CHAIRMAN'S CORNER

Congratulations to Denise Berard Hall for being elected and to Leon Davidoff and Steve Adler for being re-elected to the West Hartford town council, and to Lib Brassil Spinella for being re-elected to the board of education. Special recognition to Rob Sisk, Justin Clark, Joe Visconti, Andrew Banon-Guasp and Ellen Burchill Brassil for running very hard campaigns. Special thanks to everyone who helped with this year's election; your efforts are truly appreciated.

The Choice Is Clear: Vote Republican On November 3rd

Before casting your vote on November 3rd, keep in mind that the next West Hartford board of education and town council will address several matters of enormous importance for the town. The question is who does West Hartford want at the helm to handle these important matters?

President Eisenhower once said that “[t]he history of free men [and women] is never really written by chance but by choice; their choice!” West Hartford has a choice to make on November 3rd and that choice is clear: elect the Republican candidates for town council and board of education.

The Republican candidates pledge to fight the State’s Racial Imbalance Statute, oppose any massive town-wide redistricting plan and maintain West Hartford’s neighborhood schools while improving education by allocating more tax dollars to the classroom. The Democrats, on the other hand, refuse to challenge the Racial Imbalance Statute and refuse to be aggressive advocates for neighborhood schools. Making matters worse, the Democrat-controlled school board has met in secret “retreats” to discuss this issue and refuses to tell voters their plan to comply with the statute until after the election. West Hartford should expect the Democrats to handle the racial imbalance issue the same way that they handled the school start time issue in 2007. If you will recall, before the 2007 election, the Democrats said that they would not touch school start times, then as soon as the election was over, the first thing the Democrats did was change school start times. The bottom line is the Democrats could not be trusted about school start times in 2007 and cannot be trusted on the racial imbalance issue today.

The Republican candidates will ensure that West Hartford remains affordable while maintaining and restoring valued town services, like leaf collection, by reforming the town’s archaic pension system from a defined benefit to a defined contribution plan for new employees. Over the past 10 years, West Hartford has seen an unsustainable 50% increase in taxes and 159% increase in employee benefit costs while, during that same period, it has seen valued town services cut and school test scores decline. West Hartford residents are clearly not getting what they pay for. Now, more than ever, it is time for a change of leadership -- 10 years of business as usual with 50% tax increases and 159% benefit increases is way too long.

The Republican candidates will address the town’s growing public safety concerns by filling the six vacancies on the police force and allocating more tax dollars to town public safety services. The Democrats would rather sweep public safety concerns under the rug instead of addressing them head-on. The safety of West Hartford’s residents must be given top priority.

Heed President Eisenhower’s words when you make your choice on November 3rd, and vote Republican for town council and board of education.

Peter J. Martin

VOTE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS. VOTE LOW TAXES. VOTE REPUBLICAN.

WATCH THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE PROFILES

Our Town Council Candidates:
Leon Davidoff
Steve Adler
Joe Visconti
Denise Hall
Rob Sisk
Justin Clark

Our Board of Education Candidates:
Lib Brassil Spinella
Ellen Burchill Brassil
Andrew Bannon-Guasp

VOTE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS. VOTE LOW TAXES.

VOTE REPUBLICAN.

HERE IS WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE REPUBLICAN ON ELECTION DAY!

Vote Row A this November 3rd and the entire Republican Team pledges to:

1. Support our neighborhood school system, and the choices of West Hartford’s parents, by opposing any broad based re-districting plan and fighting any laws that attempt to assign our children to schools based solely on the color of their skin.

2. Put more of our money into the classroom and into town services by reforming our archaic pension system.

3. Address West Hartford’s growing crime problem and fill police officer slots that remain vacant.

Feel free to contact our Republican candidates with any questions or concerns:

LEON DAVIDOFF (Council)
http://www.leonsdavidofftowncouncil.blogspot.com/

STEVE ADLER (Council)
http://stevenadlerforwesthartford.blogspot.com/

JOE VISCONTI (Council)
viscontimg@aol.com

DENISE BERARD HALL (Council)
denisebhall@comcast.net
http://www.denisehallfortowncouncil.blogspot.com/

ROB SISK (Council)
rob@SiskforWestHartford.com
http://www.siskforwesthartford.com/

JUSTIN CLARK (Council)
justin.r.clark@gmail.com
http://www.clarkforcouncil.blogspot.com/
Join the "Clark for Council" group at http://www.facebook.com/

