A sincere THANK YOU to our Board of Education, especially Maureen Reed, Melanie Rossacci, and Mike Votto. We know your jobs aren’t easy, especially dealing with the TC & Mayor every year, but we truly appreciate everything you do for our teachers and students. Lord knows you will be left answering for the Republican Town Council’s cuts yet again, so we send you our thoughts and prayers in advance!

Community Pool Update

Tuesday night the Town Council will meet to discuss various topics. The last item on the agenda will be: “Discussion and possible action to consider the Community Pool Project.” We aren’t going to spend a lot of time talking about the Community Pool in this newsletter; quite frankly, it’s a joke that we are still sitting here in 2025 talking about bids and drawings. The longer we continue to drag our feet on the pool, the proposals will keep getting more expensive. The new high school is no different. It’s time we demanded decisive leadership from the Mayor and the Republicans on our Town Council - even if that means making unpopular decisions. Their constant pussy-footing is costing us all money in the long run. But I digress! You can watch this meeting (and most town meetings) on Wallingford Government Media.

FUN FACT: Did you know that the last time a Wallingford Democrat won the Mayor’s seat, the #1 song in America was “Private Eyes” by Hall & Oates? FYI- The New York Mets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Chicago Bears have all won championships since then. Sorry, I guess that isn’t a “fun” fact after all! So, what are we going to do about it? Let’s try to honor Rocco Joseph Vumbaco Sr’s memory by doing something he did for nearly a decade: beating Wallingford Republicans in local elections.

Affordable Housing Update

As we’ve discussed in our recent meetings, affordable housing will be a top priority for us as we move forward into 2025 and beyond. We hear from residents of all ages, and the most universal complaint continues to be rent/housing costs. To be clear, we are not just talking about Section 8 when we reference “Affordable Housing”. Right now, there is a severe mismatch of housing levels and income levels across nearly all sectors. Recent Zillow data indicates that the average home price in Wallingford is around $400,000. With that in mind, according to the NAHB, less than 30% of Americans can currently afford a house above $400,000. This is obviously a major problem, especially as the average rent price in town hovers around $2,000/month.

Despite a lot of talk about wanting affordable housing, we have seen very little urgency from town Republicans in recent years. In fact, Wallingford only has about 4.2% of “affordable units” available - less than half of the state-required 10% - and lower than it was just a few years ago. Actions speak louder than words, and we are happy to report that earlier this month our Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved changes to downtown zoning regulations that incentivize expanded affordable housing development. This includes allowing duplexes, cottage clusters, townhouses and other smaller multi-family housing projects in several residential districts across town (R-6, R-11, R-15, CA-12, CA-40, CB-12, CB-40, I-20 and I-40.) While there is still a long way to go, this is a very positive step in the right direction. Thank you to everyone on the Planning & Zoning Commission who worked on this, especially our friends Bryan Rivard, Jim Fitzsimmons, and Jeff Kohan. Let’s build on this momentum and keep fighting to make Wallingford more affordable!

Pratt & Whitney Strike Nears End Pending IAM Union Vote Tuesday; State of CT Reaches Contract Agreement with SEIU 1199 Union, Narrowly Avoiding Strike.

We are proud to support the IAM union members currently fighting on the front lines for better pay and job security. While their battle might be with Pratt & Whitney, we know that employers across CT are watching carefully. This weekend, after more than 3 weeks on strike, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers reached a tentative agreement with Pratt & Whitney. Union members will vote on the revised contract at the Oakdale Theater on Tuesday, and it sounds like it will likely be ratified. A post from the IAM union on Friday read “On Tuesday, our members will decide if we achieved our objectives around job security, wage security, and retirement security. This new proposal has significant changes/improvements in all three of these core areas…” Great news all the way around! Side note… the next time you hear someone say these people are “lazy” or “entitled”, please remind them that Pratt & Whitney’s parent company currently has a market cap north of $176 billion - greater than Ukraine’s GDP (and about 130 other countries) - and there probably aren’t too many people in their C-Suite who can actually build a jet-engine.

The SEIU 1999NE (healthcare workers union) reached a deal with Gov Lamont’s administration, preventing a strike which would have included over 6,400 nursing home workers across 51 nursing homes & 193 group homes. The men and women working to take care of our seniors and disabled population deserve to earn a living wage at a MINIMUM. This should be pretty basic stuff… particularly when seniors are trading in years of savings to pay for months of care at these facilities. The last-minute contract deal is terrific news and we’re relieved that a strike has been averted!

Bonus: WDTC “Lib of the Month” Award!

Congratulations to State Rep & Town Councilor Craig Fishbein on receiving our first inaugural (and probably last) WDTC “Lib of the Month” Award. It was a truly competitive field. However, after spending the past month repeatedly bashing the Republican-dominated BOE on X , and advocating for a strong, unified federal government at the expense of states like CT’s autonomy, Craig was our runaway winner. Congrats, Councilor! You can pick up your free copy of Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty at our next DTC meeting.

Activism Alcove - Upcoming Calls to Action. Don’t Miss Trump’s Birthday Party on 6/14!

Brandi Mandato and the CT Working Families Party continue to hit the pavement hard. While Paul Cicarella is busy voting against things like protecting access to reproductive healthcare and covering the federal Medicaid shortfall, Brandi is out chatting with neighbors about pressing issues and a more equitable budget. The WFP will be out knocking on doors throughout Wallingford for the next several Sundays- including tomorrow, May 25th - so stay tuned to our social media pages (as well as Brandi’s) for further updates. Many of us will be joining them, and we would love to see you out there! We will have be plenty of experienced canvassers to help train others, and we will never send you out there alone.

Local Events

Gilded Grape Dinner- Saturday, June 7th, 5:30–10:30 PM. Click the photo below for tickets.

Make sure to also check out the town Library’s Event Page- as usual, they have way too many great options to narrow down. You can always find more great local events on the Patch, too!

Our next monthly DTC meeting will be on Wednesday, June 18th at 7PM (location TBD).

Our next Comms meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 10th- this will likely be on Zoom. Please reach out to Alida or Duncan if you are interested in joining!