Norwich to hold special election Wednesday to fill a vacant City Council seat

May 20, 2023 5:05 pm • Last Updated: May 20, 2023 8:08 pm

By Claire Bessette
Day Staff Writer

Norwich ― The two candidates running to fill the vacant City Council seat may need as much effort to remind people to vote in Wednesday’s special election as they do to get their messages out.

Democrat and longtime community activist Shiela Hayes and Republican former Alderman and retired police officer William Nash are vying to fill the remaining six months of now Democratic State Rep. Derell Wilson’s seat. The result will determine the political makeup of the seven-member council on the eve of critical votes on the city budget.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the six city polling stations.

Since Wilson’s departure, the council has been divided with three Republicans and three Democrats.

Nash and Hayes both said they are not making the campaign about political divisions, and both pledged to avoid personal attacks throughout the campaign. They have known each other for decades and have worked together on issues and community projects.

Hayes, 64, has been active in Norwich politics for almost 50 years but this is her first time running for elected office. Hayes was president of the Norwich NAACP in the 1980s and again a few years ago. She served on the committee that created a park at the former home of Norwich artist Ellis Ruley.

Nash, 60, director of operations at M & M Group, a commercial property maintenance business in the Norwich Business Park, served for 12 years on the City Council. He did not run in 2021 to concentrate on his new job. Nash, an Army reserve veteran, is a retired Norwich police DARE officer.

When the first round of American Rescue Plan Act grant money was allocated, Hayes was disappointed more money was not directed at youths and into neighborhoods. She was disappointed again when the Southeastern Cultural Coalition said it will return half of its recently awarded $500,000 Norwich grant, rather than continue supporting arts programs for Norwich youth.

Budget season nearly done

The special election winner will be sworn in immediately, and two weeks later, will cast a vote either for or against the city budget. City Manager John Salomone has proposed a $48.1 million city government budget with a $2.6 million, 5.8% increase over this year and an $88.9 million school budget, a $2.1 million, 2.5% increase.

As of May 8, the budget would mean a citywide tax rate of 41.66 mills, down by 0.17 mills, plus 6.79 mills for property owners in the paid fire tax district, up by 0.14 mills and 0.37 mills for property owners in the five volunteer fire districts, up by 0.02 mills.

Nash and Hayes attended most of the City Council department budget hearings in April and have been reviewing the proposed budget. They agreed that Norwich taxpayers cannot afford a tax increase at this time of inflation and high utility bills.

“I will be very reluctant to vote for a budget that is going to result in an increase in the mill rate,” Hayes said.

Nash too wants to reduce taxes this year and next year, which he admitted would be difficult without ARPA money to offset any increase. He said he has discussed the budget with Salomone and Comptroller Josh Pothier and with council Republicans.

“I know they are using rescue funds,” Nash said. “That’s the end of it. How do we maintain that reduction without the rescue funds?”

Nash said the City Council could reduce the tax rate to 40 mills, but residents would have to do without key services, offering unpalatable examples such as garbage collection only once a month, snow plowing “every other storm,” turning off streetlights and getting rid of firetrucks, public works trucks and police cars.

“Tell me what you don’t want,” Nash said. “If you want protection, safety, fire, utilities, the amenities a city gives you, you’ve got to pay for it.”

Candidates: Compromise on Occum Business Park

The two candidates also presented similar views on the proposed 384-acre second business park in Occum, called Business Park North. The Norwich Community Development Corp. has purchased the land and has obtained an $11.3 million state grant to build an access road.

Neighbors have objected to the scope of the project, industrial traffic and commercial buildings in their back yards.

Nash said the Occum former farmland is the last large contiguous parcel available to increase the city’s tax base. He supports increasing buffer zones with neighboring properties and restricting the types of development there. By creating a business park, Nash said, the city can control the types of commercial development to avoid objectionable projects, such as incinerators or junk yards.

“I don’t want to lose the property by putting up something that creates brownfields,” Nash said, referring to the term used for contaminated property.

Hayes said neighbors and other concerned residents should have the opportunity to meet with NCDC prior to the agency submitting another business park zoning application. The City Council acting as the city zoning board rejected the first proposed business park zoning plan on a 3-3 vote with Republicans in favor and Democrats against.

“There has to be a willingness to compromise,” Hayes said. “Not every side is going to get everything it wants. There has to be areas where they are willing to compromise and come together with a proposal that makes sense.”

c.bessette@theday.com