Simsbury Board of Selectmen Meeting March 9, 2026

Board of Selectmen Meeting March 9, 2026

Prior to the Public Audience portion of the Board of Selectmen Meetings and the Public Hearings, First Selectmen Wendy Mackstutiis lectures the participants that they are an inconvenience to the work of the Board that she must tolerate.

Simsbury has endorsed a participatory government, by the people, for the people.

Public Audience should not be an inconvenience but encouraged.

First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis tells the public that they have a lengthy agenda and for the public to keep their comments short, although public audience participants have 5 minutes on a negotiated settlement, to voice their comments.

First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis is not concerned that she works for the public, with the consent of the public.

However, we are the public informing our elected officials what is in our best interest.

The public should not only be heard, but these ideas should be reviewed by the Board.

The elected Board of Selectmen appears to be political hacks, interested in placating the Special Interest groups that maintain their strong hold in our government at the expense of the taxpayers who support their follies.

This year we are celebrating the 250^th year of the Declaration of Independence.

The document addresses a tyrannical government

It states, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.

It might be time to ask First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis for her resignation as a ”right of the people” for a tyrannical government.

We can no longer endorse a government that ignores the public interest and embraces special interest groups.

Our budgets reflect a loss of revenue with abatements, lowered or removal of assessments and Town contracts with outside businesses from people that can afford to pay.

High taxes affect affordability with pricing of homes, rentals, businesses and economic development in a competitive market.

With the advent of cell phones and AI, businesses can locate any community with the assets that they can explore with a press of a button.

Businesses have certain criteria that they require for any expansion or relocation of a business.

They are interested in access to highways, foot traffic, population infrastructure and availability of land to name a few.

Expansion of existing businesses are tools for economic development.

Taxes are another factor in the equation for business viability.

Simsbury has many hurdles to pass before the Town can begin expansion of the business community.

It appears that First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis and Town Manager Marc Nelson have a turf war on who oversees economic development.

When businesses are interested in the community, they interact with the Town Manager and/or the Director of Planning and Development, not the First Selectman.

The budget, proposed by the Board of Education has increased $2,480,133 from last year.

The Budget from the Board of Selectmen has increased $$1,004,419 from last year.

The Self-Funded Health Reserve’s revenues were incorporated by both boards in their budgets.

The Board of Education used $800,000 and the Board of Selectmen used $200,000 of the reserve funds to reduce their expenditure budget.

When Town Manager Marc Nelson presented the budget to the Board of Selectmen with cuts from last year’s budget, First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis increased the expenditures.

First Selectman Wendy Mackstutis increased the budget by adding additional funding to Main Street Partnership and the Simsbury Volunteer Ambulance Association (SVAA).

The increases were from $35,000 to $85,000 for Main Street and $60,000 to up to $200,000 for the ambulance.

The Town should increase the taxes on the International Skating Center from $85,000 to $288,955 and require Chris Latz, Thrive Farm on the Eno Trust, to provide his financials to the Town.

The money in the Capital Budget for the Simsbury High School Turf & Track Resurfacing at $2,200,000 should be reassigned to the Tennis/Pickleball courts at the Junior High as they are unplayable, a safety hazard and a liability at a cost of $650,000, saving the taxpayers money for a much-needed reconstruction.

Turf should not be used for playing fields as they cause serious injuries and impact the environment.

Engineering the redirection of the water flow on the fields with a drainage swale to redirect the water will make a grass field playable.