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Sam Norman

Running for Town Council

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Party: Democrat

CEP Status:

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Age: 51

Marital Status: Married

Current Residence: Coventry

Current Job: School teacher

Previous Job:

Previous Job:

Education: Eastern Connecticut State University

Why are you running for this office?
I am very concerned about the direction the Republican-led town council is leading us. Lack of transparency, stalling of essential referendums, and the antagonism towards the board of education.
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)?
The lack of a budget has hamstrung this community. Blaming the state's failure to pass a budget just passes the buck and is going to hurt us. We need to pass a budget immediately or town can go bankrupt.
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?
As stated before, the town council must put a budget to referendum regardless of what the state does or does not do. The state has some responsibilities to the towns of CT, and I think that they will honor their commitments.
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?
Not necessarily a "town" tax, but rather a source of revenue for the state. The states surrounding CT all have tolls on their interstates. They now use automated devices to record the tolls. Why doesn't CT have this revenue source?
Are you in favor of regionalizing more services in conjunction with other nearby communities? If so, which ones?
Areas like transportation for the elderly and meals-on-wheels could be coordinated with other communities. Regional issues like the crumbling foundations crisis has begun to be regionalized, and fully support that initiative.
Should your school district get the same amount of education funding from the state if your district's enrollment is dropping?
Enrollment fluctuates from year to year, while other costs remain steady- physical plants must be maintained and heated. Often enrollment can change even during the school year. So yes, I do believe that in general educational funding should remain constant from year to year.
What's one thing most people don't know about you?
I am passionate about "going green". The house that I built won the 2010 CT Clean Energy Challenge award. My wife and I were the only private citizens that were up for the award. All others were from architectural firms.
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