Meet the Candidates: David Ulmer for Ridgefield Board of Finance

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 Dave Ulmer, Candidate for Re-election to Board of Finance

What office are you running for and why

My name is Dave Ulmer and I am running for re-election to the Board of Finance. I have served on that Board for sixteen years, the last eight as Chair. I am running for another term because, based on my experience and intimate knowledge of the Town’s financial resources and issues, I am uniquely qualified to continue to serve the citizens of Ridgefield.

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

The Board of Finance is responsible for preserving the long-term financial condition of Ridgefield. Our Board assures this by setting overall budget levels for Town and School expenditures, without respect to line items, for annual approval by voters. Our job requires intensive study and analysis of proposed budgets, putting them together with revenue sources, debt management, capital expenditures, and maintenance of the General Fund’s “rainy-day” cushion. Under my leadership, Ridgefield’s Board of Finance has accomplished all of these objectives while helping to keep Ridgefielders’ tax increases to a minimum.

Tell me about your current involvement in Ridgefield

As Chair of the Board of Finance for the last eight years, I have led a Board which studies issues, listens to all citizen input, and deliberates transparently before making decisions. During that time, all of our budget recommendations have passed the scrutiny of the voters at the town’s May Budget Referenda.

Biggest crisis facing our Town?

Ridgefield currently does not face any significant financial “crises”. Our Board of Selectmen, led by Rudy Marconi and Barbara Manners, addressed the town’s biggest issue in 2001 with an infrastructure Bundle that built the Rec Center and renovated all of our schools. The BOS, working collaboratively with the Board of Finance, led by me and a Democratic majority, have continued to adequately fund Town projects and Education priorities. In fact, our Democratic majority was achieved in November 2011, in the wake of a crisis in May 2011, when the Republican-led BoF thoughtlessly made an aggressive cut to an already lean School Budget, needlessly jeopardizing our history of educational excellence.

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

I lost my first wife when she succumbed to a recurrence of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the age of 52. I look up to all those who have bravely and courageously fought debilitating and life-threatening afflictions. They remind us of how lucky we are and that we should always bring our best efforts to provide our citizens with good governance.

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Rules for candidates who wish to participate in our Q&A:

*Please answer 5 of the 6 questions.

*You MUST answer #1

*Please include a photo with your answers

*Please email to     Ridgefield@HamletHub.com 

We will publish your answers in Ridgefield HamletHub, on our social media pages, in our evening e-newsletter and Google News.

1. What office are you running for and why

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

3. Tell me about your current involvement in Ridgefield (include nonprofits)

4. Biggest crisis facing our Town?

5. Name a few of your favorite books

6. Name a person (dead or alive) who you look up to

 Learn more here.