Ridgefield Candidates '97
Board of Finance

Monte Frank

In their late July meeting, the Democratic Caucus endorsed Monte Frank for Board of Finance to bring a new sense of fiscal responsibility to the town of Ridgefield.

Monte Frank is an attorney with the law firm of Cohen & Wolf, P.C. He works from the firm's Danbury office and specializes in commercial litigation. In the course of his practice, Attorney Frank deals with large and small businesses, banks and real estate investors on a daily basis. Importantly for this election, he also works with municipalities on tax issues.

Mr. Frank graduated magna cum laude  from Cornell University where he majored in history. He received his law degree from Cornell Law School. He also expanded his perspective to the pragmatic, hands-on courses at the Cornell Business School, including accounting and finance. He also has taught business law at the Cornell Hotel School and American Government at Housatonic Community College.

Since moving back to Connecticut, Mr. Frank has worked hard in our community. He has been a Big Brother for the past four years through Big Brothers / Big Sisters of Southwestern Connecticut. That organization voted him the "Attorney of the Year" in 1996. That year, Mr. Frank was elected to the organization's Board of Directors and now sits on its executive committee. Mr. Frank also volunteers at Laurelwood Nursing Home and has served on the Board of the Volunteer Center of Greater Bridgeport.

Attorney Frank feels the Board of Finance faces three major issues:

• Taxes -- The Board of Finance must do everything in its power to keep taxes down. This will require tough decisions on allocations. This town has squandered precious dollars on undeserving projects and should not tolerate any allocation, even the most trivial, without a detailed analysis and justification. The taxpayers deserve to know how each and every dollar will be spent; the waste must stop.

• Balance the budget -- By law, the town is required to balance the budget each and every year. Yet Ridgefield has not had a real  balanced budget for years because the town has increased its expenditures without raising income. To balance the budget, the Board of Finance must act as the watchdog of fiscal responsiblity and cut unnecessary budget items.

• Eliminate the illegal surplus -- Instead of balancing the budget in a responsible manner, the Republican-controlled Board of Finance has created a $9 million surplus fund; a "slush" fund. By law, that money cannot be carried from year to year without being tied to a capital expenditure or nonrecurring expense -- yet it is! That money should be returned to its owners, the taxpayers.

Attorney Frank gets passionate about the illegal surplus. "I will work hard to come up with a realistic budget so that our illegal 'crutch' is no longer needed," he noted after the caucus. "I know it sounds weird, but we're dealing with some wild 'tax and spend' Republicans in the town government and on the Board of Finance. It simply has to stop. We will balance the budget the right way, the legal way, and still end up with a better Ridgefield."

Mr. Frank lives in Ridgefield with his wife, Leah, and their two Labrador retrievers, Muddy and Shoeless. They are expecting their first child on Election Day.

Update!!!The new arrival!!! Monte joins Leah and the baby in the hospital. (Your humble reporter has added this picture without first getting the important details: baby's name, weight, date of birth, etc.... Let's just say -- details forthcoming. Meanwhile, all three Franks are great!!) Together they enjoy hiking through Ridgefield's open space land and cycling on its beautiful country roads.

The Democrats of Ridgefield are proud to urge all our friends and neighbors to elect the capable professional attorney and hard-working volunteer, Monte Frank.

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