Litchfield First Selectman Candidates Interviews
Denise Raap
What inspired you to run again for this office? And what do you hope to accomplish if you're elected?
I decided to run again because I still have a passion for the Town of Litchfield. I love the town. And we have many projects that I started that, understandably, take a considerable amount of time, that I want to get to the finish line.
What professional, civic, or personal experiences have best prepared you for this position?
I served on Planning and Zoning for two years as an elected position. After [being] elected in 2017, I did take the job of potentially running for 1st Selectman very seriously. So what I did for those next two years is attended boards and commission meetings, so that I would have a deep understanding of what the town was doing and what I thought was needed, and how I could best prepare myself to take on the campaign in 2019. I think that was a very important measure to make sure that I just didn't take the position lightly and that I did all I could to understand how the town was running and how I thought it could run better.
What have you learned from observing and participating in various meetings, attending committee meetings, community discussions?
I think one of the things that I've learned, as opposed to being a small business owner, is it takes time, a process, and protocol in order to take an idea or vision and bring it to the finish line. And you need buy-in from the people that you represent and our Boards of Selectmen, Boards of Finance, and ultimately, at the town meeting, support there. So being patient, which is not one of always my greatest virtues, because I have an idea and I like to launch it, but understanding that your networks are critically important - who you know in the state. I think that's helped us significantly over the past six years in getting the amount of grants that we've gotten.
What are your top priorities and what are some of the top challenges?
Working with the DOT in trying to improve our roads for our pedestrians and our making them safer and more able to handle the amount of traffic now, compared to 200 years ago, when the roads were first put together.
In 2022, we put together the affordable housing plan for the Town of Litchfield, and I'd like to see [that] get to the finish line. I've been working closely with the Litchfield Housing Trust and Litchfield Housing Authority to support their initiatives for new housing. We have eight units going in where Wells Run is, and we also have about 12 units going on as an extension to the Gagarin Place. I'm also currently in a conversation with the State about acquiring the additional 19 acres that was originally earmarked for the courthouse, but now the state doesn't have a use for that property since it's deed restricted only for a courthouse, and see if perhaps a portion of that could be used for housing, a smaller portion of it, because we want to protect our open space as well. and our wildlife corridors.
And then lastly, we just approved a nine lot subdivision in Northfield.
Is there anything else that you'd like to share with voters?
I will say that since I've been elected, I have always had the best interests of our town residents in my mind. It's been actually my guiding principle when I make any decisions and when I bring anything forward. I want to make sure that our seniors and our disabled are taken care of, having lived here their whole lives, I want to make sure we support our schools. And I understand that Region 20 did have a rocky start, but we have a really good connection and relationship with that new school administration.
And I want to make sure we're supportive of students and the teachers because they're the backbone of our community. People think that once you get into politics, you're a politician. I don't see myself as a politician. I see myself more as a person who is able to open doors and let everybody have a voice. And when I can, and if I can, I will do all that I can to make sure that I help everybody who needs our help. I think that's something that maybe In politics, sometimes people don't realize you're a person, just trying to do the best you can for the people that live in town.
On speed cameras: So we'd like to actually bring that back after November because after the public hearing, I heard from many constituents that said they were supportive of speed cameras, although the attendees that went to that public hearing were not. I do think it's a tool that can be used in strategic areas like school crosswalks and areas that have a high rate of accidents like 118 and 254, and areas that have a high rate of speed, which I think is 254, that if we could at least introduce speed cameras, that it would help our town be a safer town for both vehicles and pedestrians, especially schoolchildren.
I think that's really important.
Bill Zampaglione
What inspired you to run for this office? And what do you hope to accomplish if you're elected?
Six years ago, my wife and I started taking our oldest granddaughter to Community Field in Litchfield to the playscape. And we were shocked at the terrible condition that the playscape was in. So I went to a Selectmen's meeting and was told that there was funding and not to worry that it was going to be fixed.
Four years later, that same granddaughter started playing Little League baseball. We went to see her first game and the fields were in what I would call deplorable condition. I approached the head of Tritown Little League and he said, we've been complaining to the town. They tell us they're gonna fix it but it just never happens, and I said okay, I'm sensing a theme here.
Now my grandchildren are in Litchfield Center School. The Region 20 thing transpired. I went to some board meetings and public hearings and just was frankly shocked at what I was hearing and what I was witnessing. I don't understand how things could go so far afield and how honestly you could take a blue-ribbon school district in Litchfield and consolidate it into Region 20. That's when I knew somebody has to try to do something.
What's your understanding of the responsibilities of this office? How do you see yourself fulfilling them?
I understand the responsibilities as understanding issues and building consensus and having proposed solutions to problems and proposed plans for the growth of the town in a controlled way.
The whole idea is to bring in tax revenue to try to keep the burden of taxes down on the folks who live there. I've been doing construction and real estate development for 45 years, and success has always just come down to speaking to the right people, getting everyone's ideas.
What professional, civic, or personal experiences have best prepared you for this position?
I've been bringing people together on projects, architects, engineers, owners, contractors, subcontractors for years. I've done many, many challenging projects. I was the guy that people come to when they have issues that seem unsolvable or problems that appear to be insurmountable.
I've been president of various boards. I am the president of the home owners’ association in my neighborhood, which we developed, and I remain president because they kept voting me in.
What have you learned from observing and participating in various meetings, attending committee meetings, community discussions?
Admittedly I have not done it to a very great degree. I have gone to or watched a dozen meetings. And frankly, I'm always left with the same opinion, which is another reason I'm running. There are issues being discussed now that were being discussed six years ago and they have not been resolved.
What are your top priorities and what are some of the top challenges?
My first plan is to actually get all of the boards and commissions together and so that everyone understands the various challenges facing the town. People come to Litchfield and find the process to be laborious at best, whether you're trying to build a home or renovate a home. It's difficult to get approvals. It's a long, drawn-out process to a point where people start to feel they're not welcome.
One of my top priorities is bringing back law enforcement in a true fashion. It was eliminated. There's a false understanding in the public that it's because the constables wanted to retire. That is not true. They retired because of the environment in which they had to work.
Region 20. Even though Litchfield does not control Region 20, Litchfield is paying the lion's share of the cost [and] needs to at least be a serious participant in the discussions. And that really has not occurred, at least not publicly. There are measures in place by State statute that required the Board of Finance in each town to review proposed contracts, be it teachers, administration, maintenance workers, whoever. Those contracts were not reviewed.
Traffic in Litchfield is horrendous. Try driving through Litchfield in less than 15 or 20 minutes in October. Thank God we have tourists, we welcome that. But it is problematic. And we keep hearing there's a DOT study coming out. Whenever it does finally come out, more than likely it’s going to suggest changes to the town physically, right?
Is there anything else that you'd like to share with voters?
What I would like people to know first and foremost is that I have no interest in partisan politics. I have extreme interest in bringing people together, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican or an undeclared. I want to bring people together for the express purpose of helping to make Litchfield better. And I'm not saying Litchfield is bad by any means. But I'm hearing what the people are telling me, which is I hear young people saying, I'm worried I may not be able to live in Litchfield when I get married and I have children. We need to be able to develop Litchfield in a very smart way, not commercially, big box commercially. I don't want people to think because I'm a commercial real estate developer, I have interest in bringing Target or Walmart or any crazy things to Litchfield. We own a Dunkin.
