A Plan for the Future
Monday, November 5th, 2007The Republican candidates for the Manchester Board of Directors have worked hard to talk about their positive agenda of 
reform for the Town of Manchester this fall. From the very beginning, they have been pressing a new Covenant with Manchester Taxpayers, built on three principles that are important to most every Manchester resident - accountability, fiscal responsibility, and quality of life. Within these principles, the Board of Directors candidates have proposed very specific initiatives to address the needs of Manchester in an honest and responsible manner.
Accountability
Whether its the leaders of your town or the kid bagging your groceries, you expect accountability. If the guy bagging the groceries puts the eggs and the bread in the bag with the sack of potatoes, he is accountable for the mashed loaf of bread and the broken eggs. And if you are the leaders of your town, it means letting regular people offer their comments at the beginning of every meeting, and not make them sit and wait until after the decisions are made. The Republicans have pledged to change this and it will be the first thing a Republican majority on the Board of Directors will do.
Accountability means letting people pick the Mayor of Manchester plain and simple, no voting for six people to get one Mayor. The Republican Town Directors support direct election of the Mayor and will support charter revisions to make it so.
Most importantly, accountability means if you want more money from me, then you have to ask for it. A Republican majority on the Board of Directors will establish a town referendum on all proposed budgets that include a property tax increase in excess of 3% in one year.
Fiscal Responsibility
High taxes are driving senior citizens out of Manchester and dragging down our families. A Republican Board of Directors will do everything in their power to control the growth of government and instill fiscal discipline in town government.
Making Town government work better first means measuring town government. That is why we propose establishing new, easy to read, accessible reporting that will measure the effectiveness of government services. How quickly do police respond to emergency calls? How many swimming lessons were given by town staff? How long does it take from the time graffiti is reported to the time when it is cleaned up? Common sense, honest reporting of how well our government functions will help a Republican majority determine how best to improve the quality of services in Manchester.
Quality of Life
Blight in a neighborhood drains the community morale, hurts property values, and hampers our effort to promote Manchester as the best Town in Connecticut. With a Republican majority, the Board of Directors will pass the strongest anti-blight ordinance in the State of Connecticut to clean up these continuing eyesores on our community. Out-of-town property owners and landlords will be held responsible for their properties.
Republicans have already led in Manchester on expanding the use of clean, renewable energy. With a majority, we will expand our involvment in the 2010 Clean Energy Program and institute a hybrid tax credit for the buyers of hybrid vehicles. This is a no-brainer in other towns that has been plagued by petty partisan politics in Manchester. A Republican majority will make it happen finally.
Home ownership is the best sign of a rising community, and in Manchester we need to do everything we can to expand home ownership. A Republican majority will continue the work started by Director Cheri Pelletier to register landlord, housing authority oversight, and make sure that we are doing all we can to allow Manchester families to own their own home.
The Covenant with Manchester Taxpayers
It’s an agenda for reform. Our Republican candidates have been talking about it since July and we look forward to implementing it if entrusted with leadership on Election Day. It is specific action items, our principles, and it spells out our vision for improvements we can make to Manchester.
The Republican candidates for the Board of Directors - Lou Spadaccini, Matt Peak, Cheri Pelletier, Mark Tweedie, Jeff Beckman, and Rob Desilet - ask for your vote on Tuesday, November 6th.
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