Candidates talk the talk of economic development

Written by Bettina Thiel
Thursday, 29 October 2009 11:46

The two contenders for Orange first selectman, incumbent Jim Zeoli and challenger Trish Pearson, offered two different models for economic development in a debate sponsored by the Orange Chamber of Commerce.

While Zeoli contended that his persistence and hard work has paid off for Orange, Pearson challenged the audience to demand a more aggressive and assertive representation in town hall.

The debate took place Oct. 23 at Grassy Hill Country Club

“Patience doesn’t win while the businesses are waiting and watching and trying to stay afloat,” Pearson said.

Both candidates see economic development as the answer to keeping taxes low, but they take a different approach in how to attract the right businesses.

“We don’t need lower taxes, we need more taxpayers,” Pearson said.

“The businesses in this community want an anchor,” she said, “and Stew Leonard’s is that anchor.”

She called the Wetlands Commission’s decision to turn down the entrepreneur’s application “the largest black eye we have.”

“It’s been named one of the 100 most desirable places to work,” she said. “And we turned it down.”

She criticized traffic conditions on the Boston Post Road, and challenged Zeoli to resurrect the train station project.

Zeoli agreed that the train station would have benefited Orange, but the decision was made at the state level in favor of West Haven.

“Trust me, we are pushing for that as fast as we can,” he said.

Zeoli said he has applied for, and received, federal funds for the Edison Road extension.

Edison Road will connect Prindles Hill to Marsh Hill Road, and open up that area to more commercial and industrial development.

The town has purchased the land necessary to construct the road from Stew Leonard’s and other private owners. In fact, the road construction was part of Stew Leonard’s zoning approval, but the town has been moving forward since the grocery store seemed not to move forward.

“We need to have it done,” Zeoli said in a telephone interview.

He said the town has received $230,000 in federal funding for the project.

Pearson criticized the lack of a plan for economic development. “Orange is a desirable place to do business because of our location,” she said. “ But, she added, “we make it very difficult sometimes for good businesses to come and for businesses to stay.”

Zeoli meanwhile rejected her call for a more aggressive marketing style, saying that it “doesn’t say a lot about what needs to be done.”

Asked whether they would cut services or positions to keep budget increases under control, Pearson said with the kind of economic development she was envisioning, cutting services would be avoidable.

She also brought up fiscal discipline, saying she would ask all department heads to stick to zero-based budgeting.

“Each year you have to start from scratch and justify your expenditures,” she said.

Calling the education system “the jewel in our crown,” she suggested that the first selectman needs to be a part of the process of education budgeting, even if the town has no control over Board of Education expenditures.

Zeoli meanwhile pointed out that under his administration taxes saw an average increase of only 1.6 percent. He made that possible he said, by bringing in stable business partners such as Yale University on the former Bayer site, Southern Connecticut Gas and most recently, United Illuminating.

Zeoli said some people suggest closing the transfer station or the community center for some days to save tax dollars, but “I won’t live with that,” he said. People come to the community center for meals, they come to Town Hall for help, he said.

“We are a service organization,” he said.