties causing huge tax revenue losses in the grand list.

Claire will request a new state traffic study to initiate the process for road safety improvements on Rt. 83 & Dart Hill Road. She believes the added curb cuts and increased density on Rt. 83 warrants a fresh look to make sure safety needs are met and resident concerns are addressed. She listened and is taking action.

Claire will champion economic development projects and seek State Enterprise Zones for Vernon to increase business growth, revitalize downtown and bring new revenue to save taxpayer dollars. She believes economic development is a year round effort and will actively promote our town’s many assets and lead in attracting new businesses to Vernon. She will seek State Enterprise Zone Benefits for Vernon to help revitalize downtown and move forward on a much needed parking facility in the area. She will pay attention and make sure we keep what we have and bring in what we need. She is dedicated to Vernon’s education needs and plans to reach out to schools and community groups to help in better communicating Vernon’s many assets including Vernon’s schools, trails, parks, recreation and community events.

Claire is dedicated to Vernon’s infrastructure needs and plans to re-energize the road improvements program she helped start years ago to include a systematic approach for sidewalk repairs. She will establish a plan for meeting our town’s infrastructure needs systematically and economically.

Here is an overview of the Champagne campaign:

Town of Vernon Mayor Dan Champagne has been Mayor for the past 6 years and previously served on the Vernon Town Council for 6 years (2005-2011). Mayor Champagne has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from UConn, A Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Eastern CT State
University and an Associate’s Degree from Manchester Community College.

Mayor Champagne Graduated from Rockville High School.

Mayor Champagne was in the CT Army National Guard from 1987–1992, worked as a Police Officer with the Vernon Police Department from 1990 until he retired in 2012 as a Police Sergeant. He served as the D.A.R.E. Officer and Officer Friendly for almost 10 years and was known by thousands of students as Officer Friendly or Officer Dan. Mayor Champagne was
awarded many awards as a police officer.

In 2013 Mayor Champagne was elected as Vernon’s mayor and has served for the past six years. Many of the accomplishments under Mayor Champagne are listed below:

- The net assessment went up over $68,000,000 bringing in almost $2,700,000 in new revenue. When current construction is finished the net assessment will increase
over $33,000,000.

- Vernon has the highest Bond Rating it can achieve.

- The Mayor’s Office applied for and received over $46
million dollars in State and Federal monies for different
projects (this does not include increased funding for the
schools).

- No tax increase for the current year (2019-2020) .

- This still includes funding for the road bond, sewer plant upgrades, new fire trucks, new sidewalks, proposed new Soccer/Lacrosse fields, upgrades at the various schools, etc.

- Over 95 % of all votes in the town council have been
unanimous with bi-partisan support.

-The Mayor and Superintendent, in agreement with the Town Council and Board of education, have created a shared services committee in an effort to combine services between the town and Board of Education to save taxpayers money.

- Parks and Trail expansions. New exercise park at Dart Hill park, Disc Golf at VCMS, trail expansions on the Hockanum River, trail expansion in downtown Rockville (Complete with two grants applied for and received by the Mayor’s office), 19 Grove Street cleaned up and being
turned into a park, added handicapped fishing at both Walkers Reservoir and Valley Falls, new dam and parking lot at Valley Falls Park, new parking lot and expanded parking at Legion Field, redesigned overlook at Henry Park, and more.

- New and expanded parking lots at Skinner Road School, Maple Street School, VCMS and Center Road School. New Roofs at VCMS, Skinner Road School, Maple Street School, Northeast School and parts of Rockville High School.

- Work on Talcott Mill and Loom City Lofts had stalled. The Mayor brought both to the table and put them both on track and work was finally completed.

- The Road Preservation Bond is coming to completion with over 90% of town owned roads having work done on them.

- The Mayor raised the amount of money the town paid to the library but this was not enough and due to financial need the Mayor recommended that the town take over the library. The Library Board agreed to this and the town has run the library for the last year. Currently the library
has expanded its hours, expanded the number of visitors, increased the number of library cards issued and has come in under budget. The town, to expand the parking at the library, purchased the property next door.

- The Senior Center continues growing as new members join (Current membership is about 2,450 members. The Gym and outdoor activities are getting close to opening. The kitchen is planning to open next month and offer meals at the Senior Center. Programs and trips also
continue to expand.

- The zoning enforcement officer continues to fight blight around town. Many properties have been cleaned up and those who don’t face stiff fines.

- Economic development continues to be a priority of the Town
of Vernon.

- Cost savings: Vernon invested in a solar farm and continues to save 15 % on electricity; the Street light conversion will be paid off this year resulting in a permanent savings of about $200,000 a year, Our fiber network continues to save the town of Vernon on our internet, phone and network charges. Vernon continues to save money on non-medical insurance and does so well with Risk Management that we received an award along with significant cost savings and a refund check of $30,653, medical insurance was negotiated down to a 1% reduction in costs. In another cost savings measure employees are no longer receiving paper paychecks but receive everything electronically.

- Computer systems in most departments have been upgraded which has increased the efficiency and productivity within these departments.

- The town is in the process of replacing aging fire trucks and updating the fire stations across town. The radio tower and communications building at Fox Hill has been upgraded and replaced. Currently two bridges, Main Street and Dart Hill Road, are in the process of being replaced.

- The crumbling foundation crisis has hit the Town of Vernon hard. The Mayor of Vernon is working hard to get those effected help. The Mayor has applied for and received Small Cities Grant funding of a regional crumbling concrete foundations testing grant. A consultant is part of this grant to help those affected with paperwork. The Mayor has also assigned the Social
Services Director to assist those looking for information on crumbling foundations. Mayor Champagne sits on the Captive Insurance Board as well.

- The Town of Vernon’s Website is being updated and should go live shortly making information sharing with the community easier. A shared Calendar will be used to
advertise all events in Vernon. Active projects; Finishing Citizens Block, opening a new
youth center in downtown Rockville, repointing and updating the Chapel at Grove Hill cemetery, finishing the park at 19 Grove Street, working on sports fields for our youth, and continuing to upgrade Vernon’s infrastructure. Continue the building updates, repairing of sidewalks, replacing aging parking lots, finishing those roads not included in the road
bond. Building of a dog park, and continue to look for ways to save money.

- In 2018 Mayor Dan Champagne was voted in as Senator for the 35th district and has served in this position since January 2019. Two other Senators also serve as the leaders in their communities and as Senators in CT.

Here are the council race lineups in order of appearance on the ballot:

Democrats:

• Jesse Schoolnik
• Rachel Stansel
• Julia Anderson
• Pauline A. Schaefer
• Thomas A. DiDio
• Ann Letendre
• Ann L. Bonney
• Maryann Levesque

Republicans

• Bill Campbell
• Steve Wakefield
• Laura B. Bush
• Steven Charles Peterson
• Julie Clay
• Jim Tedford
• Brian R. Motola
• Michael D. Wendus

See a complete sample ballot here.