Back in 2014, Legislative Council member Neil Chaudhary, PhD, and former Council Chairman Jeff Capeci made up a two-member ad hoc committee that researched and made recommendations about whether the town should consider regionalizing its emergency dispatch system.

While the recommendation eventually lost traction, as Republican primary opponents for the Board of Selectmen, both separately continue to advocate for ways Newtown can achieve efficiencies and economic benefits, in part, from centralizing or regionalizing appropriate town agencies and services.

Mr Capeci and Dr Chaudhary both discussed the prospect of eventually taking a seat on Newtown's leading elected board after Election Day, even though only one of them could capture a possible November ballot slot following a rare Republican primary on September 12.

"We don't know who the top vote-getters will be in the primary, but only Neil or I can come through the primary and retain a spot on the ballot in November," Mr Capeci said during a recent sit-down with The Newtown Bee.

If anyone knows the constitutional details of the way government and elections can shake out in Newtown, it is Mr Capeci, who chaired the most recent Charter Revision Commission, whose charge was to overhaul the entire structure of the community's constitutional document to help make it more relevant and user-friendly to today's residents.

Mr Capeci, who serves as the chairman of the local Republican Town Committee and on its Candidates Committee, said for the short window of time between the GOP caucus that nominated and formally endorsed him for a selectman's seat along with running mate Will Rodgers, it was not too compromising for him to recuse himself from any matters that could present an appearance of conflict.

"When I learned I would have a challenger for the Republican nomination for selectman, I considered stepping down as chairman," Mr Capeci said. "The reason I felt it may be appropriate, is simple. I did not want to bias the Republican Town Committee in any way during the candidate selection process regarding the selectmen races."

But Mr Capeci said there were also several reasons why he felt he should continue on as RTC chairman.

"These reasons included maintaining stability through the nomination process, to avoid the distraction of finding a qualified and willing replacement while fielding candidates for municipal office and finally, insufficient time for the membership to consider running for chairman then mounting a campaign, especially if multiple candidates emerged," he said.

"To me, a simpler solution was to recuse myself from all business relating to the nomination of candidates for the offices of first selectman and selectman. I did not participate as an ex-officio member of the Candidates Committee; they operated independently throughout the interview process," Mr Capeci confirmed.

Like the other candidates, Mr Capeci said he was informed of their recommendation the Friday prior to caucus.

"At the nominating meeting, I recused myself and handed the gavel to Vice Chair Dan Wiedemann. Dan was the temporary chair of the caucus, and Bob Hall was voted permanent chair," Mr Capeci said. "I will continue to keep myself at arm's length of the selectman race until the nomination is finally decided on September 12," after which he said the general election will be his focus for all Republican candidates up and down the ticket, whether successful or not.

Mr Capeci said that since the caucus and RTC endorsement, he and first selectman candidate and running mate Mr Rodgers have been using a wide variety of means, from face-to-face meetings to social network promotion, to remain engaged and get feedback from Republican constituents.

Mr Capeci moved to town in 1996, and became a member of the RTC in 2003, two years before he ran as a newcomer and won a council seat in 2005. After eight years on the council, with two terms as its chairman, Mr Capeci did not spend a lot of time in "retirement" before he was asked, along with his current opponent, to work on the idea of merging emergency communications services with one of several regional dispatch agencies.

An Ambitious Revision

Then came the call to serve on what was to be one of the most, if not the most, ambitious charter revisions since the document was originally drafted.

"Now I know a lot more about the charter, which is important because Will and I both like to have a full understanding of what our government processes are," he said. "That's what I think makes us the best team to lead the community."

With under a year behind him on that project, he said he was approached by Mr Rodgers about being a running mate if First Selectman Pat Llodra decided against running for another term - an eventuality that came to pass shortly after.

"I worked very well under Will when he was chairman of the council, and I was impressed then with his significant service to the community," Mr Capeci said. "I find that Will has a wealth of knowledge and is a great thinker. And as Legislative Council chair, a post we both have held, you have to do a lot of interacting with the first selectman, the Boards of Finance and Education, the town attorney, finance director, and various town department heads."

Given the makeup of the balance of the Republican and Democratic general election tickets, Mr Capeci said that the experience that he and Mr Rodgers possess will be valuable considering most of the highest ranking boards in town will have a number of, or many, new members.

When asked about the prospect of being the top vote-getting Republican who might face the prospect of serving as a selectman along with two Democrats, Mr Capeci said he was ready, willing, and able.

"If I'm serving with two Democrats I will do fine," he said. "For the most part, people serving on these lead boards tend to get along regardless of party affiliation, and if that is the case, I will also operate in that fashion if I am a minority selectman."

Returning to the question of contributing to a town government that could be faced with a $7 million-plus loss of state revenue as soon as the next budget cycle, Mr Capeci said it will be his responsibility to examine every department and every service in the Board of Selectmen's budget proposal.

