The views stated here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors of this newspaper.
About a year ago, Killingworth was dealing with washed out roads and bridges due to heavy rains. First Selectwoman Cathy Iino declared a state of emergency, allocated a quarter of a million dollars for needed repairs, alerted citizens of road closures and delays, and secured FEMA funds to repay the town for the repairs. I don’t think much was made of all of this, but it couldn’t have been handled any better.
There were a few hot-button issues that came up during the last year or so: the Venuti property and the proposed solar farm. These wedge issues were handled with honesty and the utmost respect for the general public. Nothing was pushed through. It wasn’t easy going but in the end the town was well served by the process and how things were handled.
How does Killingworth fare locally? An online search brought up Patch.com and some statistics. These allowed me to compare Killingworth to five of its bordering towns. Killingworth’s average 2018 household income ranked second only to Durham’s while the town’s enviable 2017 mill rate was just a hair shy of lowest Madison’s. Admittedly this is all very unscientific, but it seems that Killingworth ranks high on the list one would want to rank high on and low on the list you’d want to rank low on.
The credit for all of this goes to both the citizens of the town and the town’s elected officials. I’m hoping that Killingworth will continue in the positive direction that it’s been heading and will support Cathy Iino and the local public servants that have served our town so well.
Sincerely,
Bill Tobelman
Killingworth
