Meet Cary Prague. Republican for Town Council

When you go to the voting booth you want to vote for someone you trust, someone who represents what you think and how you feel. You want to vote for someone who has been a leader in the community and a volunteer and has never pushed a personal agenda. I want my legacy to be that of the "guy in the middle," who votes against projects the town can't afford to execute, and votes for projects the town can't afford not to execute.

I’ve been a Town Councilor for 9 years taking Bill Aman’s place when he became a State Representative and I did a term on the Board of Education after spending a few years on the Board of Assessment Appeals so I know a fair bit about revaluations and I don’t like them. This last one was particularly unfair to our residents most in need of our help. I’ve spent my life helping the South Windsor Community. I’m known as the sign man. If there was a large sign put up for a charity or a civic group I probably designed it, had it made or put it up. I’ve volunteered, served as a leader in many organizations and designed signs for our Community Foundation and Public Education Fund, Heritage Day, Patriotic Commission, Chamber of Commerce and of course, I ran the South Windsor Spelling Bee. I have been Business Person of the Year, received the Gene Policelli award for Community Service and the Rotary’s Paul Harris award.

I’ve fought hard for economic development. Companies like Federal Express, TicketNetwork, Aldi’s, DST Output, several banks, ECHN, Evergreen Walk, and many others were attracted by our Town Manager and the Town Council’s tax abatement program. This plan is just beginning to pay dividends and will earn the town millions of dollars in new tax revenues as these abatements come off.

I’ll continue to advocate for conservative budgets. This year’s budget was a particularly hard one for me. We gave the schools a lot of money but that is the most important thing we can do for our property values. We had to fund the new sewer plant as well as deal with revaluation. It wasn’t a good year for a lot of taxpayers.

Despite my health issues, when I am elected I promise to hold the line on spending, to fight waste in governments and work collaboratively with everybody to give people who live in South Windsor value for their taxes and help if they can’t afford to live here. I am in favor of the new school plan. I think it’s well thought out and will cost the residents of South Windsor almost nothing. Our current bond debt begins to drop off as we start paying for the new school in 2017 and we realize $6 million in savings from closing a school due to declining enrollment.

Please vote for Cary Prague. I believe I have earned your trust.