Meet the Candidates: Joe Savino for Ridgefield Board of Selectmen

Editor's note: HamletHub believes in democracy and we recently invited all Town of Ridgefield candidates to answer five questions, giving residents an opportunity to learn more about their candidacy, Town involvement, and reasons for seeking office. If you will be on the ballot on November 5, we'd love to hear from you! Please see the information on the bottom of this post regarding this Q&A opportunity. 

Meet Joe Savino

What office are you running for and why?

I am running for Board of Selectmen. Ridgefield is a small town, with terrific people, beautiful neighborhoods, and incredible quality of life. Ridgefield schools gave my two daughters a great education and prepared them well for college. This is my family’s home.

Our town is at a crossroads. We know we don’t want to become a city with dense overdevelopment, heavy traffic and little tax base growth, nor do we want to become a Westchester town with excessive residential property taxes. My platform is all about keeping us Connecticut’s number 1 town. There are things we can do better and my platform below focuses on those.

Tell me about your current involvement in Ridgefield

Over the years I have been a member of various community groups including St. Mary Parish, PTA, and the Rotary Club. Ridgefield has faced challenges over the years. I first decided to run for political office in 1992, where I learned that serving in our Town government is both a great honor and responsibility.

I served on four elected boards, including Planning & Zoning, Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and currently serve on the Police Commission. I had the privilege to meet and work with people of all different backgrounds and party affiliations, and work together to get the results that Ridgefielders deserve. I learned land use and wetland regulations, the Town Charter, state regulations, government financial reporting and policy guidelines. I enjoy listening and working with people to make Ridgefield even better.

This background as a longtime resident, business executive, volunteer and elected official on multiple town boards is what I bring to the Board of Selectmen to make an immediate positive impact.

Biggest crisis facing our Town?

Maintaining our quality of life given overdevelopment and excessive traffic. How do we want to position our town for the next 10-20 years? My platform is all about protecting our overall quality of life and keeping Ridgefield a great place to live and raise a family.

What do you hope to accomplish should you be elected on November 5?

My platform is simple. Keep Ridgefield, Connecticut’s number 1 town.

 - Protect Ridgefield’s quality of life and beautiful neighborhoods

This includes fighting tolls, helping ease traffic and work with the sewer commission to convert to usage changes. I also want to work with P&Z on curbing commercial development in residential zones.

 - Smart targeted growth of our tax base

Our commercial tax base is not growing and it needs to help fund our school system. I have a plan to address this.

  - Reorganize our Town government to make it more efficient

We need to look at every penny the town spends and how we can do better. As a business executive, I have the training and experience to do this.

 - Protect our superior schools

This includes helping the BOE find our next School Superintendent and help make our schools more successful including looking at the maintenance of the school buildings.

 - Lead the fight to ensure the State does not try to regionalize our schools

These are my guiding principles. We must take action to keep Ridgefield the great town it is.

This 2019 election is about what we want our town to look like now and in the years to come.

Name a person (dead or alive) who you look to?

I look up to my father, Joseph. When I think of America’s greatest generation, my late father comes to mind. He was born of Italian immigrants and raised during the Great Depression. On the day he graduated from high school, he joined the US Marine Corp. He was a mechanic and eventually owned several businesses. He met my mother at a church dance. They married and raised me and my two younger sisters. My father worked very hard to support us and raise his family. He always encouraged his children to follow their dreams and passions. I thought of him often when my wife Kathy and I raised our two daughters. He was quiet, smart, observant, tenacious, persistent and yet tough as nails. I never heard him complain. During my college years, I worked in the family business and saw what a great business person he was. Though he started having health issues, he never complained. He passed away suddenly in 1989.

My father taught me that family always came first. He also taught me to get involved, add value, don’t judge people, and make your community the best it can be.

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