Sep 5, 2007
For selectman
Maggio supports open government
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by PATRICIA GAY
The 2007 municipal election includes three contested races — for selectman, first selectman, and Board of Finance.
Over the next several weeks, The Weston Forum will be presenting a look at the candidates who are running for those seats. Look for the “Meet the Candidates” banner.
The following is the first in the series.
Jim Maggio loves Weston. Like others, he chose to settle here with his family because of the town’s rural beauty and excellent school system.
For the most part, he is very satisfied with the town he has lived in for 11 years, but he has one problem with it.
“I believe our local government should be more open and responsive to the people it serves. Not everyone in Weston has a voice in town government and I want to change that,” he said.
So after years of attending selectmen’s meetings and land use public hearings, Dr. Maggio, a dentist, originally from Queens, decided it was time to not only talk the talk, but to walk the walk.
He is running for selectman as a petitioning candidate on the Nov. 6 local election ballot, challenging incumbent Republican Selectman Glenn Major and Democratic challenger Steve Ezzes.
Important issues
“I decided to run because the town has recently had uncontested elections and when that happens elections are taken for granted and important issues aren’t discussed,” Dr. Maggio said.
So far, he believes he has made the right decision. When his candidacy was announced in the Aug. 9 issue of The Forum, Dr. Maggio said his phone started ringing off the hook.
“There was a groundswell of support and it was very encouraging,” he said.
To further spread the word of what he calls a “grass-roots” candidacy, Dr. Maggio has also created a Web site at www.votemaggio.com, which expresses who he is and where he stands on issues.
“Your vote for me will ensure at least one person on the board who will listen to you, who cares about your issues, a fiscally responsible person who will seek answers for your tough questions and uphold the quality of life issues that brought us to Weston,” Dr. Maggio says on the site.
Infrastructure
Among the issues Dr. Maggio believes it’s important to focus on are the condition of the town’s buildings and infrastructure, and the status of the Lachat property.
He is concerned about the condition of the school buildings, and how, in his opinion, they have been allowed to deteriorate.
With that in mind, Dr. Maggio has called into question a recent decision by the selectmen to spend $5,000 of taxpayers’ money to pay an outside contractor to study the feasibility of solar panels for the high school.
“I called the DPUC and a spokesman said they can do that study basically for free (for up to $50,000) with money from the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund,” Dr. Maggio said. “This option should be further explored,” he said.
He said he has also noticed leaking ceilings and other signs of disrepair at the town hall and Jarvis House. “We can’t continue to allow town buildings to deteriorate beyond the point of repair so we have to replace them. Look at the cupola at town hall,” he said, referring to evidence of the disrepair.
“I run a small business, and you can’t just let things crumble in hand,” he said.
Lachat
Dr. Maggio said he is also concerned about environmental issues, particularly the status of the Lachat property, which is jointly owned by the town and The Nature Conservancy.
The original plan called for the renovation of several buildings and construction of a parking lot and a 5,000-plus-square-foot visitors and education center on the property.
However, last year, in the face of much public opposition, there was a rethinking of the plans for the 32-acre homestead parcel and 10 acres of hillside and meadows, and a committee was formed to come up with alternatives.
But to date, nothing has been approved for the property. “This is the shame of Weston. We need to do something. As a selectman, I would listen to what people think and finish the job with Lachat,” Dr. Maggio said.
Can he win?
In order to be in a position to improve communication between the public and town boards, and work on the improvement of town buildings and the Lachat project, Dr. Maggio knows he needs to first win a seat on the Board of Selectmen, which poses a challenge for a candidate who is not running on the conventional Republican or Democratic lines.
“If you look at the voter composition of the town, I definitely believe I have a chance to win a seat in the election,” Dr., Maggio said optimistically.
According to the Weston League of Women Voters, as of July 17, there were 5,917 registered voters in Weston. Of those, there were 2,231 unaffiliated voters, 1,884 Republicans, and 1,790 Democrats. In addition, 12 were registered with other parties.
“There are more unaffiliated voters in town than those registered with any particular party, so no one party has a lock on a majority of the voters. Judging from the phone calls I have received, there are registered Republicans and Democrats who have offered support and said they will vote for me. So I think my independence has broad appeal and crosses party lines,” Dr. Maggio said.
Dr. Maggio said his campaign strategy is to simply meet townspeople and let them know who he is and what he stands for.
In his personal background, Dr. Maggio has a bachelor’s degree from Adelphi University, and a degree in dentistry from the University of Maryland.
He runs a dental practice in New York and lives on High Noon Road with his wife Brenda and their 13-year-old daughter Tess, who attends Weston Middle School.
Dr. Maggio has served on the board of trustees for the United Methodist Church of Weston/Westport and is big on the spirit of volunteerism.
He has helped build houses and do plumbing work for Habitat for Humanity. He also transfers food from a USDA supply house to a food pantry in Norwalk.
Lately, he has been tinkering with used computers and recycles them so they can be donated for use by the elderly.
“If something needs to be done, I just do it,” he said.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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