Cristina A. Ross

Town Council Preempts Change to School Start Times in Divided Budget Vote

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The Town Council during an emotionally charged meeting Thursday voted 8-4 in favor of a spending plan for next fiscal year that effectively forestalls long-discussed changes to New Canaan Public Schools start times. The legislative body’s bipartisan vote in favor of an overall budget of $152.2 million represents an increase of just .19% over projected spending for the current fiscal year. Though the budget also includes a 2.5% year-over-year increase to district spending (exclusive of healthcare savings), it’s still about $1 million less than what the Board of Education had requested of the town funding bodies. The shortfall means the Board of Ed can’t pay for additional school buses and attendant staff needed to implement a proposed new start times schedule—a consequence that district leaders and some councilmen understood following discussions held in recent days, according to Town Council Chair John Engel. In voting in favor of the budget, Engel and others said they’re convinced that New Canaan adolescents should start school later, but added that the wide economic uncertainty due to COVID-19 means now is the wrong time to introduce significant new transportation costs.

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Town Council To Push State Officials for ‘Passing Lane’ on New Canaan Rail Line

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Creating a short passing lane along Metro-North Railroad’s New Canaan branch line would double hourly train service to and from Stamford, a key step toward boosting the town’s desirability and quality of life, a resident told members of the Town Council last week. With a relative decline in jobs in Stamford post-financial crisis, access to Manhattan “is more important than ever,” Giacomo Landi said during the legislative body’s regular meeting Wednesday. “I encourage each and every one of you to reach out to our [state] senators, representatives and governor saying that this is a vital town priority,” Landi said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. “In terms of who pays, New Canaan already pays a good multiple of our population in state income tax, but I am sure some wheeling-and-dealing will need to be done.”

A New Canaan resident since last summer, Landi added: “I am new to town, I don’t have all the background on why we are where we are. But we are here.

News

Letter: Mark Grzymski for Town Council

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I write this letter in support of Mark Grzymski for Town Council. I have been a lifelong Republican but fully endorse and support the candidacy of Mark Grzymski. I have known Mark for roughly six years as a friend and neighbor. We both have kids in the public school system and place a significant premium on it. Through the years we’ve had many conversations on the important agenda items New Canaan faces now and in the future, including the continued success of our schools, the need to prudently invest in the future, and remain a safe place new families desire to move to.

Election 2019

Letter: Mark Grzymski for Town Coucncil 

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As a lifelong registered Republican, the time has never been more important to put aside party affiliations and seek out the best candidates for each and every role in local, state and federal government. Our system of government is bankrupt and broken. Fiscal deficits beyond belief, ballooning government debt that will never be repaid, abominable policy choices and a dramatic amount of “kicking the can down the road” has led the country and the state into uncharted fiscal waters. The effects of the incredible amount if irresponsibility from the federal and state government have come home to roost in New Canaan and more broadly in Fairfield County. 

However, looking deeper and specifically at New Canaan there is a more local and pressing issue—Wall Street. Regardless of your view of Wall Street and financial services more broadly (including PE funds, hedge funds, asset managers, attorneys and all the middle office and back office support) the impact of the gutting of Financial Services has taken a dramatic toll on New Canaan.

Board of Education

Election 2019: Caucuses Set Contested Races for Board of Selectmen, Board of Ed, Town Council [TABLE]

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New Canaan voters on Nov. 5 will cast ballots in three contested—for the Board of Selectmen, Board of Education and Town Council—following Tuesday night’s Democratic and Republican caucuses. Local Democrats at Town Hall nominated not only Craig Donovan for first selectman and Kit Devereaux for selectman, as announced, but also nominated two candidates for Board of Ed and three for Town Council. Of the four Board of Ed seats up for election, three currently are held by Republicans, meaning the Democrats are seeking to “pick up” a seat. School board Chairman Brendan Hayes and Steve Eno, a parent involved in the effort to start school later for adolescents, were nominated by New Canaan Democrats for the Board of Ed.