SESSION DAY MATERIALS GOVERNMENT DAY Monday, June 16, 2014

Contents Goals & Objectives ...... 2 Important Session Information ...... 2 Session Leaders ...... 2 Suggested Attire ...... 2 Venues ...... 2 Parking ...... 2 Agenda ...... 3 Speaker Biographies...... 4 Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty ...... 4 Judge Andrew W. Roraback ...... 4 Mason ...... 5 Rick Lynn ...... 5 Jonathan P. Costa, Sr...... 5 Carol Deane ...... 6 F. Robert Petricone ...... 6 Curtis Read ...... 6 Joel M. Serota ...... 7 Carol Ann Brown ...... 8 Elizabeth (Betsy) Gara ...... 8 Martha Phillips ...... 8 Suggested Reading ...... 11 “Central Naugatuck Valley Long Range Regional Transportation Plan (2011-2040)” ...... 11 Public Participation Plan Council of Governments of Central Naugatuck Valley (2012) ...... 11 Northwest Hills Council of Governments...... 11 State Data Center Reports ...... 11 Connecticut Council of Small Towns ...... 11 Connecticut Conference of Municipalities ...... 11 Municipal Opportunities and Regional Efficiencies (M.O.R.E) Commission Resources on Regionalization ...... 11 Networking & Volunteer Opportunities ...... 12 1

Goals & Objectives Objective: To clearly communicate the current federal, state and local government issues facing these three levels of government.

Goal:

 Present the key governmental issues facing the State of Connecticut  Discuss the important issue of regionalization from government, education and transportation perspectives  Learn about the opportunities to advocate for issues facing small towns and how to get engaged in communities as a citizen

Important Session Information Session Leaders Martha Bernstein

Suggested Attire Casual, the day will involve speaker panels and lunch outside (weather permitting)

Venues Old Woodbury Town Hall 5 Mountain Road (right off of Route 6) Woodbury, CT 06798

(For directions from Woodbury Parks & Recreation Department Click Here)

Parking Limited parking is available in front of the Old Town Hall for speakers. Program participants can park on Mountain Road, on the same side of the street as the Old Town Hall.

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Agenda

8:45 - 8:55 Arrival & Light Breakfast

8:55- 9:00 Welcome

9:00 – 9:45 Congressional Highlights Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, Representative of Connecticut’s 5th District

9:45 – 10:30 Overview of the Judiciary System Judge Andrew W. Roraback, Connecticut State Superior Court

10:30 – 10:45 Break

10:45 –12:00 Regionalization in Western Connecticut Virginia Mason, former Assistant Director, Council of Governments of the Central Naugatuck Valley Rick Lynn, Executive Director, Northwest Hills Council of Governments Jonathan P. Costa, Sr., Director of School & Program Services, Education Connection Carol Deane, Executive Director, Northwest Connecticut Transit District

12:00 – 1:00 Lunch

1:00 – 2:15 An Overview of Local Government F. Robert Petricone, President, Litchfield Housing Trust Curtis Read, First Selectman, Town of Bridgewater Joel M. Serota, Member Open Space Ad Hoc Committee & Representative to Regional Planning Commission, Town of Woodbury Carol Ann Brown, Member, Region 14 Board of Education

2:15 – 2:30 Break

2:30 – 3:30 Citizen Action Elizabeth (Betsy) Gara, Executive Director, Connecticut Council of Small Towns Martha Phillips, Experienced Professional &Volunteer in the Government Sector

3:30 – 4:00 Session Day Wrap Up Brief Discussion of the Day Review of Volunteer Opportunities Preview of Next Session with Ilene Leff

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Speaker Biographies

Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty Representative of Connecticut’s 5th District

Elizabeth Esty is the U.S. Representative for the 5th Congressional District of Connecticut. The district spans northwest and central Connecticut and includes Danbury, Litchfield County, the Farmington Valley, Meriden and her hometown of Cheshire, as well as the Naugatuck Valley.

