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Marcia Chambers | Nov 15, 2017 9:36 am
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(L-R): Jessica Buchanan and Michele Semper.
One of two Democratic candidates for the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) who tied for a seat following an official recount Saturday has decided to withdraw from the First District race. The First District is located in the heart of town.
Michele Sember, who tied for the RTM seat, decided to withdraw in favor of Jessica Buchanan. Both women had discussed a course of action during the recount and after being given several options. Initially Sember suggested they share the seat but that was not possible under current law. The RTM, the town’s legislative body, has 30 members representing seven election districts.
In the end it apparently seemed better to take charge of the situation as opposed to leaving it to a coin toss, especially after a long campaign.
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 14, 2017 9:17 am
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Bill O’Brien Photo
It was one of the best high school games of the year. On a recent Saturday, the Branford Hornets girls’ field hockey team battled the Hand Tigers through a scoreless 60 minutes of regulation and three 10-minute overtime periods before falling 4 – 2 in the penalty stroke session in the SCC title game at Guilford High School.
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SCC Commissioner Al Carbone presented the Regular Season Championship plaque and Runner Up plaque to captains LanLe Crotty (left), Brittney Bunbanlu, Sabrina Torcellini, coach Cathy McGuirk, and Autumn McHenry
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 13, 2017 8:50 am
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What would you like to change in Branford? Do you have suggestions or questions? Now’s the time to speak up.
A public workshop for updating the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) will be held Wednesday, Nov. 29, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Walsh Intermediate School, 185 Damascus Road. The POCD is “a tool for guiding the future of Branford. It is intended to be both visionary and action-oriented,” the POCD said in introducing its 2008 report. The POCD is updated every 10 years, and this one is due for completion in November 2018.
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 11, 2017 4:58 pm
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L-R: Jessica Buchanan and Michele Sember.
An election recount today between two first-time candidates for the RTM in the First District was a stunner with each emerging the winner.The first district is located in heart of town.
Michele Sember and Jessica Buchanan, both Democrats, were within one vote of each other (Buchanan at 572 and Sember at 571) when they arrived at the Registrar of Voters Office today at 9 a.m.
Marcia Chambers Photo
Four hours later, when John Mooney (L‑seated), the head election moderator, announced the outcome, their one vote difference became a tie vote with each arriving at 573 votes. Sember went up two votes; Buchanan went up one.
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 10, 2017 12:30 pm
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Have you turned on your heat yet? If you’ve been a hold-out, this may be the weekend – an Arctic cold front is descending on us, bring the coldest weather of the season. Indoor activities top the list this week, but given the fickle nature of New England weather, we’ll be heading outside soon. Got a cool event? Email sebahner@snet.net by Wednesday noon.
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 10, 2017 9:40 am
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Would there be a good turnout for the Veterans Day Parade?
Bill O’Brien Photo
The committee that oversees the annual parade was eager to find out. An effort was made to “get the word out” that unless attendance improved this might be Branford’s the last parade. Instead there would be a ceremony. Looks like getting the word out worked. Here the crowd gathers on Main Street as the parade steps off on the wet street.
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 9, 2017 11:02 am
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Diana Stricker Photo
Some opponents of low-income housing in Branford say the town will no longer be quaint, and the neighborhood will no longer be safe, if poor families are allowed to move into the proposed Parkside Village I apartments.
About 150 people attended the second session of a public hearing conducted by the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission last Thursday night at Fire Headquarters. Neighbors are questioning whether proposed low-income housing on South Montowese Street should be for seniors and people with disabilities; or for people of all ages.
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Sally Bahner | Nov 8, 2017 8:38 am
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Mary Johnson Photo
Cosgrove with Bill Aniskovich at GOP headquarters.
—UPDATE — Despite Democratic hopes of a “Trump effect” voter backlash in 2017, Republican First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove sailed to a reelection victory in Branford Tuesday, winning six of the seven voting districts against Democratic challenger Lynda Mollow. He took 60 percent of the vote. The Republicans kept a strong majority on the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) as well. But the Dems took the competitive Tax Collector’s race.
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 7, 2017 4:59 pm
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Voter casts ballot
The political climate has changed significantly over the last year. So how are Branford residents responding?
Voters took to the polls this morning under sunny, crisp skies as they cast their vote for the town’s next first selectman, other top town posts and the next Representative Town Meeting, the town’s legislative body. Voting was described as steady throughout the morning. Polls remain open until 8 p.m.
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 6, 2017 11:03 am
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The state’s top Democratic leaders, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, told a packed room at the Owenego Inn last night that this year people are paying attention to local elections.
“This is a local election, the first since Donald Trump won the presidency a year ago,” Murphy told the local Democratic Town Committee and more than 100 guests at its pre-election dinner last night at the Owenego Inn. And it may be a unique one. Voters, he said, “are angry about what’s happening at the national level and if you can get them to make that connection between their anger about what’s happening in Washington and their desire to be a part of the process and the solution locally,” then this election will be a game changer, he said.
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 4, 2017 9:22 am
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Sally E. Bahner Photo
The need for a town Public Works building was discussed at length at Wednesday night’s Selectman’s debate between Republican incumbent Jamie Cosgrove and Democratic contender Lynda Mollow, the first they have held this campaign season.
The one-hour debate, cordial in tone, was sponsored by the League of Women Voters (LWV )of the East Shore and aired on Branford Community TV. Click here to listen to the debate. .
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 3, 2017 8:59 am
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Your attendance is requested… on Sunday, especially. Branford’s Veteran’s Day Parade steps off from the town green at 1 p.m. Attendance has been down in recent years and its future is in jeopardy. So forego the football game and pay your respects to the brave veterans who have defended our country. In between, there are plenty of opportunities to meet with authors, take in some great music, and get acquainted with local artists. Got a cool event? Email sebahner@snet.net by Wednesday noon.
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 3, 2017 8:24 am
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Branford is going to the scarecrows. But only until Sunday. So get yourself over to Town Hall to see this scary monster.
Bill O’Brien Photo
The seventh annual Branford Garden Club Scarecrow project can be viewed until this Sunday on the Town Green, so hurry and bring the kids before it’s over. The Garden Club Scarecrow sign welcomes visitors to the town green.
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 2, 2017 7:46 am
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News Analysis. Part 2
File Photo
Superstorm Sandy 2102 : Meadow Street
Was it wise to place a town shelter in a flood plain?
The decision to make the renovated Community House-Senior Center a town shelter for the community in the event of a major hurricane was made without oversight from the Public Building Commission or the public even though the community house is located in a flood plain, off Meadow Street, a road that experiences serious flooding. (See top photo)
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Marcia Chambers | Nov 1, 2017 7:09 am
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News Analysis. Part 1
With Permission
Is the town’s Public Building Commission ordinance serving its municipal role? An analysis of the first three projects to come before the commission shows each one taking a different route, in part because the overall ordinance is vague, ambiguous and, it turns out, advisory.
The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) adopted the Public Building Commission ordinance in June 2014. The idea was that all building projects would be decided by one town building commission, a commission established and in place, not one created for a specific project as in the past. This was First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove’s idea when he was first elected.
