www.southingtoncitizen.com
Volume 18, Number 50
Friday, December 10, 2021
Debate on affordable housing by leaders, residents
Appointments by GOP-led council anger Democrats By Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff
A Republican victory last month led to more GOP appointees on local boards and commissions but those appointments have caused friction between Town Council Republicans and Democrats.
By Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff
Town leaders and residents offered different perspectives on affordable housing in Southington Tuesday night, Nov. 30, with some pointing to the variety of housing options in town and others concerned about rising real estate costs. The public information session at the Weichsel Municipal Center is part of an affordable housing study required by the state. Glenn Chalder is president of Planimetrics, the company Southington hired to conduct the study. He said housing costs have risen so that more and more people are paying more than a third of their income for a home. “Housing was much more affordable in the 1960s relative to income than it is today,” Chalder said. More than a quarter of Southington households earn less than $50,000 per year. “There’s not always housing for people at modest income levels,” he said. The state’s goal is for 10 percent of a town’s housing stock to be affordable, defined as costing a medianearning household no more than 30 percent of its income. According to the latest state See Housing, A2
Fundraiser to support food groups sets record By Devin Leith-Yessian Record-Journal staff
An annual joint fundraiser between Liberty Bank and Rotary Clubs statewide raised a record-breaking $1.4 million for food related initiatives. Of that amount, Rotary Club of Southington Service Projects Chair Rebecca Terricciano said the partnership raised around $280,000 locally through the Liberty Bank/Rotary Thanksgiving Dinner Drive, which will be distributed to several local organizations running food pantries, holiday baskets and meal distributions. “The needs in the community are really large right now so I think they're grateful to have the support of our Southington residents and community partners,” she said. That money will go toward organizations like Southington Community Services, which runs a food pantry and holiday meal distribution; the Salvation Army; United Way; a food pantry run by The Tabernacle church; and Bread for Life, which serves hot meals and delivers food to those who are unable to leave their homes. The Rotary club also used some of the funds to run its own Senior Holiday Luncheon on Dec. 1. In the past, the lun-
cheon was a big get-together between Rotarians and seniors living in Southington Housing Authority complexes, however to be cautious during the pandemic they instead delivered the meals to residents’ doorsteps. From Nov. 1 through Nov. 20, Rotary, Liberty Bank and participating organizations collected donations which were put into a fund at the bank. On Nov. 22, the funds were distributed to the organizations plus a 25 percent contribution from Liberty Bank, which amounted to $286,275 this year. The fundraiser is also known as the turkey leg drive, as tellers at Liberty Bank encourage customers to donate by purchasing a paper turkey leg, with the proceeds going to the fund. “As a community bank that’s been around for nearly 200 years, we are fully dedicated to fulfilling our mission: to improve the lives of our customers, teammates and communities for generations to come,” said Liberty Bank President David W. Glidden. “With the help of Rotary partners and our generous community, our goal was to raise enough money to provide Thanksgiving food and to stock local food pantries in preparation for the cold winter months. This holiday See Fundraiser, A2
Town Council Chairwoman Victoria Triano makes appointments to non-elected town positions. Triano, a Republican, was reelected in November when her party maintained its 6-3 majority on the council, the maximum allowed, by wide vote margins. Triano said the election, in which no Republican lost, shows town residents want Republicans to move the town forward. Appointments to town groups such as the Board of Library Directors, Parking Authority and Zoning Board of Appeals were part of that mandate. “People put us in because people like our agenda,” Triano said. Democrats complained that they were being shut out as Republicans expanded majorities on some boards and replaced Democrats with Republicans or unaffiliated town residents on others. Tony D’Angelo, Democratic Town Committee chairman, said party leadership wasn’t consulted even on the Democrats appointed late last month. “There was no input from the Democrats. It was all Republican controlled,” D’Angelo said. “That was really disappointing.” See Appointments, A20