Cristina A. Ross

Town Council Preempts Change to School Start Times in Divided Budget Vote

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The Town Council during an emotionally charged meeting Thursday voted 8-4 in favor of a spending plan for next fiscal year that effectively forestalls long-discussed changes to New Canaan Public Schools start times. The legislative body’s bipartisan vote in favor of an overall budget of $152.2 million represents an increase of just .19% over projected spending for the current fiscal year. Though the budget also includes a 2.5% year-over-year increase to district spending (exclusive of healthcare savings), it’s still about $1 million less than what the Board of Education had requested of the town funding bodies. The shortfall means the Board of Ed can’t pay for additional school buses and attendant staff needed to implement a proposed new start times schedule—a consequence that district leaders and some councilmen understood following discussions held in recent days, according to Town Council Chair John Engel. In voting in favor of the budget, Engel and others said they’re convinced that New Canaan adolescents should start school later, but added that the wide economic uncertainty due to COVID-19 means now is the wrong time to introduce significant new transportation costs.

Election 2019

Letter: Mike Mauro for Town Council

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In our era of populist tumult, New Canaan is the point furthest from.  We mostly supported Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton. We are not grabbing torches and pitchforks. Many of us don’t even own pitchforks. We are not about to storm the ramparts (but might consider adding ramparts to the next home renovation). When populists talk about “the people,” they don’t mean our people. When they refer to “workers,” they don’t mean you even if you’re knocking out 80 hours of work per week to make partner at Goldman. If next year’s winner is either Donald Trump or Elizabeth Warren, then whatever happens, next year’s loser is you. So this political moment is not of our making. While that is fine with me vis-á-vis what that will look like in the history books, it has its costs. Costs: no one cares about us and it shows when you look at government budgets. Our state suffers from a massive fiscal imbalance when it comes to revenues sent to DC versus spending returned. The new SaLT deduction cap (which was recently upheld in a failed Hail Mary lawsuit to get those deductions back) exacerbates this imbalance. Meanwhile, our county suffers from a massive fiscal imbalance when it comes to shoveling money to Hartford and getting back little but red tape, corruption, and excuses. We pull the wagon while subjected to endless criticism from those sitting in it. Much of what we get from DC and Hartford are beyond our control, but we can do something about how we manage our own affairs in New Canaan this year. It is time to freshen things up. Want to move beyond a lot of tired political debates that have bogged us down for years?  One solution is to elect younger leaders such as my friend Mike Mauro who is running for our Town Council. Mike’s young family is at the beginning of its life in New Canaan. He brings a fresh perspective on how to maintain New Canaan’s appeal to new families such as theirs. Town Council’s demographics should reflect our town’s and young families need representation. Mike is a bright, energetic, honorable leader. He also has a skill set that is perfect for the tasks at hand.

Podcast: Town Council Candidate Mike Mauro

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free weekly podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Mike Mauro, who is seeking re-election to New Canaan’s legislative body, the Town Council. Following last month’s caucuses, Mauro and his fellow Republican nominees—Steve Karl, Maria Naughton and Cristina A. Ross—are entering a contested race versus Democratic nominees Robin Bates-Mason, Colm Dobbyn and Mark Grzymski. This week’s podcast is sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, a favorite family dessert destination for New Canaanites. Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Anna Holbrook

Officials Approve Installation of ‘No Left Turn’ Signs on Nursery Road on Trial Basis

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Saying they feared the change could exacerbate safety concerns by pushing motor vehicle traffic near schools, town officials approved the installation of two temporary “no left turn” signs to ease congestion in a residential neighborhood during rush hour. Traffic on Nursery Road spikes to more than 300 vehicles between 8 and 9 a.m. on weekdays, officials have found—a result of New York City-bound motorists avoiding the congested Merritt Parkway. One proposed solution has been to prevent motorists traveling toward New Canaan along Marvin Ridge Road from turning left onto the top of Nursery Road in the mornings, as well as from turning left onto White Oak Shade Road from the bottom. 

Yet doing so likely would only push cut-through-seeking motorists deeper into New Canaan, including to Old Norwalk and Farm Roads, according to a traffic study from engineer Michael Galante of Frederick P. Clark Associates, a Fairfield-based planning consulting firm. Even so, members of the Police Commission during their Jan. 16 meeting approved the measure 3-0.

Government

Town Council To Consider Regulating Lawn Signs in Public Spaces

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With multiple political lawn signs crowding traffic islands, street-side grass verges and other conspicuous public areas throughout New Canaan, local officials say they’re eager to figure out whether and how the town may regulate them. With Election Day rapidly approaching, it’s probably too late this year to solve the problem of over-proliferating lawn signs, according to members of the Town Council Bylaws and Ordinances Committee. 

Yet some sort of public service announcement is in order, according to Committee Co-Chair Steve Karl. “There are a lot of people who have looked at the number of signs and say, ‘What happened?’ “ Karl said at the Committee’s special meeting, held Monday in Town Hall. “This particular election is so competitive that there are more signs out than normal. And a lot of the separate candidates have their own people coming to town sticking signs wherever they think there are high traffic areas—off the Parkway, rotaries, that type of thing.