Politics & Government

VIDEO: First Selectman's Debate, Talking Points: Aging and Education

The candidates for first selectman's office discuss age and education at Tuesday night's debate.

It’s true that Branford’s population is getting older and perhaps even shrinking. In the past 10 years, First Selectman Anthony “Unk” DaRos notes that school enrollment has plummeted by 300 students.

So why the flight? Who’s to blame and what role does the first selectman really have in education?

At , incumbent DaRos-D, faced challenger Joy McConnell-R, to discuss these issues.

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Before we delve into details, we offer the facts about town population and growth as per the United States Census.

In 2010, Branford had a total population of 28,026 – of that, 5,387 people were over age 65 and 7,169 were ages 50 to 64. Those in the young family bracket, ages 25 to 49 were 8,733. In 2000, the Census showed 26.6 percent of Branford’s population is age 45 to 64 and 16.9 percent is over 65. Those in the young family category, ages 25 to 44 made up 30.5 percent of the population in 2000.

Find out what's happening in Branfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 was hosted at the Italian American Club by the  and led by Brian Boyd of Zipo6.com/The Sound and Steven Mazzacane of the Branford Seven.

Here’s a look at where the candidates stand with talking points highlighted.

Branford’s Aging Population

 There’s no secret that Branford’s population is aging, said the First Selectman. He counts himself among those considered seniors. He said that factors indicate that Branford’s aging population will be up near 40 percent of the population by the next census. DaRos notes that Branford will be one of the area towns with highest senior population. He said he can’t put his finger on exactly why families are not moving to town or why young families are leaving but did note that a high percentage of Branford’s housing stock is one and two bedroom condos. “That doesn’t bode well for raising families in,” said DaRos. The condos, he added, are good starter homes for families.

Talking Point: Response to question, is the aging population a problem? “It may be an indication that people like to stay here… the other end of it I can’t explain because the town of Branford compared to some other towns that are growing is certainly affordable in comparison in taxes as well as the housing stock.”

 Though never in the political hot seat, McConnell states that she has some answers to the questions about aging and the flight of young families. With children ages, 11, 8 and 6, she said she thinks the reason young families are not moving to town is because Branford is not as affordable as it used to be. She told told DaRos she takes exception to his idea that Branford is affordable. She said while the town’s services are still good, they used to be better; higher taxes, she said is the problem from keeping Branford growing with young blood. She said the solution is to keep taxes low by reducing the burden on property owners and increasing revenue from businesses.

Talking Point: “This town used to have very low taxes in comparison to comparable towns for a higher level of services. Our services have gone down. The taxes drive people out.”

Education: What’s the Selectman’s Role?

 Taking the question first at the debate, McConnell spoke passionately about the importance of the selectman’s role to work in collaboration with the Board of Education. She said she has attended Board of Education meetings but has not seen DaRos there. She did not mention, which meetings she has attended. When asked about the state mandates controlling much of education, McConnell said she understands that the first selectman has no direct decision making authority over the school board. “The amount of money we spend on education in this town,” she said, “if you were going to be a good steward of taxpayer money, you have to engage in a dialogue about it.” She added that she thinks the discussion of teachers salaries happens behind closed doors and not for the public to see. She wants more transparency in the school budget.

Talking Point: “I think the first selectman can be an advocate for parents – parents have their children in the schools but they are also taxpayers.”

  The First Selectman took offence to McConnell’s comment about his lack of attendance at Board of Education meetings and stated that he has daily dialogues with the Superintendent of Schools, Hamlet Hernandez. He said there are known mutual problems between the board of education and the town. DaRos said that McConnell only started attending Board meetings when she started her candidacy, which was essentially politicizing the process.

Talking Point: “We are one town and I’d like to think that the BOE also belongs to Branford and I think we make that quite clear and we do interact with that.”

Branford Patch did not report on the details of the senior center and how it failed to come to fruition for First Selectman Anthony “Unk” DaRos during his last term as we are not knowledgeable enough on the subject at this time. The topic was discussed at the debate by both candidates. Please see the debate on BCTV for more.

Check back next week for details what the candidates think about civility in government.


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