By Brandon T. Bisceglia
Orange first selectman candidates Jody Dietch, left, and Jim Zeoli, right, squared off Oct. 23 in their final debate at Grassy Hill Country Club. Image courtesy of Orange Government Access Television.
The candidates for Orange first selectman came swinging out of the gate Oct. 23 in the third and final debate before the votes are cast Nov. 5 for the town’s top job.
The debate between Republican incumbent Jim Zeoli and Democratic challenger Jody Dietch was held at the Grassy Hill Country Club and sponsored by the Orange Chamber of Commerce.
Dietch used her opening statement to hammer Zeoli on multiple fronts, including quality of life and the town’s fund balance.
“A nearly 20 percent fund balance is five to 10 percent higher than other towns in the state with AAA bond ratings – and we’re among the highest in the state,” she said. “He’s [Zeoli] taxing you to inflate an unassigned fund balance.”
Zeoli, meanwhile, largely brushed off the attack, blaming the state instead for recent tax increases and the need to keep extra money in the town’s coffers. He pointed out that the town had been anticipating paying into the teacher’s retirement fund and other expenses that ultimately weren’t implemented by the state legislature.
“So yeah, there is some surplus in our budget, and there should be some surplus in our budget,” he said of those expenses.
“We can’t keep blaming Hartford,” Dietch responded. “I’m not looking to blame Hartford. I’m looking to take the bull by the horns and take care of ourselves.”
One issue that dominated the debate, as it has all election season, was the prospect of bringing Orange’s kindergarten through sixth-grade schools into the regional Amity school system. The Amity district, which includes Orange, Bethany and Woodbridge, currently begins for children entering seventh grade.
Dietch claimed at the beginning of the debate that the Amity Board of Education had recently voted to begin a study of consolidating the younger grades. She further argued that if the other two towns opted to regionalize and Orange did not, it could be kicked out of the system altogether.
Zeoli said he had anticipated Dietch’s argument and held up a sheet of paper that he said was a copy of state statute 10-47B governing regional school districts.
“All three towns must vote in the affirmative for there to be a change to the school system as we know it today,” he said. He further pointed out that for Amity to even launch a study it would have to notify all the towns and include representation from them in the study process.
“That has not been done. So there is no official study being done, and if it is, it’s illegal as being done according to state statute,” he said.
The two continually tangled on regionalization, with Zeoli claiming that the cost savings Dietch cited didn’t add up and pointing out that Amity was one of the best-performing districts in the state.
Dietch noted that the Staples district based in Westport, which is regionalized for all grades, continually outperforms Amity.
“It makes for a stronger school system, with all of our kids learning the exact same curriculum and hitting the ground running from kindergarten,” she said.
Toward the end of the debate, audience members were invited to come forward to ask their own questions. At that point, Amity Board of Education chair Chrisopher Browe came up and challenged Dietch on her argument that Amity had begun a study. He said a lawyer from the state had been invited down to talk to the board, but that was as far as things had gotten.
“You referenced a vote that the Board of Education has taken, that Amity has taken,” Browe said. “I’m not aware of any such vote.”
“It was my understanding that the Amity board had voted to pursue a study on the Amity K-12 district. That was the information that was told to me,” Dietch replied.