Why are you running for this office?

I have lived in Wallingford all my life; it's a good town but it can be better. We have the capability and the talent to be a leading community rather than one that just carries the status quo.

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)?

Wallingford's most pressing issue, in my mind, is the delicate balance between costs of services and taxes. More and more people are relying on existing town services and in some cases needing to expand them, and then, there is that cost of paying for them. When taxes go up for other reasons, like loose cost estimates and / or careless spending (not looking for efficiencies, etc), the pressure goes on the people that are least likely to be able to afford it and that only increases the pressure for them to need the services in the first place.

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?

This requirement from the state allows Wallingford to keep the property taxes lower than they would otherwise be. We have little other choice here - it's either do without and the residents go without the services (when that's even an option), we could otherwise provide the services and then charge locally for them (local property taxes)

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?

This is just a shell game - revenue is generated either by taxing people directly, via property or sales taxes, of through fees. At the end of the day, municipalities are not revenue generators on their own; they are not businesses that sell wares, goods, or services - they can only get their money (mainly) through taxes

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

Yes. Any area community that wants to work cooperatively to our mutual benefits

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

No - it should be adjusted for the enrollment level

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

I'm a pretty public person - I am what I am and I am more or less "face value" with everyone. Maybe the best answer to this question is people don't realize that I am a writer (as a hobby) and that I have published six works of fiction.