Newly Elected Officials Discuss Issues Affecting Rocky Hill

brought very few changes to the political landscape in Rocky Hill. However, there is a new member on the Town Council and three new faces on the Board of Education.

Joe Kochanek retired after 38 years with the telephone company and decided to enter the world of town politics. He was a volunteer firefighter for 38 years and for 11 of those, he was the chief.

"I am honored that many people had faith in me," Kochanek, who received the third highest votes among Town Council candidates, said. "I will do my best to represent the people."

Kochanek said he wants to tackle the , promote economic development and make the town more efficient for taxpayers.

One of the few new faces on the Republican side is , who could possibly be the youngest school board member in the town's history.

"I feel great about my winning. I'm only 22 and I am in elective office and I see that as quite an accomplishment."

Though Buckee was the lowest vote getter, he only had two months to get his name out to the public, which he did by going door-to-door with Marti Stiglich and Jeff Murray.

"Marti took me under her wing and showed me how to get in touch with the voters and helped me become less nervous around them and gave me immense knowledge of how government at the town level worked."

He said he is focusing his energy on 10-year capital-improvement plan to set aside money for big projects.

"I would like to try to avoid referendums as much as we can because I feel that one would fail again," Buckbee said in an email Wednesday. "Hopefully with the issues that require funding will be able to be accomplished in well thought out steps. I believe the burden of the taxpayer will continue to increase if we don't dissect and examine all spending policies and programs alike."

Another new school board member, Democrat , wants to review the conditions of the school buildings.

"Get some real plans on the table that everyone is interested in supporting, so we can go ahead and take care of the school system," Robbins told Patch last night.

He is also focused on building a "more positive relationship" between the Board of Education and the Town Council.

Democrat John Bedalck was also elected to the school board and has previously told Patch that there is room for improvement in the school curriculum and infrastructure.