Government

Election 2017: Republican Candidates for First Selectman Debate Cell Service, Outback

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Candidates seeking New Canaan Republicans’ endorsement at the July 18 caucus on Tuesday night debated a wide variety of issues facing the town—from how to improve cellular coverage to what to do with the former Outback Teen Center building and how to open the lines of communication within municipal government—during a lively Republican Town Committee-sponsored debate. Incumbent First Selectman Rob Mallozzi, who has announced his intention to run for a fourth term, is being challenged by Cristina A. Ross, a 26-year resident and Town Council member who works as a professional architect, and who previously spent 10 years on the Parks and Recreation Commission, and Kevin Moynihan, a 36-year resident and retired former attorney for Merrill Lynch who also currently serves on the Town Council. The candidates fielded a wide variety of questions from New Canaanite Editor Michael Dinan and New Canaan Advertiser Editor Greg Reilly, who served as co-moderators for the event. Billed as a “debate,” the 2.5-hour session—50 minutes of which was dedicated to the first selectman candidates—featured politically charged if limited direct interaction among those seeking the town’s highest elected office (the video will be available here very soon). On the topic of how to improve cell service in town, Ross said the communication between the town and the residents with regard to infrastructure—including cell towers—must be improved.

Government

RTC Announces Two Republican Debates Ahead of July 18 Caucus; First One Next Week

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The New Canaan Republican Town Committee on Monday announced that the organization is sponsoring a pair of debates ahead of the party’s July 18 caucus—a widely anticipated day that will see candidates in three contested races seek party backing. Featuring all Republican candidates running in contested races for town government, the first debate is to be held at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, June 27 in the large meeting room at Town Hall, the RTC said in a press release. The second will be held July 12, also at Town Hall. Those running include:

First Selectman

Cristina A. Ross
Rob Mallozzi
Kevin Moynihan

Selectman

Christa Kenin
Nick Williams

Town Council (four seats open)

Roy Abramowitz
Tom Butterworth
John Engel
Mike Mauro
Richard Townsend
Penny Young

NewCanaanite.com and the New Canaan Advertiser are supporting the RTC debates. The debates will be broadcast by NCTV Channel 79, according to the RTC.

Government

Republican Cristina A. Ross Enters New Canaan First Selectman Race

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A third Republican on Monday threw her hat into the ring in what has become a highly competitive race to secure party backing for the town’s highest elected position. Cristina A. Ross, a New Canaan resident for 26 years, professional architect and Town Council member for two years who had spent 10 years on the Parks & Recreation Commission, announced her candidacy for first selectman during a press event at Town Hall. Saying her priority would be “strengthening the New Canaan community by establishing a framework for the delivery of services with full accountability and transparency as a method of doing business,” Ross said in a prepared statement that she would focus on boosting property sales by decking the parking lots at the Lumberyard and Talmadge Hill, controlling tax increases, bringing in natural gas and improving communications within town government. Asked about the last point specifically, Ross told NewCanaanite.com: “There is a lack of communication between the Board of Selectmen and town departments, whether that is the Town Council or P&Z and that has been voiced on different occasions by different people, that we are not included in some of the goals set and we hear about it when the time comes to vote on it and the decision is already made. Not being able to raise a voice and a concern and suggest alternatives is a detriment to the function of being a public official.”

She joins two fellow Republicans in seeking party backing at the July 18 caucus: First Selectman Rob Mallozzi announced in March that he will seek a fourth term in the office, and fellow town councilman Kevin Moyhihan on May 30 announced that he was running for first selectman.

Around Town

New Canaan Treasurer: Former Municipal Employees Retained ‘Login Access’ To Town Bank Accounts

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A number of town workers retained login access to town bank accounts even after their employment with the municipality had ended, New Canaan’s treasurer said Wednesday night. In working to ensure that town bank accounts are properly secured, Treasurer Andrew Brooks phoned banks to understand “who are the authorized approvers to move money from those accounts” and found that “a number of former employees, some of whom were very high up in the food chain of the town,” had not been moved from the accounts, he said during a regular meeting of New Canaan’s legislative body. “So I rectified the issue and got those former employees … removed from having any access potentially to those accounts and have their names scrubbed from the account, and I just did that exercise today,” Brooks told members of the Town Council during the group’s meeting, held at Town Hall. The extent of the problem is unknown to Brooks—there are town bank accounts to which he has no access, he said.

Government

Town Council To Take Up Vote on Creation of ‘Land Acquisition Fund’; 54 Signatures on Petition Seeking Quicker Decision

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The town’s legislative body is scheduled during its regular meeting Wednesday to take up a vote on the widely discussed question of whether New Canaan should establish a standing fund to tap for the acquisition of open space. Included on the Town Council’s Feb. 15 agenda (instead of next month’s) following the filing of a petition with 54 signatures, the “land acquisition fund” discussion had emerged during the group’s January meeting as a divisive topic among councilmen. Members of the Town Council on Jan. 18 voiced support generally for local open space preservation—in fact, the meeting itself saw the legislative body approve a special appropriation of $267,000 to help the New Canaan Land Trust acquire the Fowler property on Silvermine Road—but urged caution in setting up a fund without first establishing an updated, comprehensive plan to guide acquisitions that had received public input.