By Brandon T. Bisceglia
Orange first selectman candidates Jim Zeoli and Jody Dietch answered questions during their first debate Sept. 12 at High Plains Community Center. Image courtesy of Orange Government Access Television.
The candidates for first selectman in Orange had their first chance to make their case in person before an audience in the gym of the High Plains Community Center Sept. 12 at a debate sponsored by the Milford-Orange Times.
Republican incumbent Jim Zeoli, who is seeking an eighth term in office, and Democratic challenger Jody Dietch responded to questions on a wide range of topics solicited in advance from Orange residents.
Dietch used her opening statements to introduce herself to the audience and establish her family’s history of service to the town and to draw distinctions between herself and her opponent.
“It’s time to move Orange into the future while respecting our past. But our farming past is not the basis for our future,” she said, making an oblique reference to Zeoli, who owns Shamrock Farm.
Zeoli, who needed little introduction, spent his opening remarks detailing some of the things he’s helped accomplish in Orange over his decade and a half in office.
“I think that the town is in a very good place. I think that there have been many projects accomplished, and many more to go,” he said.
The candidates clashed almost immediately on the issue of school regionalization. One of Dietch’s main campaign planks has been to wrap kindergarten through sixth grade into a regional district, as already exists for the other grades in the Amity school system, which Orange shares with Bethany and Woodbridge.
“We have three towns and four superintendents, four directors of curriculum, four business managers, etc.,” she said, adding that she personally experienced the difficulty of transitioning from the Orange school system to the Amity system as a child.
Zeoli said he is always looking for ways to share services but is not in favor of doing so with the elementary schools. He said he had met with officials from the other Amity towns on this subject and had realized that it would raise special education costs.
“They’d be thrilled if we merged with them,” he said of Woodbridge, “because they’d only be paying 30 percent of their special needs bill, we’d be paying 50 percent-plus of it, and Bethany would be paying 20 percent.”
Dietch pointed out that although there is economic development in the town, it has not been enough to keep taxes from going up year after year. She claimed that the development on Edison Road for which Zeoli had taken credit was actually initiated by his Democratic predecessor, Mitch Goldblatt, with a deal to bring the United Illuminating headquarters there.
“Let’s remember where this all started,” she said, adding that she would resurrect the Post Road Study Committee to better understand how to help small businesses to grow.
Zeoli disputed that narrative, saying that whether or not Goldblatt had conversations with UI, he had been the one to land the actual commitment.
“Fortunately for all of you,” he said, “my relationship with the Foyer family is what brought [UI’s] corporate headquarters to their farm property here in town, which is now generating three and a half million dollars in property taxes to you.”
Dietch also criticized Zeoli for not pursuing outside sources of revenues through grants.
“To me, it’s a no-brainer that you have to apply for grants, because you can’t keep paying for everything out of our tax dollars,” she said. She suggested working with other towns in the region to collectively seek grants.
Zeoli responded by arguing that he thought he had done well with grants and pointing to several projects that were funded through them, including the recent replacement of the bridge on Derby-Milford Road.
The candidates did agree on some points. They both, for instance, said they would enthusiastically support building a Metro North station in Orange, a decades-long effort that nearly came to fruition before being scrapped by the state a year ago.
“Jody,” Zeoli joked, “I hope before your hair turns the color of mine that if you are elected first selectman you can get that train in.”