Claudia Weber

‘We Are Swamped’: Town Clerk Sees Dramatic Increase in Absentee Ballots Issued for Nov. 2 Election

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A rapidly increasing number of New Canaan voters are requesting and filing absentee ballots for the municipal election, according to Town Clerk Claudia Weber. Asked about the activity since absentee voting opened Oct. 1, Weber said, “The first two weeks of the month it was very, very quiet and now all of the sudden it has picked up dramatically and we are swamped.”

As of midday Wednesday, a total of 546 absentee ballots had been issued, and Weber said she expects to issue more than 1,000 overall—a “much greater” number than in a regular local election year, she said. “In a normal municipal election, pre-COVID, we usually issued less than 200 absentee ballots,” Weber said. It’s unclear whether the high number is also a measure of overall interest in the election.

Claudia Weber

Election 2021 Republican Caucus: Town Clerk Candidate Claudia Weber

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New Canaan resident Claudia Weber is seeking the endorsement of the Republican Party for re-election for town clerk. We put some questions to the incumbent about her candidacy. Our exchange follows. New Canaanite: Tell us about yourself—how long have you lived in New Canaan, what have you been involved with here in town and what led to your decision to seek re-election? Claudia Weber: My parents moved here when I was just three years old, and I consider myself a lifelong New Canaanite.

Barbara Rucci

School Start Times: Referendum on Board of Ed Budget Fails [UPDATED]

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A referendum vote Wednesday that, had its petitioners succeeded, would have decreased Board of Education spending by about $460,000, failed to draw enough electors to carry, officials say. Just 1,914 total ballots were cast in a referendum vote designed to strip the school board of funds earmarked for costs associated with changes to school start times in New Canaan, according to Town Clerk Claudia Weber. 

For the effort to succeed, a total of 2,046 cast ballots—that’s 15% of the electorate in the latest registry list—needed to be marked “Yes” on following question (and needed to be a majority of those voting), according to Weber: “Shall the action taken by the Town Council at its March 31, 2021 meeting, which did not reduce the Board of Education budget by $463,337, be overruled and returned to the Board of Finance for reconsideration?”

Of those who did cast ballots, 808 voted “Yes” (including 58 absentees) while 1,106 voted “No” (including 38 absentees), according to Weber. The $460,000 figure largely reflects the amount of money needed for additional buses in order to introduce a new start times schedule that would take effect in the middle of the 2021-22 academic year. In it, all three elementary schools would start at 7:45 a.m., fifth and sixth grades at 9:30 a.m. and seventh through twelfth grades at 8:30 a.m.

Proponents have pointed to scientific data regarding the negative effects of a lack of sleep for adolescents. Opponents have said the planned changes will negatively affect elementary school kids.

Claudia Weber

Town Clerk: Signatures Obtained for Referendum Vote on Board of Ed Budget

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Those seeking to remove about $460,000 from the Board of Education’s budget for next fiscal year—the amount of money needed to bring about long-discussed changes to school start times—have obtained the necessary signatures on a petition to allow for a referendum vote on the funds, according to Town Clerk Claudia Weber. The Town Clerk’s office has verified the petitioners’ 682 signatures and now New Canaan’s legislative body must set a date for the referendum vote, Weber said in an email Tuesday to several officials, including the first selectman and representatives of the Town Council and Registrars of Voters. The date and time for voting must be set before June 6, and the Town Council must decide “if explanatory text is necessary,” Weber said in the email. “If the date is after May 20th, Covid will not be allowed as an excuse for an absentee ballot,” she said, referring to the date that Gov. Ned Lamont has set for the lifting of COVID-19-related executive orders in Connecticut. 

The petitioners are challenging the Town Council’s decision to reject a motion at its March 31 meeting. There, Councilmen Mike Mauro and Maria Naughton voted in favor of a motion to reduce the Board of Ed’s operating budget by $463,337 and Councilmen John Engel, Rich Townsend, Sven Englund, Steve Karl, Penny Young, Liz Donovan, Cristina A. Ross, Mark Grzymski, Tom Butterworth and Robin Bates-Mason voted against.

Board of Selectmen

Town Clerk: Moynihan’s Comments on Record-Keeping ‘Misleading’

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The town clerk is pushing back on characterizations that First Selectman Kevin Moynihan made last week in which he described her office as failing to digitize documents and records as other municipalities and town departments have. Moynihan during Thursday’s regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen said Town Clerk Claudia Weber “has not modernized” in a way that provides sufficient online access to records and that it’s been “a real hindrance” during the COVID-19 pandemic because it’s brought more people physically into Town Hall. Weber told NewCanaanite.com that officials had her muted during the meeting and so she was unable to respond to what she characterized as “misinformation.”

“The First Selectman’s comments were misleading,” Weber said in a statement issued after the meeting. “The New Canaan Town Clerk’s office has actually often been among the ‘first’ in terms of technology over the years.”

Weber’s statement continued, “Further, while the Land Record Index has been online for a long time, due to a previously made promise to our constituents, the actual images have not. Our residents wanted their privacy protected as much as possible.