MONROE, CT — Town Councilman Jason Maur has been in the minority party since joining the governing body eight years ago. This election, the Democrat has four running mates as the party vies to turn Monroe blue with a 5-4 majority.
“I think the biggest aspect a Democratic Party majority wants to bring is long term planning and long term thinking,” Maur said.
The lifelong Monroe resident said he knows how the town works and its potential — for its parks and for its schools. Maur said there are two parts of the statement, “taxes are too high.”
“Everybody says taxes are too high. I agree,” he said. “But everyone has to pay attention to the second part which is, ‘for what we get.’ And we have to talk about what our taxes can provide to our citizens, things like trash pickup without raising the tax burden.”
Another idea posed by Maur is free use of the Masuk High School pool for Monroe residents, whether it’s two nights a week or more.
He said the town must stop “kicking the can down the road” and come up with long term plans for roads and infrastructure that will save money over time, and to review its budget line-item-by-line-item to ensure taxpayers’ money is being spent as efficiently as possible.
Maur attended the Monroe Democratic Town Committee’s Meet the Candidates Picnic last Sunday with his wife, Vicky, and their two children, three-year-old twins Leah and Alex.
He is running with newcomers Benjamin Sabia, who serves on the Inland Wetlands Commission, and Nina Gagnon, and fellow incumbents Janice Persico and Cathy Kohut.
Kohut attended the picnic with her dog, Fiona. Both serve together on Resources in Search and Rescue Inc. Kohut is seeking a second two-year-term.
“There’s so much work to be done in Monroe and I feel I have the experience and the knowledge to serve and to benefit the town,” Kohut said.
She said a Democratic Party majority on the Town Council would mean fiscal responsibility, and concern for education and providing adequate space for students.
“I believe we would be much more transparent in how the town operates and how our money is spent,” Kohut said.
Kohut expressed her belief that the Town Council would benefit from a higher turnout at its meetings, so members can hear directly from citizens, especially during the budget process.
She hopes to continue to serve Monroe after the election. “I lived a life of service to my community and to my state in my volunteer and professional time,” Kohut said.
Paying it forward
Persico, Gagnon and Sabia met at the Starbucks on Monroe Turnpike one recent evening.
“I don’t think there’s been a Democrat controlled Town Council in decades,” Persico said, while sitting around a table. “It’s been a very long time.”
At budget time, Persico said a Democratic Party majority on the Town Council could mean more changes if First Selectman Terry Rooney, the Republican incumbent, wins reelection. If his challenger, Democrat Leon Ambrosey, wins, Persico said the Council could support his agenda easier.
“I’ve been in town over a decade now,” Gagnon said. “My kids are in school and I’m a teacher, so I want a good foundation for all students.”
Gagnon, who is a math interventionist at the Jockey Hollow STEM Academy, said town officials should find funding for needs, not wants.
“Your background in math is so important,” Persico said.
Gagnon is an active volunteer. She served on the Monroe Playground Committee, volunteered for the Cub Scouts and was a coach for the YMCA’s Race for Chase.
Over the years, she and her husband experienced some hard times, including job losses.
“We’ve had to use the services the town offers,” Gagnon said of Project Warmth. “At one point my husband was laid off on the fifth of December, right in the cold season. I just started the paperwork for social services.”
The couple ran out of time, but Project Warmth helped them pay their oil bill the next day.
“We’re going to pay it back,” Gagnon said. “Everybody goes through hardships. We needed it. All sorts of people need it, whether they look like they need it or not. I can relate to people on the other end of it.”
Gagnon said she is running for Town Council to give back to the community and ensure everyone gets the services they need.
Sabia, 33, is a Monroe native. He remembers coming back to his hometown after living in Maryland for four years.
“I didn’t recognize the town,” he said. “Familiar businesses were gone, including Buffalo Bill’s and Really Good Stuff, and the roads were in shambles. It was mostly the roads that were really bothering me. I wanted to know what was going on.”
Jerry Stevens, a longtime Board of Education member, invited Sabia to a Democratic Town Committee meeting.
“I heard it from everybody,” Sabia said. “Like-minded people were complaining about the schools and the roads. Jason Maur said, ‘you should join a committee.'”
Sabia, who describes himself as an environmentalist, joined the Monroe Inland Wetlands Commission. Through this experience, he said he has seen applications involving the clear cutting of woods and for multi-family housing developments encroaching on waterways.
Sabia said it was difficult seeing the loss of natural beauty along the section of the Housatonic Rail Trail near the Amazon building at the Trumbull-Monroe line, an area where a new daycare was recently approved by the river.
“I know the town needs to be developed to bring in businesses to offset taxes,” Sabia said. “But we have empty storefronts right here in places like Clock Tower Square.”
He said he voted against the Sun Valley Glen cluster housing development, because the plan includes building a road over a river.
“On Inland Wetlands you’re stuck behind a wall,” Sabia said, adding the Town Council is a board where his voice can be heard.
During the last budget cycle, he said he was “devastated” upon hearing the world language program would be cut when the Board of Education’s requested increase was reduced by the first selectman.
“I couldn’t take Spanish because my IEP wouldn’t let me,” Sabia said of his time as a student. “I lost a lot and I feel like I’m at a disadvantage.”
“I’m getting frustrated with how the town’s currently being run through Facebook,” Sabia said.
He said he filed a request with public works for someone to look at drainage in front of his house last fall.
“My father and I had to keep sending requests,” Sabia said. “They came out and left a big gap in the road. They left it. My dad made a complaint on Facebook and they fixed it two days later.”
Persico is seeking her second term on the Council.
“I loved it,” she said of the first two years. “I feel like I learned a lot about local government that I didn’t know. I joined because I wanted to be more involved in town and to know what’s going on.”
Persico said she enjoys being involved, even in the more tedious work, which results in a lot of changes in town.
“It’s important to have a lot of voices on Town Council, people from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives,” she said. “I’m a stay at home parent. I feel I bring that perspective.”
Persico’s town involvement goes beyond the Town Council.
“I’m a history buff. I’m on the Historical Society and I feel a need to preserve the local history of the town,” she said. “The Historical Society is in the process of turning over the Beardsley House to the town. It’s going to be a big deal, what we do with that house, but that’s just one thing.”
“I like serving on the Town Council because we get to do many different things,” Persico said of being on subcommittees, making appointments, being involved in the budget process, planning for roads, and involvement in projects like the community center.
Aside from serving on the Town Council, Persico said being secretary of the Parent Council in town informs her on issues in Monroe’s schools.
“There are so many things you have to be aware of all the time,” she said. “If I’m not reelected, I might still go to all the meetings.”
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