My name is Bill Rice and I’m a candidate for re-election to the Simsbury Planning Commission. My wife, a Simsbury native, and I moved to Simsbury in 1993. Our two children were born soon after we moved to town and worked their way through the Simsbury Public School system and subsequently graduated from the University of Connecticut.
I became interested in local government around 1995 and was appointed to fill a vacant seat on the Simsbury Public Building Committee. During my time on that committee, my colleagues and I managed the Simsbury High School Expansion and Renovation and the Simsbury Public Library Expansion and Renovation and other lower profile projects. When an alternate seat vacancy opened up, I jumped at the opportunity to join the Simsbury Planning Commission. I spent some time as an alternate, was elected as a regular member and after acquiring the necessary experience and knowledge, was elected chairman by the Commission.
While chairman, I worked with the other commissioners to draft and ratify the 2017 Simsbury Plan of Conservation and Development and the 2019 revision of the Subdivision Regulations. My experience with numerous subdivision applications, town regulations and ordinances, and state statutes makes me a valuable contributor to the Simsbury Planning Commission and I would like to continue to provide my expertise to the citizens of Simsbury by being re-elected.