LIB BRASSIL SPINELLA (Board)
elspin76@hotmail.com

ELLEN BURCHILL BRASSIL (Board)
burchilleb@snet.net
http://healthsciencelibrariansblog.blogspot.com/

ANDREW BANNON-GUASP (Board)
randrew06110@yahoo.com
http://www.facebook.com/randrew06110

THE CHAIRMAN'S CORNER

The West Hartford Republican Party nominated six candidates for town council and three candidates for board of education. They include three incumbents for town council (Davidoff, Adler and Visconti), one incumbent for the board (Spinella) and five new exciting candidates.

LEON DAVIDOFF (Council)
Blog: http://www.leonsdavidofftowncouncil.blogspot.com/

STEVE ADLER (Council)
Blog: http://stevenadlerforwesthartford.blogspot.com/

JOE VISCONTI (Council)
Email: viscontimg@aol.com

DENISE BERARD HALL (Council)
Email: denisebhall@comcast.net
Blog: http://www.denisehallfortowncouncil.blogspot.com/

ROB SISK (Council)
Email: rob@SiskforWestHartford.com
Website: http://www.siskforwesthartford.com/

JUSTIN CLARK (Council)
Email: justin.r.clark@gmail.com
Join the "Clark for Council" group at http://www.facebook.com/

LIB BRASSIL SPINELLA (Board)
Email: elspin76@hotmail.com

ELLEN BURCHILL BRASSIL (Board)
Email: burchilleb@snet.net
Librarian blog: http://healthsciencelibrariansblog.blogspot.com/

ANDREW BANNON-GUASP (Board)
Email: randrew06110@yahoo.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/randrew06110

THE CHAIRMAN'S CORNER

West Hartford GOP Urges Representative David McCluskey to Withdraw Sponsorship of “Billionaires for Budget Cuts” Political Theater

West Hartford, CT – July 29, 2009 – On Thursday, July 30, 2009, a group called the coalition of labor and community organizations is sponsoring a street theater event called “Billionaires for Budget Cuts” at the State Capitol. Representative David McCluskey is sponsoring a room for this event. West Hartford Republican Town Committee Chairman and Town Council Candidate Justin Clark thinks that “it is inappropriate for Representative McCluskey to sponsor a room for an overtly political event during some very tough budget negotiations.” Mr. Clark continued, “to demagogue the Governor’s desire to protect West Hartford’s hard working families from a tax increase during the middle of a deep recession is just wrong.”

Even more disturbing, this event is being promoted on the website of the Communist Party of Connecticut! “I thought those folks went out of business when the Soviet Union collapsed” said Peter Martin, Vice-Chairman of the West Hartford Republican Town Committee, “but sure enough, if you go to www.cpusa.org/contact and click on the Connecticut chapter, they are promoting Representative McCluskey’s event!” Mr. Martin noted that “it is important to remember that we can’t control what people post on their individual websites, and I certainly don’t want to cast any aspersions, but it is just funny to me that an organization that promotes an economic theory that is a proven failure is promoting this event during these difficult economic times.”

Mr. Martin urges people to contact Representative McCluskey and ask him to withdraw his sponsorship of the room for the event. “Representative McCluskey is a talented politician, and I am sure that he just didn’t look at this very closely, so I hope people will call or e-mail his office and ask him to withdraw his sponsorship of this purely political event.” Representative McCluskey can be reached at (860) 240-8585 or at David.McCluskey@cga.ct.gov.

THE CHAIRMAN'S CORNER

Below is the video interview of Chairman Justin Clark speaking about this year's municipal elections.

Also, check out the full length interview at http://localonlinenews.tv/blog/2009/05/28/444/

THE CHAIRMAN'S CORNER

West Hartford GOP Urges Board to Reinstate Veterans Day in Our Schools

West Hartford, CT – May 19, 2009 – On May 5, 2009, the Board of Education, led by Board Members Jack Darcey and Claire Kindall, voted to have school be in session on Veterans Day in order to change the last day of school from June 18, 2010 to June 17, 2010. Justin Clark, Chairman of the West Hartford Republican Town Committee, was not only concerned about not properly honoring our veterans, but with the reason behind it. "I am not sure why they needed to end school a day earlier. There must be some reasons, but I think we can all agree that if the choice is between celebrating the birth of Paul McCartney [June 18, 1942] and honoring our veterans, the choice is clear." Mr. Clark added that he isn’t "trying to be glib about this, but the point is that I can’t think of any compelling reason why we need to give up Veterans Day in order to end school a day earlier. When you weigh the importance of each day, I don’t know why the Democrats thought the scale tipped in favor of starting vacation a day earlier instead of honoring our veterans."

