{"id":217396,"date":"2010-01-22T11:22:31","date_gmt":"2010-01-22T16:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogs.courant.com,2010:\/capitol_watch\/\/9.70130"},"modified":"2010-01-22T12:54:01","modified_gmt":"2010-01-22T17:54:01","slug":"citing-obligations-to-his-family-his-employer-and-the-people-of-west-hartford-scott-slifka-decides-not-to-seek-higher-office-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/217396","title":{"rendered":"Citing obligations to his family, his employer and the people of West Hartford, Scott Slifka decides not to seek higher office this year"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a political year when everyone and their dog has announced they are exploring a run for elective office, one name has been conspicuously absent.<\/p>\n

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West Hartford Mayor Scott Slifka burst onto the statewide scene in 2006, as John DeStefano’s running mate. But despite the urgings of supporters, who want him to run for governor or another high office, Slifka, a Democrat, says he’ll sit this one out.<\/div>\n
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“Many people have encouraged me to seek higher office and have pledged their support. I am honored and I thank them,” Slifka wrote in an email. “I believe my record is as good as any announced candidate’s, better than most, and a wonderful platform for a candidacy. We’ve had an extraordinary run in <\/font>West Hartford<\/font><\/span> during my tenure, from Blue Back Square to initiatives like the pre-emptive spending cuts and creative community-wide forums that enabled us to successfully address the hard decisions essential to balance our Town budget in 2009’s disastrous economy.<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/div>\n


“However, I want to be clear. I won’t be seeking any <\/font>political office<\/font><\/span> in 2010. It is not a practical option for me personally at this time.”<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

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Slifka recently became a father. And unlike many members of the state’s political class, he holds a full time job outside of politics (he’s corporate counsel for Lego Systems Inc.)<\/p>\n

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The mayor’s office in West Hartford isn’t a paid post, in stark contrast, Slifka notes, to the “<\/font><\/font>taxpayer subsidized jobs” that allow other mayors and first selectmen the financial freedom “to comfortably pursue another office.”<\/font><\/font><\/span><\/div>\n

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“I share the same job and family issues as many of you in this treacherous economy. My wife Noelle and I were blessed recently with our first child, Betsy. As all parents can relate, this is a transformative experience.  And I am fortunate to have a job I enjoy and a great employer,” Slifka wrote.<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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“Finally, the people of West Hartford just re-elected me in November and we continue to be in a time of crisis. it would be wrong for me to jump to another office just as we begin our important work on the budget,” he wrote. “My responsibilities to provide for my family, my employer [and] the people of West Hartford preclude me from making a serious run at this time.”<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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Slifka announced his decision to the West Hartford Democratic Town Committee last night. Chuck Coursey, a former member of the West Hartford town council, said he understands Slifka’s reasoning but wishes he had run for governor. The experience of running a vibrant town of more than 65,000 people sets him part from some of the other candidates, Coursey said. <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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” When you look at the current field, they’re all good people,” Coursey said. “But he is one of the best mayors in the state. The next governor is going to have to face the sorts of challenges head on that he has faced – economic development, working with labor and other stakeholders to get expenses down….these are huge problems we’re facing.”<\/span><\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/font><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a political year when everyone and their dog has announced they are exploring a run for elective office, one name has been conspicuously absent. West Hartford Mayor Scott Slifka burst onto the statewide scene in 2006, as John DeStefano’s running mate. But despite the urgings of supporters, who want him to run for governor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4000,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-217396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4000"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}