{news} De Smet in Willimantic Chronicle: "Windham's last first selectman"

[David Bedell]

I found this coverage in The Chronicle - Windham will switch to a mayor government in 2009.



De Smet: Changing the future
Green Party first selectman expects a cooperative effort

Chronicle, The (Willimantic, CT)
November 8, 2007
Author: DAVID HINCHEY
Chronicle Staff Writer

WINDHAM - Green Party member and Bottom Line slate candidate Jean de Smet - who will soon be sworn in Nov. 20 to lead Windham - is already set to begin work as the town's top elected official. On Tuesday, de Smet ousted three-term incum­bent Democrat Michael Paulhus.

Though it's a week and half before she begins her two-year term, she said she's looking forward to meeting with town officials, especially with town hall staff.

"I want to get their ideas on how to make town hall better for people," de Smet said, speaking in terms of making town hall "more customer friend­ly."

She said she is also looking to work with opening up small businesses and "getting through this log jam" in regards to progress downtown.

De Smet said she would work with the Con­necticut Housing Finance Authority in regards to the YMCA building, and with the state in regards to the Nathan Hale Inn.

She also said she wanted to fight the Cedarwoods proposal and work toward rescinding the zone change for the Cedarwoods supportive housing project because she believes it should not be locat­ed on Roanoak Avenue but in downtown.

Cedarwoods gained zoning board approval in June and will go before the inland wetlands and watercourses commission tonight for approval to build in a wetlands area.

Progress with Cedarwoods is seen as key to progress for development along Main Street in Willimantic. The start of the proposed Frog Prince development project ties into relocating Windham House residents to Cedarwoods.

While voters elected de Smet, they re-elected members of the Democratic Party, who will hold a 7-4 edge on the town's board of selectmen.

De Smet said she is optimistic Democrats will work with her and said she believes a majority of people on the board will work for the betterment of the town.

She also said she looks forward to working with local representatives, adding that state Rep. WalterPawelkiewicz, D-Windham, said he would work with her. "I think he will," she said.

De Smet said both she and state Senate President Pro Tempore Donald Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, "agree on so many things" and she's "really looking forward to working with him.

"He's key," she said.

Elaborating on the issues, de Smet said most of what she's asking for is fairness in tax distribution, PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) distribution and education cost-sharing funding.

She also said the state should be picking up the tab for tax-exempt non-profit agencies.

Those elected to the board seem willing to work with de Smet.

"The voters spoke on Tuesday, but they re-elected a lot of Democrats," said re-elected Democrat Lynne Ide, adding there's a challenge ahead for all elected officials to work together to "keep the town moving forward in a positive direction."

"And we all need to learn how to work together," she said. "It's a new day."

Newly elected Jerry Iazzetta, a Democrat and cur­rent chairman of the inland wetlands and water­courses commission, said he has met de Smet at a wedding and on other social occasions, but hasn't worked with her in town.

He said he is going to "do the best he can" to work toward the betterment of the town and his past expe­riences with de Smet have been pleasant.

"We're hoping she can work with us," Windham Democratic Town Committee Chairman and Selectman Dawn Niles said. "She's an interesting person."

Niles said "it's obvious" that de Smet is a worker and said her party had not heard from de Smet yet, but " we all love this town."

She said a starting point would be downtown, say­ing Democrats and de Smet agree Main Street is the downtown and both sides are looking to see the downtown thrive.

Niles also said sometimes change or "new blood" is good and added she would have no problem work­ing with de Smet.

Pawelkiewicz said he would work with de Smet and that he called her yesterday to congratulate her on her victory.

He said after the election, politics should be over and that as state representative he looks forward to working with de Smet.

"We want to do everything we can to promote a positive future for the town," he said.

Pawelkiewicz said he and Williams would take a "coalition approach" to keep the lines of communi­cation open and that he would work with de Smet on items they can agree on.

She will have the distinction of being Windham's last first selectman. Voters on Tuesday approved a town manager/town council (with a mayor) form of government that wikll go into effect with the 2009 elections.


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