Elizabeth was elected to Congress on November 6, 2012. She serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Esty also serves on the Congressional Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.

Elizabeth served in the Connecticut General Assembly (2009-2011) and the Cheshire Town Council (2005-2008) where she made her mark as an advocate for responsible budgeting and job creation. On the Town Council, she worked to balance the budget while providing property tax relief to seniors and ensuring strong funding for public schools. In the General Assembly, Elizabeth cut her own pay, returning 10% of her salary to taxpayers. When a local plant closed in her hometown, laying off 1,000 skilled workers, Elizabeth fought for job placements or early retirement packages for the workers.

Elizabeth graduated from in 1981 and earned her law degree from in 1985. After clerking for US District Judge Robert Keeton of Massachusetts, she joined the firm of Sidley Austin and served as a member of the Supreme Court bar. She later went on to work in health care and policy as a Senior Research scholar at Yale and to teach as an adjunct professor at .

Elizabeth lives in Cheshire with her husband of 28 years, Dan Esty. The mother of three - Sarah, Thomas, and Jonathan - Elizabeth has spent her evenings and weekends at PTA meetings, soccer fields, and hockey rinks. She is thankful for the opportunity to serve her church and her community, working with the local Chamber of Commerce, , Land Trust, Cheshire Public Library, and the United Way.

Judge Andrew W. Roraback Connecticut State Superior Court

Judge Roraback was born in Torrington, Connecticut. He attended The Hotchkiss School and before completing his law degree at the University of Virginia. Judge Roraback is the fourth generation of lawyers in his family, after receiving his JD from UVA he worked at the family law firm Roraback and Roraback in Torrington. Prior to his current position, Judge Roraback served in the Connecticut General Assembly from 1995-2000 in the House of Representatives. In 2000 Roraback was elected as senator for the 30th Senate District. In this capacity he served on the following committees: Environment; Finance, Revenue & Bonding (the Senate ranking member);

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Judiciary; Executive and Legislative Nominations; and, Regulation Review. He is currently entering his second year as a judge on the Connecticut Superior Court.

Virginia Mason Former Assistant Director, Council of Governments of the Central Naugatuck Valley

Virginia has worked in Connecticut since 1972 as a land use planner for regional agencies and as a consultant. She worked at the Council of Governments of the Central Naugatuck Valley for more than nineteen years, most recently as its Assistant Director. She has been responsible for review of municipal zoning and subdivision proposals under the CT General Statutes, set up land use education programs for municipal officials, and assisted in numerous administrative tasks such as hiring, grant writing, and personnel management. Ms. Mason has served as a Board member of the Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition as a representative of the COGCNV and continues to do so. She was involved in the development of numerous plans produced by the agency, mostly recently its 2008 Regional Plan of Conservation and Development and 2011 Long Range Transportation Plan. She managed the COGCNV’s pre-disaster mitigation program and oversaw the 41 town, Region 5 grant for Emergency Management grant. Ms. Mason has served on various subcommittees of the CT. Department of Health and Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Ms. Mason is a graduate of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and Mt. Holyoke College. She is a charter member of the American Planning Association.

Rick Lynn Executive Director, Northwest Hills Council of Governments

Rick is the Executive Director of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments, which is based in Goshen, Connecticut and serves 21 municipalities. Prior to this position, he served as the Planning Director of the Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials, Senior Planner with the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials, and as the Coordinator for the King’s Mark Environmental Review Team. Rick has a Master’s degree in Environmental Planning from Syracuse University and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Albion College. He has served on Cornwall’s Planning and Zoning Commission, including six years as Chairman, and is on the Board of Directors of the Cornwall Conservation Trust. He is a member of the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Certified Planners. He and his wife reside in Cornwall, Connecticut and have two grown children. Jonathan P. Costa, Sr. Director of School & Program Services, Education Connection

