Update: Nov. 7:
These are the unofficial results of the 143rd Assembly District election:
Norwalk
- Gail Lavielle: 2,740 votes
- Ted Hoffstatter: 2,317 votes
Westport
- Gail Lavielle: 574 votes
- Ted Hoffstatter: 477 votes
Wilton
- Gail Lavielle: 3,928 votes
- Ted Hoffstatter: 2,277 votes
Total:
- Gail Lavielle: 7,242 votes
- Ted Hoffstatter: 5,071 votes
Original story:
[Editor's Note: Join the conversation with fellow Connecticut constituents in our Election Day live blog and results article, where voter tallies will be posted as they come in, and find all the information you need for your local elections—where to vote, who is running and how to access each race article—in your local Election Day 2012 hub.]
Today, Ted Hoffstatter, who has been elected to the Wilton Board of Selectman three times, is looking to unseat State Rep. Gail Levielle, a Republican who has represented Connecticut's 143rd Assembly District since 2010.
The 143rd Assembly District represents parts of Westport, Wilton, and Norwalk.
Levielle, who lives in Wilton, had a 100 percent attendance and voting record during the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions. She has more than 20 years experience in executive leadership positions at Fortune 500 companies.
Levielle is a member of three General Assembly committees: Appropriations, Education, and Transportation. She is also a member of the Higher Education Consolidation Committee and the bipartisan Long Island Sound Caucus.
If elected, Hoffstatter said he intends to attract new businesses in order to create new jobs, and “keep young people in state by investing in research and development and transportation infrastructure,” according to his website.
Hofstatter said he would also like to ease the tax burden for all citizens and “trim the budget by eliminating redundancies and wasteful business practice.”
Lavielle, a Republican, is a member of the Wilton Board of Finance and Public Transportation Comission. Since 2008, Hofstatter has has served as the Democratic State Central Committee representative for the 26th district.
I thought that the Ambler house should have been sold off to a private investor to be renovated and turned into a self-sustaining -- tax-paying! -- bed-and-breakfast, perhaps with a small catering venue or restaurant. There are few of them in our immediate area, and none in Wilton. With Rolling Hills CC adjacent, I don't feel it would have been impossible to get part of the land designated as commercial property. And the costs of sustaining the White Barn's utilities could have been partially sustained by private functions such as weddings and parties. Think of how the Chamber of Commerce, the Village Market, local restaurants, etc. could have marketed romantic weekends at the Ambler House to raise their profiles. I don't agree with those who feel that maintaining a disheveled farmhouse (that had an unusable, dangerous staircase) is an educational tool for our children. I'd bet the kids really don't care about that, and the primitiveness and the artifacts at the Wilton Historical Society probably resonate much more about how life was once lived. Yes, I'd also like to see a financial statement.
Just a thought to consider...
So it cost me $82 this year so your child could appreciate a salad?
I appreciate that Ambler Farm was/is a locally-grown food source and that students had the opportunity to absorb vitamin D, use their muscles and better understand the farm-to-fork connection. I adore my home-grown tomatoes, veggies and basil so I know what it takes to get such a harvest, granted, on a much smaller scale. Still, I have to shake my head in bewilderment that fellow taxpayers and I have to pick up any of the tab for the Ambler house. What is its value to us? At least the White Barn might be bringing in some revenue as a meeting place, although it's difficult to tell how aggressively it's being marketed as such, particularly with restrictive zoning laws. While I certainly wouldn't want to see the Ambler house torn down and yet another McMansion slapped together in its place, I don't see how the people of Wilton in the near- and long-term will derive value from the house merely being rehabbed and turned into a "stop in time" kind of shrine.
First, I did address the fact that I basically agreed with you. I was merely answering your comment that the children "really don't care" about Ambler Farm and its educational purposes. That is why I wrote about the use of the farm for purpose of internships (unpaid help) and agricultural education. Second, you don't seem to understand that if we teach our children about the importance of "locally grown produce," they will come to understand the importance of producing products and goods right here at home. It may not seem important now, but it will in the future. I believe most feel we need to produce more in the USA. The next time you go to Stop and Shop, read the labels on your fruits and vegetables...you will be surprised to see how much comes from other countries.
Just because the town made a stupid decision years ago in regards to Ambler, does not mean the town needs to continue to make that same stupid decision over and over.
Merwin Meadows and the Tennis courts are town facilities and should be supported by tax dollars. Ambler Farm is a 990 non-profit organization. The Wilton administration pulled a fast one on the taxpayer by inserting this bond issue knowing a 14% voter turnout. Did the 200k go out for bid? Or this is another one of the Ambler/Administration palsies walsies getting the business on Wilton taxpayers money? What a racket....Has the Y asked for 200k from the town yet? I don't think so because there is successful fund development.
the only time i'll use Ambler Farm will be if I duck hook my second shot on the tenth fairway at Rolling Hills. I'll have to go into your agrarian pumpkin patch to retreive it. You pulled a fast one on Wilton taxpayers. Also, who got the business for the 200k we shelled out?
Again you compare apples to oranges. In the presidential election, every four years we get the opportunity to decide (vote) if we want to change our minds as to who is in office. But yet you do not want to give us that opportunity on Ambler. You say that since we voted one time on Ambler, that decision has to stand forever. How about we vote again if we should continue to support a hobby with our tax dollars?
One such as yourself, if truly raised on a farm, would find appreciation in Ambler Farm. .
Hey I am all for farms. I respect farmers. It's a difficult but rewarding life style. We still have the place but specialize in organic wheat strains. Real farmers must have an array of skills from chemistry, genetics, conservation to rain dances. they need to adapt to new technologies or wither away. But there is a huge difference between farming to sustain a family and what they do at Ambler. Be my guest, pay the $82.00 they bill me and feel twice as good as you do now