CTNewsJunkie Voter Guide Profile for Barbara Ausiello

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Barbara Ausiello

Running for Town Council

3 CTNewsJunkie Reader Endorsements

Party: Democrat

CEP Status:

Website: http://avonctdems.org/ausiellotc/

Age: 45

Marital Status: Married

Current Residence: Avon

Current Job: Real Estate Salesperson

Previous Job: Managing Producer, The History Channel

Previous Job: Freelance Producer

Education: B.A. English Literature, Fairleigh Dickinson University

2017

Why are you running for this office?

I am running for Town Council because I believe I can make a difference in my community. I am a local Realtor and have two children in the schools. I have lived in Avon for 10 years and have been an active volunteer at my children's schools as well as with local charities. I believe my local knowledge as a Realtor coupled with my business background managing budgets and personnel have prepared me for this role.

What is the most pressing local issue facing your community and how would you solve it (within the capacity of the office for which you are running)?

Residents are concerned about how Avon will be affected by the continuing budget challenges at the state level. It is imperative that we protect our property values by maintaining the excellence of our schools, not by slashing our Board of Education budget. Instead, we should examine ways to reduce redundancies across all departments and Boards and consider more opportunities to regionalize/share some services and equipment within town, as well as with neighboring communities to realize savings.

With the state's ongoing budget crisis looming over the election, what are your plans for your community's budget? Is there anything you can do make your town less dependent on revenue from the state?

Thankfully our Democratic-led Board of Education anticipated the loss of state funding and budgeted accordingly. This is exactly the type of forethought that town leadership needs to have moving forward to protect our town from the impact of the ongoing fiscal challenges at the state level. Again, I believe we can do a better job of cutting expenses and realize savings by sharing services and equipment.

The legislature has been debating various ideas to allow towns to raise revenue locally through something other than property taxes. If you could ease your residents' property tax burden by adding another method of taxation, is there anything you might consider for your town?

I don't support additional taxes. We need to continue to keep our taxes reasonable to attract new residents as well as support our seniors with tax breaks. I believe that we need to do a better job attracting new business to Avon as well as exploring environmentally conscious solutions that could also save Avon money.

Should your school district get the same amount of education funding from the state if your district's enrollment is dropping?

Our residents are Connecticut residents and pay state taxes. Avon already receives much less than neighboring communities and our district deserves to receive state funding just as other municipalities do, without being penalized for being fiscally responsible.

What's one thing most people don't know about you?

I lived in France for half a year as a child and I speak German.

Are you in favor of regionalizing more services in conjunction with other nearby communities? If so, which ones?

Yes, I think there are opportunities to share equipment or build upon shared services like school nutrition or senior services with Farmington, Burlington, Simsbury and Canton that can help all of these municipalities face the fiscal challenges that lie ahead.