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Jonathan P. Costa, Sr. is director of school and program services for the EDUCATION CONNECTION, a regional education service center in Litchfield, Connecticut. A former public and private school social studies teacher, educational consultant and businessman, Costa’s current responsibilities include supervision of the highly regarded Center for 21st Century Skills and the delivery of all professional development and consulting interventions on behalf of the agency throughout the tri-state area. Through his 30 years of service, he has provided close support for strategic and technology planning in dozens of districts, guided all manner of instructional improvements, as well as consulted on the promotion, identification, definition, instruction and assessment of 21st century skills. He is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences and his writings have appeared in publications as varied as Educational Leadership and Runner’s World.

Carol Deane Executive Director, Northwest Connecticut Transit District

See Ms. Deane’s attached biography of business and community activities.

F. Robert Petricone President, Litchfield Housing Trust

Bob Petricone grew up in Torrington, Connecticut. After attending Torrington High School he went onto graduate from Yale University and to earn his M.B.A from Harvard University. Mr. Petricone had a lengthy and successful career in manufacturing, which included co-owning and serving as the Executive Officer of Stowe Machine Company Inc., in Windsor, CT. Then Mr. Petricone served as the Executive Vice-President and Director of Torin Corporation in Torrington, CT. Over several decades, Bob held a series of line and staff executive positions in the US and internationally for Torin. Throughout his lifetime Bob has served on a great number of public and nonprofit organizations in leadership roles. Currently he is the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of Northwestern Connecticut; he volunteers as a counselor for SCORE, and is the current President of the Litchfield Housing Trust. In addition to extensive leadership in the nonprofit sector, Bob has served as the Chairman of the Litchfield Board of Education and Board of Finance. In 2010 he received a Community Service Award, and was honored in 2007 with the Wisdom House Award. These are two of many awards and accolades Mr. Petricone has received for his community work.

Curtis Read First Selectman, Town of Bridgewater

Curtis Read was born in New York and was educated in both Pennsylvania and New York. His interest in farming was sparked when he worked on a sheep station in South Africa at sixteen. He thought that his career would be in photo journalism but eventually completed am Masters of Agriculture degree.

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In 1982 he joined the Sunny Valley Foundation in Bridgewater to start a demonstration farm and program to help re-vitalize the sheep industry in New England. He formed a regional wool marketing cooperative and sold breeding stock and lambs to underwrite the educational programs and pay for new barns and fences on the Hut Hill Farm. The Sunny Valley Foundation eventually was taken over by its parent organization, the Nature Conservancy. My Sheep Project became a casualty. He opened CT Certified Laboratory in New Milford in 1988 and started and successfully managed Hydro Technologies, Inc. until 1999. He also started another company, Lablite LLC in 1996 which develops software to help manage laboratory data. We now have clients all across the USA and service labs in many industries and cities. This company is also based in New Milford. Apart from starting and managing private businesses, he has been active in non-profit organizations for many years since coming to Connecticut. He joined the Litchfield County Soil and Water Conservation District in 1990 and became Chairman of the Board and President of the CT Association of Conservation Districts. Currently I serve as Chairman of the newly named Northwest Conservation District, Inc. He is a founding member of the Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition whose mission includes protection of the river and groundwater aquifer in five towns.

His environmental work has included membership on the Bridgewater Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commission since 1986. One other area of valuable experience has been service as the President of Little Simon Properties, Inc. which is a land holding company in the Adirondacks of upstate New York.

He has served Bridgewater as Selectman and First Selectman.

Joel M. Serota Member Open Space Ad Hoc Committee & Representative to Regional Planning Commission, Town of Woodbury

Mr. Serota is the President of The Serota Group Executive Search. He has completed numerous domestic and international senior management and C-level assignments for Fortune 500 companies and leading companies in multi industries. Company market sectors and practices include Accounting; Finance; Retail; Manufacturing; Distribution; Apparel; Consumer Goods; Furniture; Advertising & Marketing; REITS; Commercial/ Residential building Development and Construction.

