RTM First District Election Preview

Editor’s Note: This is the first of four previews on the election for the Representative Town Meeting, one for each district. Unlike the other races, the return of our election questionnaires was spotty (expected with more than 40 candidates). If any candidate did not return a questionnaire, please send them to me by Friday at paul.petrone@patch.com.

Every two years, every member of the 22-person Representative Town Meeting is up for re-election. And in the First District, which is the southern part of town, this election will mean change.

Of the five incumbents only three are running for re-election: Democrats Andrea Kanfer, David Cattanach and Brendan McGuirk. Democrat John Doroski and the sole Republican in the district, Rodney Pinkham, are not running.

The Incumbents

Cattanach dealt with health problems, and missed eight consecutive meetings from 2010 to 2011. But he has said he recovered and made it to the last RTM meeting, andhe would be healthy enough to make all the meetings if elected.

Cattanach was the superintendent of Waterford schools before retiring in 1992. He said his biggest priority, if re-elected, would be to find an “appropriate balance between Waterford services and taxes that will provide the best possible quality of life for all citizens at a reasonable level of taxation.”

Kanfer is the head of the Democrats on the RTM. The former nurse and teacher said the biggest issue facing the town is “better control of expenditures and being fiscally responsible."

McGuirk did not return a questionnaire.

The Challengers

Three Republicans and one Democrat fill out the rest of the field.

Democrat George Peteros is running for the RTM after spending 20 years on the Board of Finance. 

"I am not a politician nor do I have any desire to seek higher office," Peteros wrote in his questionnaire. "I am a long-time resident of Waterford with an interest in creating honest and efficient government.

Republican Craig Merriman is an engineer at General Dynamics in Pawcatuck, and a newcomer to Waterford politics. Merriman said his biggest priority would be finding savings in the budget, such as regionalizing services or controlling health costs.

Republican Janet Smith is also a newcomer to Waterford politics, and works at LOGS Group, LLC. Smith has an MBA, and said she would look for ways to save money.

Republican Timothy Condon did not return a questionnaire. Condon is also a newcomer to Waterford politics, and is the deputy chief of the Jordan Fire Company.

The Questionnaires

Craig R. Merriman    

Age:   49

Address:    21 Louise Street

Employment (if retired, when and from what):  Senior Systems Engineer, General Dynamics Information Technology, Pawcatuck, CT

Education:   Some college (Univ. of New Haven, Three Rivers CC), working toward a degree in Anthropology.  Graduated from Grasso Tech, Class of 1980, President of 1st graduating class from the school.  National Honor Society, Treasurer.

Incumbent? (if yes, first elected when):   No.

Previous elected experience:   None.

Civic experience (appointments, nonprofits): Cub Scout and Boy Scout leader.  Coaching softball (Little League South) and soccer (Waterford Soccer Club).  Freemasons (Member of the Brainard Lodge, Niantic, CT).

Top issue facing the town and his/her ideas: We have to be creative in finding savings in the budget with minimal impact to town services.  Regionalization is one of the ways that we can find savings, another is through medical expenses.  Some of these savings are needed to rebuild our capital budget with an eye toward building renovations that have been put on hold due to the large expenses incurred while building the new schools.

Janet Smith           

Age: 51

Address: 6 Baldwin Drive, Waterford

Employment (if retired, when and from what): LOGS Group LLC

Education: MBA Grand Canyon University

Incumbent? (if yes, first elected when) No

Previous elected experience: None

Civic experience (appointments, nonprofits): Too many to list

Top issue facing and the town and his/her ideas: Saving Money, dig deeper into smaller expenses, pennies add up.

