Ziolkovski’s Manifesto

, Quaker Hill resident Kevin Ziolkovski was driving to work when he noticed the water level was high at a brook on Bloomingdale Road. Ziolkovski called Waterford Emergency Dispatch and said there was an issue, and it was likely to flood.

Ziolkovski then drove to his job at Groton Utilities, and when he returned home his fears had been realized. Bloomingdale Road and most of the rest of Quaker Hill was completely flooded, along with his house and garage.

“Twenty years of construction equipment, personal possessions and everything else was under five feet of water, floating around,” Ziolkovski said. “And I said to myself, this didn’t have to happen.”

Ziolkovski wanted to do some research on the dam at Millers Pond, which feeds the waterway that runs under Bloomingdale Road. He asked the state for documents on the design of the dam, but never received them. He then asked Rep. Betsy Ritter for help, but she did not get the documents he wanted, he said.

Ritter said she did not remember Ziolkovski calling her, although it could have happened. She only remembered talking to his father, who asked about doing some work on his property.

“That’s when I realized there is something really wrong at the way this government thing is going,” Ziolkovski said. “I realized then I was going to run for first selectman … I’d love to have that job.”

Ziolkovski has since filed paperwork in the town clerk’s office as a petitioning candidate. He is planning to run as an unaffiliated candidate, not seeking any endorsement from any political party or group.

“If people like what they say, they can support me,” he said.

The Plan

Ziolkovski, in an 80-minute interview with Patch, touched on a variety of issues he would like to pursue if elected as first selectman. At the top of the list, he said he was going to raise “expectations” of the town and its employees.

Ziolkovski explained a situation where he brought up pending construction on Miller Pond Road by public works to the building department, and the building department having no idea about it (Public Works Director Ron Cusano later denied this). Additionally, town hall’s schedule should be changed so it was open later, perhaps to 6 p.m., so people could get there after work, he said.

“I just wonder where the expectations are right now,” he said. “I could do this job. At the very least, I could do the job that is being done now.”

Ziolkovski went on to provide commentary on certain issues over the past year and how he would have handled them differently. Acquiring a , for example, was a mistake, he said.

There are homeless people living in Waterford, and the Charter Oak Federal Credit Union has done more by putting a portable toilet on its property than the town has done for them, Ziolkovski said. The money used for the boat would have been better spent on a homeless shelter, he said.

“If we can accept a grant for $500,000, we shouldn’t have used it for a boat,” Ziolkovski said. “We should have taken that money for a homeless shelter. Do we really need to be patrolling the water when we have homeless people living in this town?”

Additionally, Ziolkovski said he would fight hard in union negotiations. Next year, if it were totally up to him, all town employees would receive no raises, he said.

“How can I take money out of somebody else’s wallet and give it to a town employee, when everybody is struggling right now?” he said. “I just can’t justify that in my mind.”

Going along with his pledge not to seek endorsements, Ziolkovski said he would not seek the endorsement of the police union. An endorsement by the police union could read as a negative to others anyway, and it takes away from his message, he said.

“After all we hear from what they earn …  maybe that doesn’t sit well with the townspeople,” he said. “And that could be a negative.”

Ziolkovski also said he would continue to support five firehouses, and not try to get rid of one. However, again it could be possible to rework the schedule for a paid person to always be on at all hours, he said.

If Nothing Else…

If the campaign does nothing else, Ziolkovski hopes it at least brings some attention to local politics. The turnouts for the elections are very poor, he said.

In the last election for first selectman in 2009, when current First Selectman Dan Steward ran unopposed, fewer than 2,300 voted. According to election law, Ziolkovski needed just 1 percent of the last like-election to run as a petitioning candidate, or 23 signatures.

“I only needed 23 signatures to run for first selectman,” Ziolkovski said, who secured 29. “If nothing else, I hope that in the next election you will need more than 23 signatures to run for first selectman.”