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July
26, 2005 An evolving process that began in the midst of winter has culminated in a slate of candidates unanimously endorsed at this month's regular KDTC meeting. On a sunny Saturday morning last January, members of the Killingworth Democratic Town Committee met at the home of Tim and Mary Withington to do some tough brainstorming, goal setting, and process analyzing. Discussions were honest and thorough, charts developed, and long term town needs assessed. John Lally, at what would sadly be his last meeting, summed up the broad collective aim of those assembled, "We want to be the group Killingworth looks to for competent, fiscally responsible leadership in preserving its rural character, while accommodating inevitable growth in carefully planned increments." To that end, under the Chairmanship of Michael Sanders, five subcommittees were formed, including a Platform Subcommittee and a Nominating Subcommittee. The Platform Subcommittee elected Rick Berzon as Chair. From the outset, the committee was open to suggestions and revisions which it solicited from the KDTC membership. Before the platform's final crafting, the committee presented a bare bones outline, followed by a full draft that incorporated comments, additions and revisions. At the heart of our platform is the commitment to bring to "Killingworth the thoughtful, intelligent, responsible stewardship that will guide it to a healthy future we can all enjoy." Among the issues addressed were planning for the future, managing growth, furthering education, revitalizing town government and controlling taxes, through the innovative pursuit of fresh ideas combined with an appreciation for the tried and true. The Nominating Subcommittee, under its Chairman, Ed Sipples, not only sought prospective candidates from the KDTC membership, but "Early on, we reached out to all potential candidates," Ed explained at this month's meeting. "We ran a series of articles and dedicated an Eye column to attracting people. We invited anyone interested in serving the Town in either an appointed or elected position to contact any of us." And people did step forward as possible candidates. In fact, there were more possible candidates for the top of the ticket than there were openings. An objective process was then developed to select the "best of the best..." It was a difficult process. "All the potential candidates had special and unique strengths to offer. We learned from many of their ideas, comments and suggestions…" The end result of fourteen subcommittee meetings has been a full slate of candidates that were enthusiastically introduced by Sipples at the July 17th meeting. The slate, as presented, was unanimously endorsed by the KDTC members in attendance. The candidates were then presented at the Democratic Caucus held this Sunday in the Killingworth Library meeting room. The slate was unanimously accepted by voice vote and the next steps in the campaign process are being planned. The members of the KDTC have worked hard over the last seven months to clarify our vision of what Killingworth's future can be and the kind of planning required to get us there. We know it will take a hands on, full time First Selectman , one comfortable meeting the people of his town, to pull Killingworth's citizens together and into the process. Marty Klein is the candidate to do that. Our full slate will support his efforts while reaching out to others to get things done in the right way for the right reasons.You will read more about all of our candidates in future columns. As Arlene Tunney said at that long ago
January meeting, "Killingworth is on the cusp of a major development
and the issue is: Will it remain Killingworth or become suburbia?" We
have arrived at a platform and a slate of candidates that will address
the issues we must face if measured growth, preservation of our town's
character, its environment and its intergenerational population are
to be secured. ( For more about the Killingworth Democratic Town Committee visit our website at www.killingworth.dems.info) |
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