Mayor Slifka Quotations

There is no question that Jim Francis is the right man for the job because he will be able to step in on day one and be ready to help us with the many challenges facing our community. Jim has worked closely with Barry Feldman over the past 20 years and has a proven financial management record and an excellent working relationship with the financial community.

More than anybody in town, I would like to move on from the Blue Back debate.

Given his background and history, it raises some questions. It doesn't mean the requests are improper, but I would say that every single member of the council has an eye on this.

Given the anticipated public interest we know will accompany these applications, we have set other dates aside for further public hearings. We want to make sure we give the public an opportunity to speak.

He's going to face that conflict inevitably. The town is involved in ongoing litigation in which his brother had been a leading attorney. It's not about whether you're for or against Blue Back Square. It's about protecting the town's legal interest.

West Hartford has some of the most civic-minded citizens anywhere. They take their issues and their leaders very seriously.

The real shock was when somebody would turn into their driveway, so to speak, and their next-door neighbor had a huge billboard on their front lawn.

This represents an effort to make sure that we are doing all that we can to ensure our young people are responsible and safe. We must continue to educate the young people in the community about the dangers of alcohol as well as make sure that our laws are tight enough so that we, as a town, can intervene when it is necessary.

We thought the position needed to be updated in that regard.

We want to end the Blue Back Square debate and I am sure that we will all be able to breathe a sigh of relief when we can move on. I feel more confident than ever in the success that the project will have and in the vote that I have made to support it.

Now is not the time to bring in a town manager who would feel compelled to bring in their own people because we want to retain the first class management team that we already have in West Hartford. This selection brings protection to taxpayer money because no spending is needed to conduct a national search for a candidate.

This is a maintenance budget that provides the current level of services that we offer now. This budget is not all doom and gloom because there are some things within it that we should be excited about, but we felt that if further cuts were made, they would have a direct effect on our classrooms and town services like police and fire.

It's typical of the piecemeal approach the governor and the legislature has taken to property tax reform. They tweak something here or there, but it's never a big-picture approach.

It's limited enough that you're not unduly focusing on anyone's First Amendment rights.

The increase in our grand list is the highest that we have seen in decades. The growth we have seen on the real estate side shows that a lot of people are reinvesting in their properties and that is a great example of the kind of faith people have in our community.