Michael J. Iassogna

 (R)

 

Personal Information: Michael J. Iassogna, 42, principal owner, Tier One Machining and Assembly, Newtown; member Newtown Chamber of Commerce; liaison with Newtown High School’s Student Career Shadowing Program; course presenter, Newtown Discovery Workshops; Support Our Schools (1999–2001) Research Committee; head and assistant coach –– youth baseball, softball, and soccer; St Rose of Lima Church, special minister; BS mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI); MBA, Drexel University; WPI Alumni Admissions Representative; Newtown resident 14 years, married to Linda for 20 years; two children –– Jennifer, 14, who attends Newtown High School, and Matt, 11, who attends Reed Intermediate School.

What personal qualities do you have that you believe will benefit the Legislative Council and the community it serves? With over 20 years business experience and recently starting up Tier One, LLC, I have developed long-term plans and managed budgets in excess of $20 million.

The best ideas come from people closest to the issue. I enjoy listening to many ideas about a topic and working with people to turn those ideas into reality.

I research topics to ensure I will make informed decisions. During the past two years’ budget processes, I dug deeply into the numbers and presented my findings to the entire council.

What do you believe is the council’s biggest challenge over the next two years? We must set priorities based upon a long-term vision for Newtown. I believe this vision must include preserving our excellent educational system and improving the town’s infrastructure while maintaining reasonable taxes. We cannot afford to do everything at once. Without a long-term plan, every issue becomes a conflicting need, resulting in winners and losers. We need a long-term plan with creative thoughts about how to implement it so that all members of our community can be winners.

What can the Legislative Council do to limit the growth of Newtown’s tax rate? Although this is a difficult task due to the fixed costs that exist in both budgets, we need to ensure that longtime Newtown residents can stay here if they choose to. We must diligently comb through the details of both budgets to ensure we get the most value for our tax dollar. To significantly impact our tax rate over the long-term, I believe that we must make significant investments in open space and encourage economic development to take some burden off the residential taxpayer.