"We need to look at expanding the commercial tax base, and how the town is delivering services to determine if we can improve the bottom line through regional initiatives and consolidation of services," he said. "Since Will and I both have such a degree of experience with town budgets, and we tend to look at these challenges from distinctly different viewpoints, when we come together we can make better and more effective decisions as a team."

Regarding capital projects, Mr Capeci was firm in his commitment to seeing the community center completed at Fairfield Hills, as well as an eventual new police station.

He said besides working over the coming weeks to get Republicans out to the polls, he would welcome the support of any unaffiliated or unregistered voter willing to sign on as a Republican to help support his and Mr Rodgers' candidacies.

Statistically Speaking

Dr Chaudhary is going into the primary with a statistical advantage as he was among the top vote-getting council candidates in recent history, and he thinks he can appeal to Republican voters who appreciate his measured analytical but ultimately creative approaches to political problem-solving and municipal challenges that he has helped respond to in his years of service to the community.

"We need to make smart choices about who is most likely to be leading Newtown into the future," Dr Chaudhary said in a recent interview with The Newtown Bee. "I liken our race to that of the last gubernatorial election. We ended up with a governor who has the third worst approval rating in the nation because we as a party did not select the candidate with the best chances of winning. I won my last election with one of the highest, if not the highest, percentage of votes of all contested races and beat almost everyone in uncontested races. The party needs to remain strong - we need to support candidates who have the best chances of winning."

Dr Chaudhary said that Republicans in the primary, and if he is successful, voters in the general election, should consider supporting his "common sense, proactive approach to government."

"We need to make sure that we don't end up with officials who feel that the best response to state fiscal crisis is to raise taxes and provide supplemental tax bills instead of doing the hard work up front to make sure we are closer to running the town with what voters approved," he said, referring to the suspected likelihood of substantial state grant reductions sooner rather than later.

"Making well-thought-out decisions on behalf of my district as a council member was really carried out on behalf of the entire town, as council members don't tend to defend or promote projects exclusively in their own districts."

The prospect of moving from handling council responsibilities to those of a selectman appeal to the GOP challenger.

"At the council stage, a lot of the work and decision making about business that comes before us is already done. We get a finished product that we either have to approve or disapprove," he said. "As a selectman, I would be at the starting point for a lot of decisions that would eventually go to the council. But with my council experience, I would hope to offer ideas that would ultimately make the work of the finance board and council easier once those initiatives got before them. I would be keeping the entire process in mind as I was putting forth ideas from the starting point."

Dr Chaudhary said he is always looking to make the best of any decision he may play a role in influencing, and cited last year's proposal and deliberations over using undesignated Sandy Hook donations to acquire a van to haul Newtown High School Band and Color Guard equipment to and from events.

"I voted against that decision because I thought those donations ended up benefiting a very small group, and maybe the funds could have had the potential to help many more," he said. "But after voting no, and being in the minority, I worked with [then school Superintendent] Joe Erardi, Pat Llodra, and the band parents association to hold a competition to come up with safety messages that would be painted on the truck. I believe that has a benefit to the entire community and especially the kids in high school who can never get enough reinforcement about the dangers of drinking, drugs, and distracted driving."

A Scientific Methodology

As a scientist by training, Dr Chaudhary said he has been successful approaching most if not all of the political decisions he has been called on to make from a scientific perspective.

"It may not be everyone's idea of the best way to make a choice, but I've learned that approaching challenges with a scientific eye at least exposes you to the pitfalls of an intended decision before you make it," he said.

"I go into every meeting with an open mind. I do my research and no doubt that research has me leaning in a direction, but I make sure I listen to everything that is said both by my colleagues and especially the public," Dr Chaudhary said. "I focus on finding things that will prove me wrong. That is, I apply the decisionmaking skills that I use in my business as 'Dr Chaudhary, scientist,' to my role as 'Neil Chaudhary elected official.' I think this approach has served Newtown well."

He asks voters to a look at the change in taxation in the years since he was elected and compare it to a comparable period of time before that.

"The work here is far from done - it's like turning a ship - it's a process and we are getting this thing turned around in terms of our taxation. In that same time period, take a look at our debt," he said. "It's all moving in the right direction."

Part of moving in the right political direction is also important, and that is why Dr Chaudhary said he was glad to be asked, and honored to run as current Council Chair Mary Ann Jacob's running mate.

"I trust Mary Ann completely. She absolutely has the skills and ability to lead this community well," he said. "The actions of this council under her leadership have put Newtown in one of the best positions of any municipality in Connecticut as we faced an uncertain budget future. Again, this is by proactive thinking - not reacting to crisis - it's foreseeing it, overcoming it, and maybe even preventing it."

Dr Chaudhary said his professional experience also fits in with a seat on the board of selectmen.

"I am a small business owner in Connecticut. I am intimately aware of the difficulties created by our state's financial crisis," Dr Chaudhary said. "I deal daily with employee issues. Prior to becoming CEO I was CFO and managed health care choices for the company exploring options and weighing costs to employee benefits and finding creative solutions that saved the company money and maximized employee benefits and insulated my company from the huge rate increases."