Campaign Season Begins In West Hartford

Crack out the lawn signs and start the meet and greets... here come November's municipal elections.

The slate of candidates for Town Council and Board of Education have been determined after conventions were held by the GOP and the Democrats in town.

There are some new faces as well as some old ones, and plenty of diversity in backgrounds to represent people across the board in town. But honestly, it's the issues that matter most and how they each plan to tackle them.

The biggest issues to be debated will most likely be keeping taxes and spending in check, bringing business back to all those empty storefronts in town, and the State's perceived school population imbalances vs. neighborhood schools.

The Democrat position with regard to racial imbalance in our schools seems to be that moving our kids around to satisfy state racial imbalance numbers is the "moral" thing to do - while the other side of the aisle wants to keep neighborhood schools intact and save time and money involved in busing kids all over town (among other reasons).

Then of course with tough economic times before us, the issue of how to keep taxes from rising and still keep services in town will be no doubt be fiercely debated. With financial people on the ballot, we are bound to see some fine economic analysis and problem solving ideas presented. Surely, the discussion will center on upcoming union contract negotiations and creating sustainable budgets as we go forward for our Town. We should look forward to some concrete facts and ideas rather than the usual nebulous statements of lowered taxes and preserving services.

It looks like this new crop of candidates is ready to roll up their sleeves to do some serious work, and they have some good experience behind them. Even soon to be 18 year old Andrew Bannon-Guasp brings a fresh perspective to the Board of Education slate. This fellow may be young, but he has lived the school experience to know enough about what the school system really needs, and he has been a school representative on the Board of Education already. He's got plenty of experience for a first time candidate.

Between now and November, we should have ample time and opportunity to hear from all candidates. Please make sure that you do.

In the meantime we also bid adieu to Chuck Coursey, Carolyn Thornberry, Harry Captain and Jack Darcy. Thanks for serving.

Let the campaigns and debates begin!