They also referred to the current controversy over possible development at Cedar Mountain. Both men sided with the groundswell of opposition to a proposed housing project there. However, Democratic challenger Thomas Bowen objected to incumbent Mayor Jeffrey Wright's intervention to get the developer to withdraw the proposal as merely postponing a solution to the situation.
Newington Community Television (NCTV) hosted the hour-long public debate between Wright and Bowen in the Council Chambers on Oct. 22.
The debate was the third in a series by NCTV of live, pre-election broadcasts from Town Hall, aired over Cox Communications Channel 14. Along with two meet-the-candidates programs, the debate is being shown regularly now through Election Day on Nov. 3. NCTV will also provide live election results that night.
"I've been on the Town Council for eight years and have thoroughly enjoyed the challenging work and opportunity to serve the residents," said Bowen in his introductory remarks.
He said he joined the council at a "crossroads" period, just after the difficult financial decade of the 1990s, when "many budgets were at zero percent and little money had been spent on the town's infrastructure."
At that time, both parties on the council responded to public demand to increase funding to the schools and create a capital improvement fund for road repairs, the preservation of Eddy Farm and other projects, he said.
In the last two years, Bowen charged, that spirit of cooperation has changed. "Under the current mayor, council conversations is discouraged. Some of your neighbors who attempt to speak to the mayor leave the meeting upset because of how they are treated," he said. "Under the guise of low budgets he has forgotten smart financial planning and has overspent on projects which benefits a few rather than all."
Wright countered that, in the past two years, the Republican-majority council has kept its three-point pledge of capping tax increases at three percent, working on downtown revitalization, and improving the town's schools without teacher layoffs.
Before that, during six years of a Democratically-controlled council, Wright said, "the average person in Newington saw their property taxes go up a total of 57 percent. Yes revaluation was part of that, but if you pull revaluation out the average tax increase Tom Bowen and the Democrats had given you was an outrageous 5.9 percent."
Both men's comments drew applause from competing audience segments. Wright's repetition of the 57 percent figure a number of times during the evening also drew hissing from some spectators at one point, prompting both candidates to call for civility during the debate.
Wright also promoted the three percent tax cap repeatedly, saying the Democrats had sent out mailers two years ago claiming the tax cap would be disastrous to schools and town services.
Bowen countered that a mandatory tax cap is not good financial planning. "A three percent increase is a great goal to go for but a tax cap is not good for the town. The bond rating agencies have made it very clear that towns that have a cap have their ratings lowered."
Bowen criticized Constitution Square, the mayor's pet project to develop the downtown parking lot. "Economic development is vital for the town, unfortunately we have been focused on one project. The mayor has been able to get $1 million from the state government to pave a parking," he said.
"The councilor talks about the downtown revitalization of Constitution Square as a negative thing," countered Wright, referring to the project as key to downtown revitalization. Constitution Square had a groundbreaking Oct. 22, with Gov. M. Jodi Rell in attendance.
Wright said after receiving numerous phone calls and e-mails about Cedar Mountain recently, he called developers Toll Brothers and asked them to withdraw their application to the Town Plan and Zoning Commission (TPZ) for a zone change there.
Bowen called the mayor's involved "a big mistake." He said, "we now have a problem. I truly believe TPZ was about to reject the change in zoning which would have put them off for a year. Now all you've done is put it off until after the election."
A Question and answer session with the mayoral and council candidates starts on page 3.