Noting concerns about the process, Mr. Clark added that "I am not sure why certain other days-off in the school calendar weren’t contemplated. For instance, the schools are closed the day after Thanksgiving, and that isn’t even a holiday! Again, the choice is pretty stark. A day off for Christmas shopping but not for our veterans? Doesn’t make sense to me."

Because of these concerns, the West Hartford Republican Town Committee passed a resolution late last evening calling on the Board of Education to reinstate Veterans Day as a day off for our school children. "Maybe the Democrats on the Board should have looked at some other days, maybe they should have weighed the factors more closely, I don’t know. Jack Darcey, Terry Schmitt, Claire Kindall, Bruce Putterman and Harry Captain are all very talented politicians up there. They must have had their reasons. That said, we think they should take a mulligan on this one and start over."

THE CHAIRMAN'S CORNER

The Grand Old Party ... the party of Lincoln.

As Republicans, in times like these, we must turn to the sage words of Abraham Lincoln -- the first Republican president -- and honor his legacy by reminding Republicans and Democrats alike that Lincoln was in fact a Republican with strong Republican ideals and values. Lincoln was not a Democrat, contrary to statements made by the President and other Democrat leaders improperly seeking to appropriate the legacy Lincoln for their own political gain.

As a matter of fact, Lincoln would be appalled by the assault the Democrats have made on our free markets that have taken the form of bank bailouts, nationalization of the domestic auto industry and staggering debts that will inevitably lead to a debased currency. To the bailouts of banking and industrial concerns, Lincoln might say what he had said about capitalism: it is “the just and generous and prosperous system, which opens the way for all -- gives hope to all, and energy and progress and improvement of condition to all.” More germane to the bailouts, he would probably add: to those who fail “it is not the fault of the system, but because of either a dependent nature which prefers it, or improvidence, folly, or singular misfortune.” In other words, Lincoln surely would say that capitalism and free markets are not to blame for bad business decisions. Bad business decisions are generally to blame!

We must not let the Democrats misappropriate Lincoln. Rather, we must reaffirm what we all know: Lincoln was a Republican in the 1860’s and he would be a Republican today. They can have Arlen Specter, but we’ll keep Lincoln.

Justin R. Clark
Chairman

VOTE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS. VOTE LOW TAXES. VOTE REPUBLICAN.

THE CHAIRMAN'S CORNER

In these difficult and uncertain economic times, Governor Rell has proposed a state budget that is both courageous and forward-thinking. It is courageous because it takes on issues that people have been afraid to face in the past and is forward-thinking because it reigns in long-term spending, future tax increases and the size of government. This budget promotes growth and preserves Connecticut’s prosperity for future generations.

In her budget, the Governor asks us all to get our government back to basics and return it to its core missions: educating our children, protecting our people and helping those truly in need. In short, she is asking the politicians in Hartford to do exactly what every Connecticut family is doing during these difficult times: cut back, do more with less and only do those things as a community that the people cannot do for themselves individually.

From the Town of West Hartford’s perspective, the centerpieces of Governor Rell’s budget are the suspension of binding arbitration for two years and the prohibition on new state mandates without a 2/3 vote of the General Assembly. These common sense approaches to state mandate reform will reduce the burden on our schools and allow more of our resources to go to the classroom, rather than to costly labor fights. Even our own Democratic Mayor has supported this type of mandate reform. In his November 23, 2008 opinion piece in the Courant, the Mayor demanded that the state “suspend the 1,203 unfunded mandates on the books.”

On Tuesday, February 24, the West Hartford Town Council will take up a resolution supporting these mandate reforms. Please contact the Mayor (860-561-7445; ScottSlifka@yahoo.com) and ask him to support them. This issue is not about partisan politics, but rather common sense governance in a time of economic difficulty and putting more of our scarce resources into the classroom.

Thank you,

Justin R. Clark
Chairman

Peter J. Martin
Vice Chairman

VOTE NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS. VOTE LOW TAXES. VOTE REPUBLICAN.