Roger Clapp: On the ballot for one-year Waterbury Select Board term
Feb. 9, 2023
Roger Clapp is a candidate for re-election to the Waterbury Select Board. Courtesy photo
To the community:
I want to thank the voters of Waterbury for supporting my write-in candidacy for the Select Board this past year. I pledged to use my position to advance Waterbury as a welcoming, affordable and inspiring place to live. I also pledged to bolster stable leadership through the retirement of both our municipal manager and our town clerk/treasurer. A year later, I'm happy to report that the Select Board has appointed two exceptionally qualified individuals for both of those positions. I invite you to provide a warm welcome to Municipal Manager Tom Leitz and I endorse the candidacy of Karen Petrovich as Town Clerk/Treasurer and encourage you to support making that a three-year term of office in the years to come.
The Select Board is taking steps to both engage citizens in local decision-making and improve services. We asked every household for their priorities on investing federal funding. As a result, we have incorporated nearly $500,000 in the 2023 budget for the repair of two bridges and advanced plans to upgrade roads that become impassable during mud season. We also supported the EFUD commissioners in helping to address the lack of affordable housing in Waterbury. A new Housing Task Force and public initiative to revise zoning regulations will take further action to help working families find a place to live. We have retained enough federal funding to support recommendations on recreational improvements at Hope Davey field, the Ice Center area and other infrastructural opportunities that will emerge in the coming year.
Meanwhile, the annual budget we're presenting to the voters expands at a rate far below inflation.
We still have more work to do and I actually secured enough signatures to get my name on the ballot this year. After raising a family here and being involved in coaching and community initiatives over the past 23 years, my work on the Select Board has me more engaged and inspired by this community than ever before. I appreciate your support and look forward to serving on the Select Board for another year.
With thanks,
Roger Clapp
Waterbury