What have candidates learned about Darien?

Written by Susan Shultz
Friday, 30 October 2009 11:13

The three candidates running for first selectman met in The Darien Times office on Monday for some coffee and questions, the first of which asked them what they have learned about the town since they began campaigning.

Independent Chris Noe said that some of what he learned was not so pleasant. He said that many of his friends have snubbed him since joining the race against Republican David Campbell and Democrat Callie Sullivan.

“You question whether you had friends at all. It is baffling,” he said.

Sullivan said she had the opposite experience.

“I’ve had a lot of cross party interest, Republican, independent, Democrat, they don’t care about party as much as policy,” she said.

Sullivan said people of all parties have expressed satisfaction with the progress of downtown and that they are “grateful for their leaders.”

David Campbell said that he and Jayme Stevenson and Jerry Nielsen have also gotten a lot of good feedback and that he has really enjoyed the campaign season. He also said he’s lived in Darien his entire life and owns the biggest business in town so he is very familiar with it. He said that they chose to run because it was time for a change.

Campbell addressed specific things that need to change, including the town’s interaction with the state, which he said is in “shambles.” He said rather than just “go along” with the Democratically-controlled state legislature, the town’s state representatives need to be “called onto the carpet.”

He also said the town has made mistakes and referenced the Allen-O’Neill Moderate Income Family Homes redevelopment, which was recently turned down for state funding, and said with his management and building experience he could help.

Campbell also said that the tenor of the town has changed over the last few years, and that its been more of “attack” rather than “collaborative.”

“That’s why I chose Jerry and Jayme. They are both professional, nice, calm, thoughtful people who get a lot done,” he said.

Sullivan said that she had lobbied the state to get more educational funding, but asked Campbell what influence Darien’s first selectman could have over the state.

Campbell said that the town has to be a voice of dissent over “unfunded mandates” that can’t go on. He said there hasn’t been a voice in a long time but said “Republicans haven’t done a great job either.”

Sullivan countered that her agenda as first selectman will be to bring back as much money from Hartford as possible.

Campbell said that he’s “not worried about bringing money back from the state.” He used the fact that Allen-O’Neill had been turned down by the state as an example.

“One of my obligations in town will be to let people know what’s happening,” he said, adding that it is “time for people to wake up” about the issues facing the state of Connecticut.

Noe said that the state of Connecticut is bankrupt and that Fairfield County doesn’t get much support from the state.

“We have to be leaders in our community and have the state follow our lead,” he said.

Noe suggested using public-private partnerships and “not rely on the state for anything.”

He also suggested letting Allen-O’Neill “slowly explode” or “tear it down” and build it somewhere else, like the Proccacini property.

Sullivan said that the Allen-O’Neill property is not the town’s and therefore the first selectman cannot have any input into that decision.

“It belongs to the Darien Housing Authority, and they have a mandate to build as much affordable housing as Planning & Zoning will allow,” she said.

Sullivan said the town cannot sell it. She also said that the developer has been chosen and the application has been passed by P&Z.

“Changing the developer midstream will open up the DHA to litigation,” she said. Sullivan added that the Board of Selectmen is not in the business of building and maintaining large housing developments.

When asked by The Times editor about the old library property, which the current Board of Selectmen has slated for affordable housing, Sullivan said that that would be managed by Mutual Housing Association, a developer, not by the selectmen.

Campbell also agreed that Allen-O’Neill’s redevelopment may need to be revisited considering the lack of state funding.

“The New Canaan Housing Authority has given up. The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority keeps turning them down,” he said.

Campbell suggested the possibility of looking into alternative funding for the project.

Sullivan said she’s always “up for looking at different things” and suggested that the housing authority needs to ask repeatedly for funding for the project.

She also contacted The Times the following morning to point out that the New Canaan requested state money for housing projects and is awaiting $2 million from the state Department of Economic & Community Development.

“One of the biggest roles of a first selectman is to ask for money from all levels of government,” she said Tuesday morning.

She also addressed the appeal on the project by Kathi and Peter Rogers, neighbors of the development, which she said has “lengthened the process, not derailed it.” Sullivan said the appeal is being heard by the court in Bridgeport, which she said would be more likely to look positively on public housing.

Noe said that the Allen-O’Neill homes are a “wreck” and suggested that subsidized housing “doesn’t work.”

He also suggested that subsidized housing should not be extremely comfortable so as to not encourage people to want to stay in it. He said his idea includes a development for 18 to 25 year olds so that they can “learn from each other” and will be self-sustaining financially using a formula based on minimum wage.

Campbell said it sounds like a “frat house,” Sullivan responded that it would be like a “hostel,” and said that no one wants to live next to something like that.

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