CLIENT NEWS: Council of Small Towns to Hold Statewide Legislative Conference

“Connecticut’s Town Meeting 2012” to feature Governor Malloy and a Panel Discussion on the Future of K-12 Education and its Funding

West Hartford, CT - The state’s largest gathering of suburban and rural town leaders (mayors, first selectmen, town managers) and legislators from throughout the state will take place Wednesday, February 22, 2012 from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM at the Crowne Plaza Hotel & Conference Center in Cromwell. Municipal officials will be gathering there for the Connecticut Council of Small Towns' (COST) annual legislative conference -Connecticut's Town Meeting 2012.

Connecticut's Town Meeting 2012 will feature a keynote address by Governor Dannel P. Malloy, as well as a policy discussion about high-priority municipal issues by the Connecticut General Assembly’s legislative leadership, including Senate President Pro Tempore Donald Williams (D-Brooklyn), Senate Republican Leader John McKinney (R-Fairfield), House Speaker Christopher Donovan (D-Meriden) and House Republican Leader Larry Cafero (R-Norwalk).

Governor Malloy has proclaimed the 2012 Legislative Session as the “Education Reform Session,” and this year’s Connecticut's Town Meeting will feature a panel discussion on the future of K-12 Education and its funding. Participants in the discussion will include, Patrice McCarthy, Deputy Director/General Counsel, CT Association of Boards of Education, Patrick Riccards, Chief Executive Officer, ConnCAN, Rae Ann Knopf, Executive Director of the Council for Education Reform, Mary Loftus Levine, Executive Director of the CT Education Association and Adam Salina, Mayor of the Town of Berlin. The panel discussion will be hosted by John Dankowsky, WNPR News Director and Host of WNPR’s “Where We Live.”

In addition, Joseph McGee, Vice President of Public Policy and Programs for The Business Council of Fairfield County and Chairman of Governor Malloy’s Two-Storm Panel, will make a presentation on the state’s efforts to improve storm response and how these changes will impact Connecticut’s rural and suburban communities.

COST’s Connecticut Town Meeting is the premier annual gathering of chief elected and appointed leaders representing suburban and non-metro towns across the state. During Connecticut Town Meeting 2012, town leaders will discuss and vote on a legislative platform for the upcoming session of the Connecticut General Assembly. They will also express their views on key policy issues to the many state legislators who will be in attendance.