Local Leaders: Litchfield’s Denise Raap
The Goshen News will be profiling leaders throughout Northwestern Connecticut. In a recent interview, Litchfield 1st Selectman Denise Raap reflected on her tenure to date, highlighting what she sees as significant accomplishments and the challenges that lie ahead.
Denise Raap takes pride in expanding services for Litchfield's seniors and disabled residents. “We’ve expanded our social services to the seniors and disabled in this town by offering bus service and car service to make sure they are engaged in our community so that they can attend our local park and rec events,” she explained. Under her leadership, Litchfield increased its support for CHORE, a nonprofit organization helping seniors and disabled residents with household chores. “…that’s a service that allows our seniors and disabled to live in their homes with dignity,” Raap said.
Maintaining and improving town buildings has been a consistent focus. “Each year we are committed to doing a capital project and we’ve done things like the roof, bathrooms, flooring, a more efficient heating and cooling system. And this year we’ll be doing the windows,” Raap shared. She also highlighted the work of the facilities review committee, which is exploring new uses for underutilized buildings, including the potential for more market (value) and affordable housing.
Raap says she has prioritized making local government more accessible and transparent. “We’ve added a social media presence, which didn’t exist here before. We’ve added a newsletter which never existed before. We’ve also automated services that allow people to access things like building permits 24/7, which was never allowed before,” she said. These changes remove barriers for those who work during typical Town Hall hours. One of Raap’s major goals has been improving road safety. “I’ve been working with the DOT for four years. They are currently working on a plan for Litchfield to make our roads safer, …which is something I’m committed to,” Raap emphasized. She supports the installation of speed cameras in school zones and at high-crash intersections, noting, “If we can slow traffic down in that area, …we can, I think, alleviate a lot of those crashes...”
Looking forward, Raap identifies the most pressing challenge: “For sure it’s going to be the cost of education and Region 20. The merger has taken up a lot of my time because of cost of employees, rising cost of health insurance, rising obligation and cost of special education,” she said. She is committed to fiscal responsibility, stating, “We are going to be putting together an ad hoc committee to oversee how they’re spending money...because we are so acutely aware that the taxpayers can only handle so much of an increase.” Raap stressed the importance of responsible school budgets to maintain educational standards. “We’ve got to pass a proper budget that makes sure our quality of education does not diminish, because that’s why people move here… Because of the quality of education. Raap’s personal connection to Litchfield’s schools is evident: “I moved back here in ‘99...when my kids were born. I knew I wanted to have a school system that was excellent and at that point, Litchfield was a blue-ribbon school, and that’s why we decided to move back from where my husband grew up