Prior to forming The Serota Group, Mr. Serota held a number of senior management positions in executive search, consulting and marketing. He was a Vice President and Practice Leader in Retail, Accounting and Manufacturing for Judge Executive Search, Vice President with People Management NE, and Senior Associate with Kenzer Corp., Senior Manager-Business Development, International Profit Associates and National Director, Business Development Government Projects- Federal, State and local Municipal agencies, Architectural, and Environmental firms. Mr. Serota was a principal of Serota Corporation, a textile and apparel-consulting firm with clients engaged in offshore manufacturing. Prior, he was Director of Operations for Mamark, a premium promotions company with extensive offshore manufacturing. Mr. Serota holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from New York University.

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Joel Serota is currently a Commissioner on the Town of Woodbury Planning Commission, having been elected to his second term of office and represents the Town of Woodbury on the Regional Planning Commission of the Council of Governments (RPC).

Joel is Chairman of the Town of Woodbury Open Space Acquisition Ad Hoc Committee and Chairman of the Woodbury Reservoir Acquisition Task Force since 2012. In these positions, Mr. Serota interacts with private corporations, public officials on federal, state and local municipalities, Executive Directors of Land Trusts and non-profit associations and agencies.

Mr. Serota has authored an article, “Giving Back a Worthy Tradition” that was published in a sporting/environmental magazine.

Carol Ann Brown Member, Region 14 Board of Education

Carol Ann Brown is a retired English and ESL Teacher at the secondary and college level. During her career she taught in Vermont, Maryland, Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, as well as in Connecticut. While working, Ms. Brown also had jobs as a librarian and archivist at the Waterbury Republican- American Newspaper.

Since retiring Carol Ann has held the following leadership roles in the community: President of the Old Bethlehem Historical Society; Chairman of the Bethlehem Historic District Commission; Board of Directors of North Purchase Senior Housing; Board of Directors of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Waterbury; member of the Bethlehem Senior Committee; and, a member of the Pathways Committee at the Connecticut Community Foundation. In June 2013 Carol Ann was elected to the Region 14 School Board, where she currently serves.

Elizabeth (Betsy) Gara Executive Director, Connecticut Council of Small Towns

Betsy is the Executive Director of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns (COST). COST is an advocacy organization committed to giving small towns a strong voice in the legislative process. Its members are Connecticut towns with populations of less than 30,000.

Prior to being appointed as COST’s Executive Director, Betsy was a principal in a lobbying firm she founded, representing a wide range of clients on state legislative and regulatory issues. Prior to that, Betsy was an Associate Counsel at the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA). Betsy received her law degree from Quinnipiac University School of Law and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut, where she majored in political science. Martha Phillips Experienced Professional &Volunteer in the Government Sector 8

Martha Phillips had a long professional career in Washington DC. She worked for several decades in the U.S. House of Representatives as professional staff to moderate Republicans. Among the positions she held were Republican staff director for the House Budget Committee (1986 to 1992) and deputy minority director of the Ways and Means Committee(1975-1986). In addition to working on annual federal budgets and the Gramm-Rudman deficit reduction bills, she was a key actor on bills dealing with child support enforcement, child care tax credits, the earned income tax credit and federal child day care legislation. Martha left Capitol Hill in 1992 to become the founding executive director of The Concord Coalition, a grass roots group headed by former Senators Tsongas and Rudman that promoted a balanced federal budget and entitlement reform. The organization attracted 250,000 members across the country and built a strong presence in Washington budget politics. After transitioning to Litchfield, Martha embarked on a second career as a volunteer in local, state and national organizations. National boards on which Martha has served include The Concord Coalition (1992-present); Redefining Progress (1996-2008), a public policy think tank devoted to developing economic policies to encourage a clean, healthy and equitable environment; The Climate Policy Center (2001-2004), a policy nonprofit promoting limits on greenhouse gases; The Finance Project (1994-2004), a nonprofit that helps groups serving children, youth and families develop sustainable finances; The Population Reference Bureau; and Common Cause (2003-2005). Martha is Vice Chair of the National Affairs and Legislation Committee of the Garden Clubs of America and authors a Legislative Update that reports to garden club members on federal legislation affecting the environment.