Andrea F. Kanfer

Address: 16 Baldwin Drive, Waterford

Employment:  Retired L.P.N. St. Francis Hospital; teacher Westone Preschool; substitute teacher Waterford Schools 

Education:  OLA Academy, Enfield; A.I. Prince L.P.N. Training; University of Hartford BS Early Childhood Education

Incumbent:  yes, seeking sixth term

Previous elected experience:  five terms on the RTM

Civic experience:  Public Health, Rec & Environment '99– present; Education Committee '99-'09; Committee Member of Youth Services Bureau to Combat Underage Drinking, WADE, '96-present; St. Paul Church – Parishioner, Eucharistic Minister; 6th grade CCD teacher '09-present; Religious Emblems Counselor in the Diocese of Norwich for Catholic Girl Scouts '09-present; Girl Scouts – Lifetime member; Troop Leader 13 years; Girl Scout Registrar for Waterford, '98-present; Develop & produce new programs for Waterford & Girl Scout Council; Justice of the Peace '07-present; Committee to select private agencies to recommend to the Commissioner of State department of Developmental Services '10-'11; Waterford Week Committee Co-chair, '03-'06; Substitute Teacher & Vol. - Waterford Public Schools '93-'05; Coordinator of the Waterford Week Parades: Parade '02-'06; Historic Division - Bicentennial Parade, '01

Top issue facing and the town and his/her ideas:

1. Better control of expenditures and being fiscally responsible
2. Improve the aging infrastructure, the sewer system.
3. Concern of town buildings: the fire houses,and the construction of the high school

David L. Cattanach

Age: 79

Address: 16 Longview Avenue

Employment (if retired, when and from what): Waterford Superintendent of Schools, retired 1992

Education: BS University of Houston 1953, M.S. University of Hartford 1963, PhD University of Connecticut 1967

Incumbent? Yes. 1997-2011

Previous elected experience:  President Oneida County N.Y. Superintendents Association (Early 1970s, President Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents

Civic experience: 1994 Charter Revision Commission, Chairm of original RTM Long Range Fiscal Planning Committee, Member Chester, CT Library Board (1960s)

Top issue facing and the town and his/her ideas: Achieving an appropriate balance between Waterford services and taxes that will provide the best possible quality of life for all citizens at a reasonable level of taxation. (As the original chairman of the original RTM Long Range Fiscal Planning Committee, in service on the current Town Fiscal Planning committee to update original spending and tax guidelines, and in all other RTM activities and memberships over the past decade, my efforts have focused on achieving an appropriate balance between Waterford services and taxes that will provide the best possible quality of life for all citizens.)   To me, this continues as our top RTM priority.

George A. Peteros

Age:     78

Address: 5 Trumbull Rd  

Employment:  Retired Chief of Structural Engineering, General Dynamics/ Electric Boat

Education:  B.S.C.E. Northeastern University; MS, University of Connecticut;. MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Incumbent? (If yes, first elected when) Incumbent member, Board of Finance

Previous elected experience: Served 20 years (1991-2011) on the Board of Finance, seven years (1995-2001) as chairman

Civic experience (appointments, non-profits) and Affiliations

• Member School Building Committee, 2 years
• Team Manager/Coach, Little League North, 4 years
• Chairman, Long Range Fiscal Planning Committee
• Chaired numerous ad hoc committees in Town government
• Jordan Firehouse Building Committee, 2 years
• Co- Moderator, Second Congregational Church, New London
• Registered Professional Engineer
• Member Sierra Club

Top issue facing the town and his/her ideas.

Finding ways to restrain tax increases while maintaining a satisfactory level of services. This can be accomplished by:

• Lobby state legislators to adopt the recommendations of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities initiatives for municipal fiscal relief. This includes abolishing and prohibiting unfunded and underfunded mandates.
• Explore alternate service delivery models e.g. more outsourcing
• Increased cooperation and consolidation of services both regional and inter department. e.g. establish a regional emergency dispatch center; Regional cooperation on the purchase and use of expensive specialty equipment; Merge the Town and Board of Education Finance Offices.
• The preparation of annual budgets should be focused on reducing the costs of delivering the same level of services and not service improvements (which invariably result in additional costs).
• Sound long term fiscal planning and good governance

Reason for running: Someone once remarked “politics are too serious a matter to be left to politicians.” I am not a politician nor do I have any desire to seek higher office. I am a long-time resident of Waterford with an interest in creating honest and efficient government.