Last week, the WDTC met at The Library Bistro to officially endorse our slate of candidates for the upcoming municipal elections. As a totally unbiased observer, the mood was electric and it was exciting to see so much talent and energy in one room, all rowing together in the same direction. The momentum is palpable and we’re only getting started! Next week we will be launching a “Meet the Candidates” email and social media spotlight series to highlight our wonderful slate, so please be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that!
Speaking of our slate, Alida Cella has been leading our WDTC with grace and a steady hand for more than half a decade, and now it’s her turn to lead our platform in November. There’s absolutely no one better equipped to rally the troops and lead the cause right now, and the next few months are going to be a lot of fun. We know that she has a better and brighter vision for the future than our current Mayor, and we’re confident the people of Wallingford will agree with us on election day.
Beyond Alida, the current slate of nominations includes a broad range of candidates for the Town Council and Board of Education, all of whom share a fierce passion for our community and an unwavering dedication to the core WDTC platform this November. This year’s group combines decades of experience with urgency and forward thinking. The fact that this lineup features Ph.D candidates, Fortune 500 executives, teachers, youth soccer coaches, community advocates, and young parents, just to name a few, is a testament to how big our tent can be in November. This diverse group, armed with eager enthusiasm, is ready to resonate with Wallingford’s voters. We need all the help we can get, so please be sure to reach out if you would like to volunteer!!!
Here is what we are up against:
1) Since 2023-2024, more than 30 education jobs have been eliminated and many others have gone unfilled due to budget issues (it also sounds like this number could be increasing soon, according to our sources). Non-urgent maintenance issues have gone largely ignored and very few departments seem to be operating at full capacity in general. Speaking to teachers and parents, it’s clear that we cannot afford any more reductions to our BOE budget moving forward; our kids are already paying the price.
Our students and teachers deserve much better, and we are committed to making education one of our top priorities as we move into the campaign season. While our schools are being forced to do more with less, young families are noticing in droves. It’s no secret that Wallingford’s population and student enrollments are declining; yet other towns like Cheshire & North Haven aren’t having the same issues. It’s time for us to make key investments to attract this demographic. As many have pointed out, a strong education system also correlates directly with property value. In other words, people with no kids or grown kids have skin in this game, too.
2) Housing remains out of reach for many residents: just 4.2% of Wallingford homes qualify as “affordable,” well under the 10% target set by Connecticut law. In spite of efforts from the town to incentivize developers, our affordable housing rate has declined from over 5% just a few years ago. This is not just about low-income housing, either. How many boomers or Gen Xers do you know who are eager to downsize, but have nowhere to go? How many millennials or zoomers with college degrees are still stuck living with their parents, or (if they’re lucky) sharing a rental with multiple roommates?
We need our elected leaders to take the lead on this crisis if we expect things to get better any time soon.This is why Alida is committed to making this one of her top priorities, not just for seniors, but for all Wallingford residents. While senior housing is a crucial part of the puzzle, and the Community Lake Project will continue to be a focal point for our ticket, the simple fact is that we need MANY more options for homebuyers right now. Particularly those looking to downsize, and those looking to start their lives. We have a lot of ideas on how to do that, and we are excited to share more details as we move forward! #YIMBY
3) Our Grand List is a mess. Tax Imbalances with entities like Choate, Ashlar Village, and others eat away at our sole source of income. In addition to these aforementioned tax breaks, our “key taxpayers” (i.e. the top 15 in Wallingford) are paying significantly less in taxes than they did 10 years ago, and the “key employers” (i.e. the top 15 in Wallingford) are employing significantly less people compared to 10 years ago. Both of these charts can be found below. The end result is that we now have a residential sector carrying a larger chunk of the town’s tax burden.
Mayor Cervoni likes to brag about being the town’s “CEO”, so it’s time to give our chief executive a brutally honest performance review. We need an administration that will work proactively across different sectors to make sure our Grand List is equitable and most importantly, sustainable for future generations of Wallingford residents.