She has looked for ways to make a difference in the local community, particularly in the protection of natural resources. As a member of the Litchfield County League of Women Voters, Martha headed up a study of how best to protect the open spaces that provide the source for drinking water. This led to her becoming the Action Chair of the League, tracking bills in the state legislature of interest to League members. She also volunteered her time to the group working on Litchfield's Plan of Conservation and Development. Martha organized two League of Women Voters public forums on the issue of protecting open space and drinking water sources. She served on the steering committee of the Endangered Lands Coalition which operated under the umbrella of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment. These activities led to the formation early in 2004 of an ad hoc group interested in the establishing a Litchfield Hills Regional Water Authority, for which Martha served as recording secretary. As a result of the group's efforts, the CT State Legislature passed a bill in 2006, which the governor signed, to create the new Water Authority, and the organization began the work of protecting water source lands in Barkhamsted, Colebrook, Goshen, Hartland, Harwinton, Litchfield, Morris, New Hartford, Norfolk, Torrington and Winchester. Soon new alarms were raised about the possible sale of Waterbury Water Company lands in Goshen, Morris, Warren and Litchfield. Again, legislation was passed to avert this possibility and an informal watchdog group was set up to monitor the situation. A related open-space protection effort was the campaign to pass the Federal Highlands Conservation Act to protect critically important open space in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania abutting major East Coast metropolitan centers. Through the efforts of the Connecticut Highlands Coalition, of which Martha was a founding member, a bill was passed in 9

2004 to authorize $10 million annually through 2012. She testified before the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Committees in favor of increased federal funding for the 4-state program. Since then several parcels in the Litchfield Hills have been protected with Connecticut's share of these funds. As a Board member of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, Martha is currently involved in tracking environmental legislation in the Connecticut General Assembly and helping to write the annual legislative scorecard issued by the organization. Martha has stepped up to take responsibilities and leadership positions in a number of other community organizations including:

 The Litchfield Women's Forum  The Connecticut Junior Republic  The Litchfield Historical Society from 2003 through 2010.  The Litchfield Congregational Church

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Suggested Reading (Click on the blue headings below for more information)

“Central Naugatuck Valley Long Range Regional Transportation Plan (2011- 2040)” Provides an overview of the most recent regional transportation plan conducted in 2011.

Public Participation Plan Council of Governments of Central Naugatuck Valley (2012) A report on incorporating citizen participation in planning decisions and programming activities related to the Council of Governments.

Northwest Hills Council of Governments Website of the Northwest Hills COG, interesting source of reports on economic development strategy, conservation and development, transportation and the roles and responsibilities of local commissions.

Connecticut State Data Center Reports Interesting source of data on congressional apportionment based on voters, changing demographics of Connecticut’s towns and Congressional redistricting, and more.

Connecticut Council of Small Towns  Legislative Agenda for 2014  Links to Municipal Resources & Leadership Tools

Connecticut Conference of Municipalities A source of information about policy, research and programs for local government in Connecticut. Link will bring you to a publication “Local Government in Connecticut” which is a resource on the governance, land use, education and municipal services.

Municipal Opportunities and Regional Efficiencies (M.O.R.E) Commission Resources on Regionalization

This is a great source of information on reports regarding regionalization of education systems, local government operations, and the delivery of public services.

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Networking & Volunteer Opportunities

Town websites are a good place to start when looking for committees to volunteer on or elected positions to run for. The links for several Western Connecticut town websites are provided below:

 Middlebury Board & Commissions  Woodbury Board & Commissions  Southbury Opportunities  Washington Opportunities  Roxbury Board & Commissions  New Milford Board & Commissions

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