By James Lomuscio
The topic was the environment; the questions were fast paced and pointed as the four candidates for Westport first selectman and two for second selectman squared off at Earthplace tonight.
David Mann (l), who heads the Westport Green Task Force, served as moderator. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
David Mann, who heads the Green Task Force, did not pull any punches as he asked each if he or she would favor banning plastic bottles in town, if they watered their lawns, or if they would prohibit fracking waste from coming through Westport, among other topics.
Mann also kept all of the candidates on a strict time clock, cutting them off mid-sentence as he moved to the next candidate.
Before a standing room only crowd of mostly high school students, the six candidates – incumbent Republican First Selectman Jim Marpe and his running mate Jennifer Tooker, Democratic challenger Melissa Kane and her second selectman running mate Rob Simmelkjaer, Independent John Suggs and unaffiliated candidate Timothy J. Elgin – had their green mettle tested.
Out of the gate, Marpe spoke of his commitment over the past fours to the Green Task Force and his administration’s accomplishments: the construction of solar energy panels; 13 electric vehicle charging stations; a no-idling initiative and the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) passing a resolution for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Kane, an RTM member, said that she pushed for the legislative body to strengthen the Net Zero 2050 resolution by adding the town’s commitment to the Paris Climate Accord.
She also spoke of her work as vice chairman of the Green Village Initiative, her support of the Wakeman Town Farm, promoting single stream recycling and how as co-chair of the Downtown Steering Committee she secured $600,000 in grant money to end downtown flooding.
The Earthplace auditorium was packed for the event. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Suggs, who touted a broad background in social service, said that the environment “is very near and dear to my heart,” having worked with western Pennsylvania families suffering from the negative effects of fracking.
Elgin briefly said that the environment is best addressed when the community comes together.
“We are the idol of Connecticut,” Elgin said. “We should take advantage of that and try to unite together.”
Tooker showed her environmental stripes saying her first elected office was a seat on Westport’s Conservation Commission.
She also said her family grows its own fruits and vegetables “and refuse to turn on the air conditioning until its 90 degrees in our home.” Mann later posed a “gotcha” question when he asked if she watered her lawn.
“Yes,” she said.
Simmelkjaer spoke about his role on the Zoning Board of Appeals, saying that environmental protection and economic development “don’t have to be in opposition to each other.”
Tonight was the last opportunity to hear the candidates together talk about issues facing Westport before Tuesday’s election. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
“I would like to see them come here,” he said about a Tesla dealership the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) denied setting up shop in the Saugatuck area, a dealership he said could work in another section of town.
When Mann asked how each would implement sustainability throughout town to achieve a net zero goal, Marpe said that “changing the mindset” would be key.
He said that would come via educational efforts and financial acumen, such as when the Police Department’s cruisers went from eight cylinder to equally efficient six-cylinder vehicles.
Kane said that Net Zero 2050 is a “very worthy first step.” Like Marpe, she supported increasing public, environmental education, plus specific efforts such as banning artificial turf fields, ending the town’s spraying of pesticides “and doing more land banking.”
Suggs took the opportunity to take aim at the Downtown Mater Plan, which he said missed the opportunity to incorporate rain gardens into its design. He also called for the rehabilitation of old buildings.
Elgin said that while Net Zero 2050 is “a great idea,” it will not prevail without public education about how to achieve it.”
In response to Mann’s question about open space, Suggs talked about the 22-acre, town-owned Baron’s South property, which the P&Z designated passive open space, derailing a seven-year planned senior housing complex there.
Democrat Melissa Kane makes a point tonight as Republican incumbent Jim Marpe listens. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
As a RTM member, he said he voted against overturning the P&Z, calling the property “sacred land, and the development would be too intense.”
Kane responded that that while she agreed open space should be a priority, she believed senior housing should have been on Baron’s South.
She called it “a missed opportunity.” Kane also said that the officials missed another opportunity by not purchasing the Daybreak Nursery property.
“When we do this, it is of great benefit to the town,” she said.
Marpe said that the adaptive reuse of Baron’s South is being looked at as a home for the Westport Arts Center.
“And we need to be looking at land we should acquire by working with the Aspetuck Land Trust,” Marpe said.
Elgin said he would favor senior housing at Baron’s South because that is where the Westport Center for Senior Activities is located.
And then there was a question about single-use, plastic water bottles. Mann asked if the town should consider banning those just as it did plastic shopping bags.
“I would love to do that and to start with the schools,” Kane said. “It’s so easy to teach.”
Marpe, Suggs and Elgin agreed.
Tooker and Simmelkjaer, however, took a more cautious approach, saying it has to be studied.
“In the meantime, we have to recycle,” said Simmelkjaer.
In their closing comments, each candidate not only touted their commitment to the environment, but why he or she based on experience would be the candidate to vote for on Tuesday to lead Westport for the next four years.
