{"id":879,"date":"2015-10-14T16:59:42","date_gmt":"2015-10-14T16:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/?p=879"},"modified":"2024-01-18T23:59:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T23:59:59","slug":"sherman-selectmen-candidates-answer-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/sherman-selectmen-candidates-answer-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Sherman Selectmen Candidates Answer Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Ashleigh Blake
\nDemocratic Candidate for Selectman
\nBy Veronica Scheer,\u00a0Citizen News October 14, 2015<\/p>\n

In an interview with Ashleigh Blake, who is running for Selectman on the Democratic ticket, she was asked why she chose to run\u00a0for this position. She responded by saying \u201cit was a natural progression …initially when I came to town, I joined the Conservation\u00a0Commission and was involved with a lot of town activities. In 2012\u00a0I joined the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and attended many\u00a0town meetings such as Planning & Zoning, Board of Selectmen, and\u00a0the Board of Education. And it seemed natural to take that next step\u00a0because I am invested in the town and want to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked how she has kept up on town business as it relates to\u00a0the Selectmen<\/em>, she said as a member of the Conservation Commission from 2006 to 2013 she was involved with several major town items such as four acre\u00a0zoning and the natural resource report. Over the past year she has regularly attended the\u00a0Selectmen meetings, follows town items in the papers, and through discussion with various\u00a0town leaders and residents.
\nThe next question was what action should the town take concerning affordable senior\u00a0housing<\/em>. She pointed out the former housing commission did a lot of work on bringing\u00a0this type of housing to the town and felt they were \u201cnot truly heard\u201d and given the time\u00a0they needed to explain things. \u201cIf I were First Selectman at the time, I would have\u00a0remained more neutral. I would have put all the information out there and not taken a\u00a0particular side and let the town vote. I felt that that vote was skewed with hearsay and a\u00a0lot of rumors such as seniors driving over children on the soccer fields. I think it needed\u00a0an air of neutrality that was not there.\u201d She recalled the Anderson Road affordable\u00a0housing development previously brought to the Planning & Zoning. Commission where\u00a0the developer implied the reasons the town had turned down this project were invalid\u00a0and suggested they might appeal to the state under its Affordable Housing Land Use\u00a0Appeals process. Sherman is vulnerable to developers who proposed to build affordable\u00a0housing projects as the town does not meet the required 10% minimum affordable\u00a0housing units set by the state. She said \u201cthat threat could always pop up again and that is\u00a0not ideal for the town as far as managing growth. I feel if we could provide some\u00a0affordable housing for our seniors, we could kill two birds with one stone…and would\u00a0show we were making every effort to provide this type of housing.\u201d She pointed to\u00a0some of her peers who have aging parents, and they would like housing that is close to\u00a0them where their parents can be active in their own community and not be isolated in a\u00a0single family home.<\/p>\n

When asked for one skill she possesses that would be of value as one of the town\u00a0leaders<\/em>, she said \u201chard working\u201d and \u201cvery tenacious.\u201d .She really devotes herself to all\u00a0the projects she has been involved in and will put in as many hours as necessary to get\u00a0the job done. Her people skills are another asset that she used as a member of the PTO\u00a0where she would interface with the parents, teachers and students. \u201cYou need to listen\u00a0to people\u2019s needs and translate it into something that can be done within the school\u00a0environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside of\u00a0\u00a0recommending potential sites and interested land owners to Homeland Towers for improved cell service in the south and north ends of town, what else night\u00a0the town do to make this happen<\/em>? She said \u201cfor right now, the town should listen “to\u00a0them [Homeland Towers and the grass root group called Residents for Reliable Cell\u00a0Service in Sherman, CT] and remain open and see what Homeland comes back with.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about Happy Acres farm and possibility of establishing a farm committee\u00a0who would represent the town\u2019s interest in the property<\/em>, she felt a farm committee\u00a0should be established. Such a committee could be the mediator between the residents
\nand Full Circle and help keep residents informed on farming activities as well as help\u00a0the farmers to succeed.<\/p>\n

During the Selectmen meetings there are two opportunities for the public to ask\u00a0questions and some questions are answered while other may not receive a response.\u00a0What are your thoughts about this process?<\/em> Ashleigh felt, when possible, answers\u00a0should be given; however, there are times when the question will need to be researched.\u00a0And for those unanswered, the Selectmen should get back ‘to that person.<\/p>\n

What do you see as the most challenging items facing the town<\/em>? She believes senior\u00a0housing will be one of the challenges facing the town and how that is dealt with either\u00a0from the town or an independent developer. The former kindergarten wing at the school
\nwhere mold and other issues were found will need some type of mediation at a cost to\u00a0the town. She felt municipal facilities maintenance will be another issue and did not\u00a0agree with the town\u2019s decision to cut the facilities manager position and characterized\u00a0this decision as lacking foresight and requires the town to hire a clerk-of-the-works for
\nsuch projects as the new school boiler project and the construction of the public works\u00a0truck wash station.<\/p>\n

When asked about the recent announcement that there is a surplus of approximately $450,000 for the 2014-15 year, $425,000 0 which is recommended to be transferred\u00a0into the capital nonrecurring fund,<\/em> she questioned how this was characterized as\u00a0handing back money to the taxpayers. She said \u201cthe taxpayers are not getting it; it is not\u00a0a check being written to you or me, our taxes went up and if, in fact, this amazing
\nsurplus is there, then what are we doing. I question the management as the taxes went up\u00a0but we have this large surplus. Either the surplus is not there as it is all earmarked to pay\u00a0for a specific projects such as the new school boiler and it is like smoke and mirrors…or
\nwe should not have that much overage and been taxed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She feels, as Selectman, it is important to attend as many meetings as possible such as\u00a0the Board of Education; particularly, during budget season, and feels this is lacking\u00a0under the current administration. The goal being to \u201clisten and be informed. This ties\u00a0back to those people who volunteer for these positions feeling respected, and they are
\ndoing a job that is being seen and heard, and they are highly regarded making their\u00a0volunteer work worthwhile for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND<\/p>\n

Ashleigh Blake has lived in Sherman with her husband, Joel, and two children for 17\u00a0years. She has served on the Conservation Commission for eight years, just finished four\u00a0years on the Sherman Parent Teacher Organization where she was president for three\u00a0years and regularly attends monthly Board of Education and Board of Selectmen
\nmeetings, and has volunteered at the school, library, Historical Society, Weed Warriors\u00a0and Matthew\u2019s Hearts of Hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ashleigh Blake Democratic Candidate for Selectman By Veronica Scheer,\u00a0Citizen News October 14, 2015 In an interview with Ashleigh Blake, who is running for Selectman on the Democratic ticket, she was … Continue reading Sherman Selectmen Candidates Answer Questions<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":904,"href":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions\/904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shermandems.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}