Words of hope for the future from Mayor Perez

WINSTED — Reached by phone this week, Mayor Candy Perez said she hopes everyone in Winsted has a happy and healthy holiday season and that Winsted finishes off 2010 on the right foot for a successful new year.

“I’m hoping people in the community have an opportunity to spend some time with their families and friends,� she said. “I think that the community as a whole consists of very generous people who support others in times of need, and we’d like to thank them all for that. I hope this weekend provides for a good start to the holiday season as well as for the rest of the year.�

Personally, Perez said, she will be bouncing around from house to house over the holiday weekend, visiting families and friends.

“I’ll be in and out all sorts of places,� she said. “I’m a house hopper, and I’m one of the very fortunate people who doesn’t have to cook. I just appear at people’s homes and they feed me.�

Perez, who doubles as principal at Northwestern Middle School, also thanked community members for donating turkeys and other food items to the charitable organizations that are serving Thanksgiving meals to the needy this year.

“I have donated a few turkeys at the school and the students did a good job collecting donations,� she said. “I’m happy to have contributed.�

On the business end of things, Perez said she is hopeful that Winsted will have a town manager by the end of the year and that economic development projects will flourish in the 2011.

“We have multiple interests in all of our mill buildings along Main Street and we have some brownfields money from the Environmental Protection Agency, so soon it will be a matter of doing our due diligence to examine the offers and make some sound decisions,� she said.

Whether it’s fellow selectman Michael Renzullo’s nonprofit organization, Laurel City Revamp, or private funds that get local projects moving, Perez said she’s happy to see people talking about downtown development.

“People are thinking outside the box, and hopefully that will get some of these projects off the ground in Winsted,� she said. “Having said that, there is still a long distance to go.�

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